Customer Reviews

American Ghetto

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I liked this album upon first listen, loved it after the second, pronounced my love of it to friends after the third, and felt compelled to write a review stating how much I love this album after the 4th. I don't really know what else to say. If you liked Portugal. The Man before, you will not be disappointed by this album unless you've made your mind up before you even listen to it as fans so often do. The music is awesome, groovy, well crafted. The lyrics are pretty similar to Satanic Satanist. I have always felt that outside of Censored Colors the lyrics were the only aspect of P.TM that wasn't up to par with the rest of the music and I hate to admit that this is the case once again. Still, you could do WAY worse so I'm by no means complaining. If I were to recommend a single track off this album it would be "All My People", which is an amazing pop gem.

Portugal.the man is very unique in that each new album is so different from the last, and that's why it's so hard to classify them in any specific genre. I own all of the material they have released and all of it is 5 star quality. American Ghetto was a surprise release because I wasn't expecting any new material so soon. After listening to it over and over for the past few weeks I can safely say it's fighting for top spot against censored colors as my favorite album by them. The preview clips on this page (while sounding good) don't do the songs justice. They have to be heard completely so you can really get into the groove.

Soulful electronic indie is what comes to mind. A departure from previous efforts, as every album has traditionally been, and it does not disappoint. How pop is supposed to sound.

I had never heard of Portugal. The Man until I saw they were set to perform at a music festival I'll be attending. So, I downloaded this album, and 'wow' is all I can say. I am totally blown away by this band. There are so many layers to the music and yet it's still filled with vibrant, catchy tunes. This is definitely a top 10 album for 2010.

Portugal. The Man just keeps their sound fresh; the album's got 80's grooves from hip-hop to synth-pop ("When the War Ends" and "1000 Years" make me think of MGMT), while a couple tunes also retain that classic Portugal. The Man sound ("60 Years" and "Do What We Do"). American Ghetto is another great from a great band!

I had never really enjoyed P.TM before listening to this album. Out of curiosity, I downloaded it, and whole-heartedly enjoyed it multiple times through. It grew on me, and also inspired me to go re-listen to their other albums. These guys are talented, creative musicians; those traits aren't too common these days. Do Portugal a favor and buy this album, it's one of my favorites of the year so far.

As for the album? These guys are constantly shifting, changing sounds, and breaking ground. This one has a 60's-70's soul/blues/psychadelic feel, with some modern-day hiphop beats and sounds. It's like they were listening to Gorillaz one day and said, "You know what? Let's try and do something like this, but make it our own." And they succeeded.