The lyrics of "I Need More Love" are short, but they tap into a lot of things that are relevant to living in Baltimore: A financial and spiritual poverty that devastates our neighborhoods, perceptions of racism that hang over all our residents, a perpetual tension that plagues many of us, and a dearth of love that is literally killing us. When he sings, "And help me get my mind right," I know what he's saying. Sometimes I think every single one of us in this city needs some serious help getting our minds right.
The rest of the album delivers on the promises of the first couple songs. No, it's not consistent from front to back ("Soul Refreshing" and "Problems" are weak throwbacks to the washed-out gospel-funk of the late '80s and early '90s), but it's a good listen. The steel guitar in "Smile" helps pull the song out of the doldrums of generic positivity, and the musicianship throughout the album -- particularly Randolph's guitar work -- is excellent.
Unclassified isn't breaking any new ground, but sometimes that's okay. Sometimes we just need to listen to music that makes us feel good for a little while.
Music:
Consistently strong playing from the whole band from start to finish, but the slower songs fail to achieve the emotion that is necessary to make slow songs work.
Packaging:
It's average all the way around. Nothing to condemn and nothing to celebrate.
Listen if you like: Sly & the Family Stone, Earth Wind & Fire, gospel from the 1990s.
If it were food, it'd be: Chicken soup.
5: should be heard by all music fans; a "perfect" album
3: just better than average; good for fans of the genre, and okay for everyone else
2: below average; listenable for fans of a genre, but only if there's nothing else to hear
1: poor, and whatever good qualities it has can't save it
0.5: no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
3 comments:
I liked the album before this a good bit, but the pre-release single left me a little bored. In that sense, I'm glad it's erratic, because there may be some stuff on their that's up my alley.
By the way, what do you know about chicken soup? Because I know you, I know that you haven't eaten chicken soup in something like 20 years. How can you compare this album to chicken soup when you're so far removed from it? Is that kinda like reviewing the record without listening to it?
Interesting idea for a blog...
I never would have guessed this album is at the library.
RR&TFB are, in opinion, much better enjoyed live than recorded.
Thanks, Danielle. I've been amazed by what CDs I've found at the library. Whoever is ordering music over there seems to have some sort of love for what he/she is doing.
I had no idea Robert Randolph would've played somewhere as small as Sonar. Your pics make it look like it was a great show. I'll have to hope that they play somewhere like that next time around, since I hate seeing bands in big venues.
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