Album Review: Is Love by The Out of Body Special

Artist: The Out of Body Special
Album: Is Love
Genre: Funk, R&B, Hip-Hop, Rock, Rap
Release Date: November 2007
Rating: 4/5

This review was originally written for the February 2008 issue of The LaSallian, the official student publication of De La Salle University, re-edited for this blog

I'm not sure where I first heard of this band. I think I simply chanced upon their music video once on MTV, back when they still played music. All I know is that I couldn't get the song out of my head, not just because of its catchy tune, but the sheer musicianship demonstrated by each member.

Most musicians in the Philippines simply take tried and tested formulas in order to sell their albums without much risk. Taking even less creativity is the ubiquitous revival of popular songs that they know sold well in the past. But every once in a while, artists who are brave enough to tread unfamiliar territory emerge and set out to bring their own original flavor to the spotlight. Such is the case with The Out of Body Special, who describes their music as a fusion of hip-hop, R&B, jazz, funk, and rock. While this may be hard to imagine at first, it all becomes clear when you listen to their first album, Is Love. The band shows their amazing versatility in this album and goes through a wide spectrum of music, ranging from fast-paced rap-rock tracks like Soundcheck and Badlands, where vocalist Carlos Magno continually spits out urban poetry like an M-16 backed up by fast, heavy metal beats, to smooth, soulful tracks like Sixty Seconds After She and Give It, where Magno's vocals take center stage against low-key acoustic instruments. While it’s commendable that they can pull off totally different flavored tracks, this also becomes the fatal flaw of the album. While some songs, such as the sentimental acoustic ballad Kamakailan Lang and the nostalgia-inducing pop song Mga Awit ng Kahapon are easy to listen to, heavier hip-hop tracks like What Everybody Said may alienate casual listeners. In between these two extremes are the slow, chill-out rap song Where My Emcees At, and the sexed up cuts When You’re Around and Hot Tub. The lyrics also show a great deal of variety, ranging from well-written and profoundly poetic to typical rapper swagger.

Overall, Is Love is a much-needed beacon of originality in a bleak, bland local music scene. This album has soul, and a definitively Filipino one at that. The album demonstrates the band's strife to come up with a distinct sound that's uniquely theirs. While they may not appeal to casual listeners looking for a cookie-cutter rap or rock album, for the rest of us who are desperate to hear something new, this album may just be our answer.