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When
you liked Zema's album Stranger in the
gates, you will absolutely love this
one, because it contains everything
that "Stranger" lacked: a
full band with well known members such
as Haile Maskel and Zacky Bernard
(Twinkle Brothers), an
all-stars list of guest appearances (Ras
Michael), more songs, and more dubs,
mixed skillfully by Scientist. Where
the music on Stranger was catchy, the
vibes on this one rock hard! |
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Again,
Zema comes up with a varied style of
riddims, but they all stay with the
realm of High Quality Roots Reggae.
You can hear that the musicians are
all very experienced. The dubs are
mixed by the legendary Scientist, I
wish that he would have dubbed all the
titles, because they're really more
than worth it!
The
album starts of with "Open
Up", a solid track with a nice
guitar riff reminding me of Black
Uhuru in their "Anthem" era.
After this comes the title track, a
heartical call to the hypocrites who
like to judge their brethren and
impress others by calling themselves
"leaders". Third title is a
cover of Johnny Osbourne's "Give
A Little Love", which in my
opinion is much better then the
original (sorry, brethren Johnny). Or
take the next one, "Somebody
Wrong", created after
a traditional, with special guest
appearance RAS MICHAEL, who can be
considered as the conga specialist of
Reggae Music. Track 5 is called
"How Long", with nice (male)
backing vocals. It's a heartical
sufferer's prayer that I'm sure many
can relate to. Next up, "Praise
You". In a one drop stop style,
this a righteous track filled with
praises to the Most High. It comes
with it's Scientific Dub mix,
skillfully mixed in the style of
Scientist Dubs Culture Into Parallel
Universe. "Their Own Sight",
the next track on the album, is a
Steppers Beat over a really powerful
lyrics based
on
an ancient prophesy. Also this track
comes with an accompanying Dub Version
by Scientist. Followed is the song
called "Gain The World",
again in a One Drop style. A crucial
One Drop style, because the drummer
really knows how to play this rather
difficult rhythm. One Drop continues
in the next track ("Who We
Are"), that Zema wrote together
with Twinkle Brothers' keyboard player
Zachy Bernard, her husband, by the
way. There's a little guitar solo in
the track as well. The last vocal is
my absolute favorite: "Praise
Before Battle": a rub a
dub tune that I played five times in a
row when I first heard it. I just
can't get enough from this one, it's
so strong, both lyrical and musical.
Too bad there is no dub from this one
on the album.
Speaking
of dubs, I already mentioned them,
Scientist has dubbed two tracks on
this album. They remind me much of his
Dub album from Culture's Payday, also
reviewed in the Dubroom.
All
in all, I consider this to be one of
the better recent roots reggae
releases. The sistren is gifted with a
great voice, sweet yet strong,
schooled yet heartical. Zema belongs
to the absolute top of female Reggae
Singers, and I am not alone in this
opinion. In every critique and review
I read, the writers are talking highly
of this album. This is a must for your
Conscious Reggae Collection!
-Messian Dread |
