Emotions (Grapevine, 1994)

Carlton Livingston is an old school dancehall singer who, having provided us with classics like "Trodding Through the Jungle" (AKA "Chalice in Mind," on Sly & Robbie's Crucial Reggae and the compilation Big Blunts Volume 3) and "100 Weight of Collie Weed" (Big Blunts Volume 2), has long deserved a showcase of his underrated, underexposed talent... and this is not it.  Still, this is not to say that Emotions is bad; there is some good material here, for Livingston's songwriting and vocal skills are too strong for there not to be.  A couple of tracks in particular -- "Rob and Thief" and "A No One Day" -- reveal the irresistible blend of his laid-back Pablo Moses/Horace Andy voice with a street-edged Barrington Levy/Ini Kamoze-like delivery, combined further with catchy early dancehall melodies that made his biggest hits so great.  Even though this album was released in 1994, the style is closer to 1984 (at least, on the best tracks), with simple dancehall beats and an old school flow.  "Lied," "Broken Heart," and the Gregory Isaacs lovers-esque dancehall of "No Doctor No Nurse" are nice, as is the more modern high-energy dancehall sound of "Come."  Unfortunately, the generic cover art of the album foreshadows the generic filler in between the solid cuts, but sifting through them is worth the exposure to Carlton Livingston.  After all, where else are you gonna get it?

Track Listing
1. Come On Baby
2. Rain
3. Give Me Water
4. Lose My Religion
5. Armageddon
6. Finders Keepers
7. Just My Luck
8. Get Up and Dance
9. Johnny Was a Bad Boy
10. A No One of Us
11. That Will Be the Day
12. Thief From Thief