Band: The Black Keys
Release: 5/2010
Label: Nonesuch (Warner)
1. “Everlasting Light” – B-
2. “Next Girl” – B-
3. “Tighten Up” – B+
4. “Howlin’ For You” – B+
5. “She’s Long Gone” – B-
6. “Black Mud” – B-
7. “The Only One” – B
8. “Too Afraid to Love You” – C
9. “Ten Cent Pistol” – B-
10. “Sinister Kid” – B-
11. “The Go Getter” – B-
12. “I’m Not the One” – C+
13. “Unknown Brother” – C
14. “Never Give You Up” – C+
15. “These Days” – B
Comments: “Everlasting Light” is a bit like a spoiled Spoon offering, included in the deal: a consistent drum beat and a steady guitar. It’s about as forgettable as it is good. “Next Girl” is a great title for Justin Bieber’s next release and he can damn well have it. It’s not like Black Keys do a real solid job with it anyway. “Tighten Up” offers more variation than the first two and with good measure. Hardly do I run into a band/album that is this generically good. It’s like getting handed a plate of food. You eat mostly everything on the plate and remark that you like it, but you don’t go out of your way to inquire about what it is that you just ate. Black Keys get some kind of job done. Maybe it’s an obligation to get something done (I doubt it), but I’d get a little bored writing material for this album. By “Too Afraid” I just have had enough! Enough of these games, Black Keys! I’m not asking you to be Black Lips, but fuck, guys. Is the blues-rock genre really this limiting? OR IS IT NONESUCH RECORDS STICKING A PITCHFORK UP YOUR ASS, FORCING YOU TO BE THIS BLAND? COLD WAR KIDS ARE BETTER THAN YOU. There, I said it. Even your damn guitar solos are clean and without flavor. Okay, this is probably a good album for a straight listen. You get your dose of Black Keys and then you go to sleep or listen to Kings of Leon. Okay, good. You never listen to Black Keys until their next album drops in 2012. Then you do the same thing. Okay, good.
Grade: B- (81)
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 
my god man you have no brain!!! did you enjoy lady gaga’s latest offerings??
this is a terrible review of a brilliant album by a terrible person!!
go get some mojo man.
get nugged
I can see where a none fan of the band may come from in saying they don’t like it especially if they wanted more of the same even if they aren’t a fan (scratches head) anyways… for a critic you need to get of chatroullette disengage your winky and re evaluate your musical values. You know for a fact dan auerbach and Pat Carney would shit on any of the above mentioned “musicians” both album wise and live. So stop looking for controversy and take another listen, god your soundin like a post apocalyptic emo transexual goth!
Shit on any of the above musicians? Definitely Lady Gaga and Kings of Leon would be shit on, but Black Lips are much than Black Keys. Black Keys is just the same old same old on every single track. I’m not a non-fan. I actually enjoy some BK songs, but an album full of re-hashed drum beats and guitar riffs?
Black Lips are actually passionate and aren’t called the best live band in rock and roll for nothing.
This is the first bad review I read about this album. Comparing The Black Keys to Black Lips is like …well….Black Lips is more like….eh…music for kids that like bands like Green Day and other childish-white-“punky”-never sing a soulful note-just learned to tie my shoes-I believe I’m gonna be radical and die my hair-I can’t believe they took Beverly Hills 90210 of the screen-I’m gonna scream in a pathatic way-music to……well….The Black Keys that stands for SOULFUL-BLUESY-BEST LIVE GUITARPLAYER IN THIS TIME-GROOVY AS FUCK…….must I go on? In other words…theres no way you can compare those two bands. My guess is that you are not a fan of soulful music. My guess is that you’re not into Otis Redding,Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, or even Jimi Hendrix.I bet you would not recognise soul if it was screamed into your ear from a one inch distance. My advice to you, sir, is; don’t write reviews of soulful music if you don’t recognise soul.
It’s not a bad review, it’s just not a great one…the kind fans want to hear.
Music for kids that like bands like Green Day? Are you talking about the same Black Lips that I am? I made reference to Black Lips because I like their energy and array of selections all over the musical map. I’m not trying to compare them musically at all. It’s just that when I listen to Black Keys, the excitement just isn’t there. For a point of reference soul band, try King Khan and the Shrines. That’s soul.
this guy’s really starting to piss me off
Well, I’ll admit, I’ve never listened to the Black Keys, so I’m neither pro nor con. But, to the person that compared the Black Lips to Green Day, I hope that was a joke… I’m not even going to explain myself. I like the soul brothers and sisters you mentioned and of course Glen has heard of them as well. Speaking of, Sam Cooke believed the key to music was its simplicity. Black Lips may sound completely different, but they certainly honor this tradition.
Black lips and Cold war kids better than the Black Keys? Next girl better suited for Bieber? That says enough about you and how much your opinions are worth in terms of music. This review is absolute garbage. Enjoy your justin bieber CD.
Black Keys fanboys calm down… btw Your comparison of the Black Lips to mainstream pop acts has no credibility. I have never heard any of Justin Bieber’s music, therefore I have nothing to enjoy of his.