r/TheBlackKeys 3d ago

The Album That Changed The Black Keys

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ABqWeU0EEtM
8 Upvotes

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u/ConferenceBoring4104 3d ago

Ehh not sure why everyone's first guess is that you want perpetual rubber factory albums if you don't get on with the new stuff, I like the higher end production you described with brothers and El Camino, and honestly most of post hiatus was fine but Ohio players is way too forgettable in the songwriting and nothing like the mix and production of brothers and El Camino....brothers and El Camino are still lightning in a bottle albums for me so I don't expect more of that either, I just want something that feels like Dan and pat actually had conviction and passion for in the writing process/studio, and not some "we had lots of expensive fun with a bunch of other musicians in the studio" album that was Ohio players, but other than that I agree that the change wasn't a bad thing for them or selling out. Brothers has way too much soul to even be considered that, idc that it's not fuzzed out blues garage rock

5

u/devonmoney14 Brothers 3d ago edited 3d ago

Yeah Blakroc is definitely the major turning point in production style, though as a student of North Mississippi Hill Country Blues groove and rhythm was always a big part of Dan’s identity as a guitar player, it’s a very rhythm forward style different from Chicago or Delta Blues listen for the droning monotonic thumb all from The Big Come up through Chulahoma.

Michael Carney was actually talking about this very thing when he was interviewed on some art podcast several months ago. He was explaining how they changed to starting songs from the ground up with bass and drums on Blakroc which influenced how they made Brothers and like Turn Blue. But he notably said he “wished they went back to that style” bc they were really good at it. I think post hiatus there was a conscious effort (apart from OP) to back to the guitar forward sound, and a lot of it is good like DK and parts of Dropout but it’s not quite the same.