Welcome Black

The Negro Problem | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 3, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Image Entertainment
• ASIN: B00006EXIA
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,338 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tales from the Bohemian Fringe, January 27, 2003

By 

WrtnWrd "Hankman" (Northridge, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Welcome Black (Audio CD)

L.A.'s quirky The Negro Problem have always been a listenable yet arch proposition. Leader Stew - a bear-like black bohemian - favors psychedelic fancy, both lyrical and musical. In the past, this has occasioned pleasant, mostly leaden work. It's unfortunate as Stew has shown, on two solo releases, an incisive and spirited talent. Can it be that leading a band is more burden than release for him? On the recorded evidence, yes. Yet on Welcome Black Stew calms down some. The Negro Problem begin to right past wrongs. The first half of the CD - especially "Lime Green Sweater" and "Watering Hole" - utilize Stew's narrative eye to tell recognizably human (and still surreal) tales from the bohemian fringe. By the time the tracks devolve to limitless whimsy, you just might stick around for the ride.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Ray of Wisdom and Light!, September 25, 2002

By 

Chris Morgan (Palm Desert, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Welcome Black (Audio CD)

The album lists 12 tracks, contains 11 "songs", two of which are reworked versions of limited release songs "Bermuda Love Triangle" and "Astro Sister" (formerly called "Sabrina Drill"). This is the shortest TNP album to date and does not contain the expected hidden tracks at the end as did the previous releases. All this to say that for the converted, the album is a little short.

"Fox Hills" opens the album with a horns and piano version of the beautiful melody from "Bermuda Love Traingle" which is the album closer and the strongest track. In this song Stew takes what originally sounded like a folk song and turns it into a Burt Bacharach narrative of a world gone weird and as in virtually every other track on the album, the layering of background vocal tracks is beautifully rendered.

The ability to go from the wacky to the poignant is still a major strength of the band. See the transition from the taunting, upbeat "Is This the Single?" to the melancholy confessional "The Watering Hole". "The Teardrop Explodes" and "Out Now" are two funky and silky smooth grooves. One note must be made that the absence of drummer Charles Pagano is keenly missed when compared to the other two albums. Here, a drum machine is used on one track and Stew takes over percussion on one track. Esthetic choices? Maybe. But the other albums benefited greatly from Pagano's musicianship and is only made up for here by the wonderful contributions of Heidi Rodewald.

Still, an album with more high points than many careers today and a welcome addition to the growing catalog of this unique talent.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mellow pop, incredibly sharp lyrics, beautiful vocal harmonies, May 29, 2006

By 

FRANCIS PETTIT (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Welcome Black (Audio CD)

As always with the Negro Problem, there's a big paradox built into their music. The songs here are mellow pop (more mellow than their previous CD "Post Minstrel Syndrome"), with bright melodies and vocal harmonies to die for; both Stew's lead vocals and the backing vocals are gorgeous. The lyrics, however, are full of sarcasm, irony, and cleverness, to the point of often being arch. So there's a cognitive dissonance-- surely deliberate on the musicians' part-- between the pretty melodies and sweet singing, and the super-sarcastic lyrics. The album has a punk sensibility, but the music does not sound punk at all; it often sounds like gorgeous show tunes or classic American pop songwriting.

Really, if you think Steely Dan or Elvis Costello write literate, sarcastic lyrics, Negro Problem is like that times 10. If you have a high tolerance for sarcasm and irony (like me) you'll love this, but most people can't take it. The first time I played it, I didn't like it nearly as much as "Post Minstrel Syndrome". After a couple plays, I was hooked. It may take a couple plays to grab you.

The lyrics here are so sharp, so often funny, sometimes really poetic, and packed with perfect, unexpected rhymes. I'm tempted to quote all of "Bermuda Love Triangle", which tells a funny story with great, internal rhymes built into each line; but then I'd give away the twist ending. "I'm Sebastian Cabot" and "Lime Green Sweater" likewise have lots of wit and perfect rhymes with great back-and-forth between the singers.

Sometimes they're too clever for their own good. The song "Is This The Single" makes fun of record companies guys who are focused on producing hits. It's a big 'f--- you' to the record company. I can only imagine what TNP's record company's executives must have thought when TNP first played that song for them. As for the song itself, it's almost a single-- catchy, almost a hit-- but too laden with synthesizers to really ignite. So, once again, TNP has no single.

The songs on this CD are more mellow than on the previous "Post Minstrel Syndrome" -- there is nothing as energetic as "Buzzing" from PMS. Whereas PMS sounded unlike anything except maybe They Might Be Giants or Elvis Costello, "Welcome Black" sounds like nothing except the song book for the coolest musical never written. Stew should really write songs for Broadway musicals-- he'd be better than Stephen Sondheim and the execrable Andrew Lloyd Webber, because Stew is edgy and rock n' roll.

Now I've got "The Watering Hole" stuck in my brain. That song is the mellowest on the CD, and I can't get it out of my head, it's so slow and cool. Worth it to buy the CD for that song alone. "You can find me... at the watering hole..."