Greensleeves' double disc Songs For Reggae Lovers is like the current West Indies senior cricket team. When it is good it is very good, when it is bad it is near nauseating.
And just like those boys with the bats and balls it is not good nearly often enough, not for 30 songs worth of playing time to impress.
In addition, the good comes mostly on the second disc (Whatcha did tell you? Just like the Win-likkle bit, who scoop up Test match victories when the series has already been decided - and not in their favour).
But among the grit on the first disc comes a diamond or two, but it is soooooo hard to get to.
So, the gems. Johnny Osbourne's Ice Cream Love. The consummate dancehall singer lays out his love requirements in a sorta baritone on a helluva rub-a-dub rhythm. That is at track two. The other gem. Barrington Levy's The Vibes Is Right. The man with the piercing voice cuts loose on a slow, keyboard-dominated rhythm in an unforgettable song. That is at track 15.
What of in between? OK, so there is John Holt's Sweetie Come Brush Me, a lover's rock standard, and JC Lodge and Sugar Minott team up for Since You Came Into My Life, their voices complementary, but contrasting.
But remember the grit. Big names do not mean big songs, one of the real pits being Dennis Brown's version of Hello. The producer should have said goodbye to that one without even releasing it. Bunny Rugs' solo version of Now That We've Found Love shows how a good song can be made average, while Jacob Miller's Baby I Love You So and Cocoa Tea's Getting Closer are below par.
Bouncy start
Disc 2 starts out much better - and it is ironic that the songs are more 'up to the time', when love has taken a bit of a back seat to bullets and boxing matches in Jamaican music. Wayne Wonder's No Letting Go is a bouncy start, Richie Stephens and General Degree's Rock Me is a dancehall rocking end. Degree is not the only deejay on the set, as Sizzla combines with Morgan Heritage on All I Want (although Kalonji is more in singing than deejay mode). Vegas' voice is keening on Rise, Chuck Fendah and Cherine Anderson's Coming Over is certified popular and is good to boot.
But my pick of the crop is Bushman's Your Love, as the gravel-voiced man from St Thomas growls out his reaction to and desire for the lady ("there she goes, rushing through the corners of my mind").
Freddie McGregor's version of Night Nurse is competent, Sanchez's incredible voice gives Can We Talk a lift, but again there are just some tracks that are not up to scratch - and that includes Frankie Paul's version of I Wanna Sex You Up.
Dean Fraser's Moonlight is a good instrumantal touch.
If you can tolerate the numerous potholes in between the stretches of glorious lover's rock highway, press on. If not, save your front end the trouble.
- Mel Cooke
