OuKast - ATLiens (1996)

This is the first of LuxDel's reviews that she wrote for the old blog, her personal favorite album, Outkast's classic 1996 effort, ATLiens.

Album intros are all at once meant to convey texture, direction and hint at what is to come.  It’s the first hit and it must be taken quickly.  With ATLiens, OutKast’s second offering, the first step is more of a face first fall into a warm abyss. You almost don’t want to escape. Neither Andre 3000 nor Big Boi make an appearance, and it’s left up to a hypnotic rendition of a well known children’s prayer in a cryptic language and a melancholic ballad about (maybe) dying, to usher in listeners to this 14 song lesson in Atlantan space invaders.

After the ’77 Seville vibe of “Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik”, ATLiens at once manages to turn a sharp corner without falling over.  Production from Organized Noize and Earthtone Ideas ricochets from the riff driven “Wailin’” to the reverb heavy “E.T. (Extraterrestrial)” then returns to a synth fiends’s paradise on “Wheelz of Steel.”  Bass heads are serviced by the insistent beat of “Elevators (Me & You)”  and the title track’s menacing mix of live bass strings and sampled drums.

Running throughout the entire album is OutKast’s ability to craft a beautiful melody.  This is their second strongest asset and is never more evident than on “Jazzy Belle”, a blunt analysis of the opposite sex that contradicts the softness of the beat.  “Decatur Psalm” and “Ova Da Wudz” have disappointing construction, but the MC skills of the duo and Dungeon Family guests make the songs enjoyable, even without a dynamic beat to hold the verses.

It’s puzzling how often Big Boi is dismissed as ‘the ugly twin’ while he’s standing next to Andre.  Big Boi is an upper echelon MC.  He holds up the end of “Mainstream” beautifully, his storytelling on “Babylon” is engaging and he rips the title track into pieces, easily outshining Andre.  Mr. Benjamin delivers, putting his all into each verse.  He’s in blackout mode on “Elevators (Me & You)”, at his most scathing on “Mainstream” and totally candid in the anti-braggadocio “Millennium.”

The last true track of the album, “13th Floor/Growing Old”, is a soft landing.  Both Big Boi and Andre reflect and speculate, and the tender piano laced beat is deceptive considering the content of their lyrics are hard hitting truths that are still fully relevant over 15 years after conception.

Topped off with some trippy artwork, it’s an album that’s received critical acclaim ad nauseam.  It constantly battles with “Aquemini” for the title of OutKast’s best and is undoubtedly a bona fide classic, coming from a year that saw the hip hop genre gain at least a dozen other classics.  It’s thoroughly southern and holds down the ‘timeless’ label easily. If you’re looking for something that knocks the speakers and sparks the thoughts, cop this.

Highs:  Elevators, 13th Floor/Growing Old, production on Wheelz of Steel and Two Dope Boyz.  Andre’s verses on Millennium and Mainstream.  Big Boi’s verses on ATLiens, Ova Da Wudz and E.T.

Lows:  Average production on Decatur Psalm and Ova Da Wudz.  The bizarre and annoying vocal sample on Wailin’.  Organized Noize’s take on Elevators with their ONP 86 mix is an unnecessary addition to the album.

94/100