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Deep (Jet Star, 2001) Lloyd Brown is a soulful British singer who is gaining substantial word of mouth in the UK due to the strong material on Deep and on his well-received debut Rhyme & Reason. His rich R&B-dipped vocals are naturally inclined towards lovers rock, and while this is his reputed specialty, Deep contains a surprising abundance of of rootsy tunes in addition to the love songs. (Of course, due to his lovers inclination, his roots numbers have a fairly light, catchy pop air to them.) Granted, I think he seems more comfortable in (and more suited for) the lovers mode, but you can't deny the appeal -- both vocally and musically (the latter courtesy of producers Bitty McLean and the renowned Cave Team) -- of great modern roots tracks like "Ride On" (written by Bunny Ruggs of Third World fame), "Another Song," "Fathers Eyes," "Humanity Pt. II" (featured on Reggae Hits 29), and "I Know" (on Reggae Hits 30). Being British and singing any modicum of lovers rock, however, seems to lead to some ill-fated crossover material, and in this case, it's the woeful attempt at a jiggy version of Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues." The less said, the better. Some listeners might also balk at his cover of Craig David's "Fill Me In" and also at "Memories," which incorporates the gospel music of the Staples Singers' "I'll Take You There" and the melody of George Michael's "Waiting for That Day" (who isn't cited in the credits, but that's for the lawyers to settle...), neither of which is as bad as it initially seems. Overall, Deep is a "deep"ly satisfying slice of UK reggae that deserves more exposure across the pond. |
| Track Listing 1. Intro 2. Fathers Eyes 3. Hook It Up 4. I Know 5. Inner City Blues featuring Don Campbell, Peter Hunnigale, Noel McKoy & Phoebe One 6. Fill Me In 7. Memories 8. Ride On 9. Another Song 10. Cold 11. Forbidden Lovers featuring Pam Hall 12. You Only Live Once 13. Its All Good 14. Prisoner in the Street 15. Listen Me Good featuring Don Ricardo 16. Humanity Pt. II 17. Make Ends Meet |
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Against the Grain (Jet Star, 2003)
Following Lloyd Brown’s wonderful Deep album -- which raised some deserved eyebrows on this side of the Atlantic -- I had high hopes for Against the Grain, but surprisingly it turns out to be a tepid effort. The corny pop undertones that surfaced here and there on the previous album are more apparent here on pointless remakes of Mike & The Mechanics' "The Living Years," Stevie Wonder's "Feeding Off the Love of the Land," and Beres Hammond's "Love Within the Music." His rendition of Jimmy Cliff's "Sitting in Limbo" is a bit better, but is still a flat, straightforward affair. The ska flavor of The Abyssinians' "Jerusalem" is the best of the too-frequent covers here. Beyond the straight covers, though, other tracks sample music from other songs, such as "Food for Thought," which borrows the vibrant roots riddim from Aswad's "Warrior Charge," while "Mr. Brown" revamps Desmond Dekker's classic "007 (Shanty Town)" beat. The former is actually one of the better tunes on Against the Grain, but the latter is pure cheese. This album isn't without some quality songs, of course, but much of the cream of this crop -- such as "Bless Me," "You Must Know," and "Main Squeeze" -- are available on compilations like Reggae Hits 31 and Strictly the Best 30. There are a couple of excellent tracks not on those collections -- namely "Close to Thee" and "Satisfy My Soul," both of which provide a mix of righteous roots and sultry lovers rock that Brown does so well when he's firing on all cylinders -- but of the rest of Against the Grain, the parts that aren't actively noxious are utterly pedestrian, from "Ebony Jones" to "Smile" to "Can't Done" to "Nothing But Love," which opens with one of the creepiest pick-up lines ever uttered with a straight face: "To dance with you is a vertical expression of a horizontal desire." Ick, I feel so dirty.
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Listing 1. Intro 2. Ebony Jones 3. Main Squeeze 4. No More 5. Food for Thought 6. Mr. Brown 7. You Must Know with Don Campbell 8. Close to Thee 9. The Living Years 10. Bless Me 11. Romeo 12. Sitting in Limbo with Euyonam 13. Nothing But Love 14. Can't Done 15. Satisfy My Soul 16. Jerusalem 17. Smile 18. Feeding Off the Love of the Land with Omar 19. Love Within the Music with Richie Davis, Bitty McLean, Pat Johnson, Michael Gordon, JC Lodge, Sylvia Tella, Donna Marie |