At this point, OutKast seems more like a marriage of convenience than a functional relationship.

Near as we can tell, Andre Benjamin and Antwan Patton don't do much as a team. They don't write many songs together. They seldom record together. They don't tour together.

Hell, they're barely even photographed together on their sixth album Idlewild, the sort-of soundtrack to their Depression-era musical (in which, we hear, they seldom appear together).

Yet, for some reason, the further apart they drift, the more daring and interesting OutKast becomes. What's up with that?

Well, maybe it's because each of them is now free to do what he wants without having to accommodate the other.

On this 20-song set, that means Andre 3000 gets to let his freak flag fly over a retrodelic landscape of mutant hip-hop decorated with jazz and blues, while Big Boi keeps it real with a batch of supple grooves and streetwise rap. Another reason the split-personality approach works: Their styles complement rather than compete.

Much as we love Andre's ability to insert Cab Calloway's hi-de-ho stylee into a bumptious groove on Mighty O, pitch some Wang Dang Doodle country-blues on Idlewild Blue and get all jazzy fantazzy on Makes No Sense at All, we can see how some folks could find him too clever by half.

Likewise, much as we are down with the hustla rhymes of Big Boi tracks like Peaches and N2U, we would find a whole disc of them one-dimensional. Here, you get the best of both worlds -- along with superb collaborations like the marching-band cut Morris Brown, the swinging PJ & Rooster and the moody Hollywood Divorce.

Granted, Idlewild doesn't scale the giddy heights of Speakerboxxx / The Love Below. But even if it is a second-tier OutKast CD, it's still more exciting than most hip-hoppers' best work.

So don't ask whether this marriage can be saved -- just be glad it works the way it does.

Track Listing:

1. Intro
2. Mighty O
3. Peaches - Sleepy Brown, OutKast,
4. Idlewild Blue (Don't Chu Worry 'Bout Me)
5. Infatuation (Interlude)
6. N2U
7. Morris Brown - Sleepy Brown, OutKast,
8. Chronomentrophobia
9. Train - Sleepy Brown, OutKast,
10. Life Is Like a Musical
11. No Bootleg DVDs (Interlude)
12. Hollywood Divorce - Lil Wayne, , OutKast, Snoop Dogg
13. Zora (Interlude)
14. Call the Law
15. Bamboo & Cross (Interlude)
16. Buggface
17. Makes No Sense at All
18. In Your Dreams - Killer Mike, , OutKast
19. PJ & Rooster
20. Mutron Angel - OutKast, Whild Peach,
21. Greatest Show on Earth - Macy Gray, OutKast
22. You're Beautiful (Interlude)
23. When I Look in Your Eyes
24. Dyin' to Live
25. Bad Note