| 100 |
Los Angeles Times
Odd Couple is every bit as musically inventive as "Elsewhere."
|
| 90 |
RapReviews.com
The Odd Couple [is] thirteen songs chock full of honest, unabashed, experimental self-expression that isn't afraid to take chances.
|
| 90 |
PopMatters
The Odd Couple is an emotionally and musically provocative album. Despite its weighty subject matter, it’s also one hell of a fun listen.
|
| 90 |
Dot Music
Across forty minutes, this is epic yet compact, a film noir in garish technicolour, an album made up of potential singles.
|
| 85 |
Lost At Sea
While the production values on the album are stronger, so is The Odd Couple's focus on Cee-Lo's voice.
|
| 83 |
The Onion (A.V. Club)
The Odd Couple is the exhilarating sound of the band geeks and theater weirdoes taking over the school.
|
| 83 |
Entertainment Weekly
The Odd couple is a complusively listenable, if somber, effort. [28 Mar 2008, p.65]
|
| 80 |
Billboard
It seems that the more comfortable the principals get with Gnarls Barkley, the more haunted Gnarls Barkley gets. And it gets stronger, too.
|
| 80 |
Hartford Courant
The duo’s modern take on a classic sound runs throughout the new record, a worthy 13-song sophomore effort.
|
| 80 |
Boston Globe
Sometimes the pair slips into an uncomplicated groove, and the results transcend the duo's deep, signature whimsy to lift Gnarls Barkley into the realm of classic.
|
| 80 |
Blender
If this is soul, it's soul for 21st-century sociopaths. [Apr 2008, p.77]
|
| 80 |
Paste Magazine
The Odd Couple rewards repeated listens, revealing intriguing new sounds each time, from heavenly organs to cartoon noises.
|
| 80 |
Vibe
The finished product has glorious results. [May 2008, p.69]
|
| 80 |
Observer Music Monthly
And yet, as is often the case with music crafted solely in the key of strife, the result is bizarrely life-enhancing, chiefly thanks to the head-spinning fashion in which Gnarls condense 40 years of rock'n'roll into one seamless psychedelic whole.
|
| 80 |
Mojo
With producer Danger Mouse's nuanced psychedelic rock and soul backdrops, scintillating pop music with substance results. [May 2008, p.103]
|
| 80 |
The Guardian
There's no doubt The Odd Couple is hard work, but it pays off.
|
| 80 |
Uncut
The result is a milestone in modern psychedelic soul.
|
| 80 |
New Musical Express
The Odd Couple contains few hints about where the pair will go next. For now, let’s revel in the fact that soul music hasn’t sounded this fresh and downright freaky for a quarter of a century.
|
| 80 |
Hot Press
Zany jinks anew from Hip-hop’s Awkward Squad.
|
| 72 |
Pitchfork
This album might be more focused than its predecessor, but what it's focused on is a the kind of murky, paranoid weight and depth that doesn't much make for chart-climbing singles.
|
| 70 |
Urb
With The Odd Couple, Gnarls Barkley is unable to come up with anything containing as much pure pop power as their hit song "Crazy," but it's certainly not for lack of trying.
|
| 70 |
All Music Guide
At times, The Odd Couple is a more beautiful record than its predecessor. But all too often Cee-Lo relies on the same sort of lyrical cipher as on St. Elsewhere, although none of them are as effective.
|
| 70 |
Under The Radar
The Odd Couple is a bit top-heavy, but the bottom holds up a lot better than "St. Elsewhere." [Spring 2008, p.76]
|
| 60 |
Drowned In Sound
Solid and safe fun perhaps.
|
| 60 |
Q Magazine
Yet for all the sharp hooks and rhythmic twists, the album sags in the middle. [Apr 2008, p.127]
|
| 60 |
Sputnikmusic
On the whole, The Odd Couple has a much more unified atmosphere, but in quality the album is sporadic and unpredictable.
|
| 60 |
The New York Times
Strangely, given the unified palette and temperament, the album feels disjointed: one track doesn’t pull you to the next.
|
| 60 |
Dusted Magazine
On The Odd Couple, Gnarls Barkley gets halfway to the heights of St. Elsewhere and seems content to stay there.
|
| 60 |
musicOMH.com
For fans of "St Elsewhere" and general mash-ups of styles, The Odd Couple will contain a few splendid tracks, a few decent offerings, and a few duds.
|
| 60 |
Spin
The Odd Couple is basically a more refined "St. Elsewhere," without the rap aberrations or goofy covers that made the debut such a wild, bumpy ride. [Apr 2008, p.91]
|
| 50 |
Slant Magazine
Needless to say, though, Odd Couple doesn't conjure the same immediate wow-factor as "St. Elsewhere."
|
| 40 |
Village Voice
A hastily crafted follow-up, a subpar sequel, much more "Rocky V" than "The Godfather: Part II."
|
| 20 |
NOW Magazine
Boring grooves that last a couple of minutes before ending abruptly just don’t cut it. What a letdown.
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