It remains one of the great mysteries in all popular music - just how the hell did The Afghan Whigs never enjoy the same levels of mainstream success as less accessible, less unique, less gifted contemporaries like Soundgarden and Nirvana did? Black Love is the sound of a band who belong at the top. Like its predecessor and spiritual companion, Gentlemen, it's a heady mix of Replacements-style post-punk, funk, and Motown. And like Gentlemen, it's one of the best records of the 90s. Black Love is the spirit of rock incarnate - Dulli swaggers, brags, gets drunk, and even signs pacts with the devil, before packing things off with one of the all-time great epic album closers in "Faded". The band are on top form, too - "My Enemy" and "Blame, Etc." being perhaps their two finest songs. It's the most fun a man can have with a guitar and an ego.
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