DJ Shadow - The Outsider - 2006

Woe is the artist whose defining pinnacle is their first album, especially one of the caliber of Endtroducing. Since its release, it seems DJ Shadow has been trying to escape from the shadow of his own success. His follow-up, the criminally underappreciated Private Press, was a strong effort but failed to live up to the narrow-minded expectations for another dose of mind-altering beats and samples.

Now more than a decade later, Shadow makes another stab at outgrowing his persona. Credit the guy for his ambition, just don’t credit him for the music. Shadow’s The Outsider can’t feel like anything but a reaction to Endtroducing’s legacy. Whether it’s the introduction of rapping or the grime-hybrid sound of Bay Area “hyphy” hip-hop, this album clearly sits on the opposite spectrum of Shadow’s previous work.

Too bad it’s so mediocre. On “3 Freaks” Shadow lays down a poisonous synth line while Keak Da Sneak and Turf Talk expound on the virtues of money, clubs and women. It sounds like nothing Shadow has ever done, but it also sounds like every other dime-a-dozen hip-hop track. Things go from bad to parody with “Keep Em Close” and its lame-o siren and gunshot sound effects.
By the time the totally inexplicable and clichéd voice-over of “You Made It” or the Coldplay-lite of “This Time” passes by, The Outsider is already a lost cause. It’s a shame to pigeonhole Shadow to one sound. But it’s equally dishonest to give kudos for trying to be different, when that different is a disaster. Like the last twenty minutes of the “Wicker Man” file The Outsider under ‘what were they thinking?’