Jun 06 '04
Review - Jah Mason "Most Royal" LP
| Artist: | Jah Mason | Cover scan: |
| Title: | Most Royal | |
| Label: | Jah Warrior | |
| Catalogue Number: | JWLP026, JWCD026 | |
| Format: | LP, CD | |
| Rating: |  |
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| Review no.: | 243 |
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| Result: | Fresher than the last ones but no dubs. | |
| Review date: | 2004-06-06 | |
| Detailed review: | ||
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There have been a lot of releases featuring Jah Mason lately and I guess
most of you agree that not all of them could be rated good. Sometimes less
is more. So you see this release on Jah Warrior Records sceptical. But
luckily, this is a false conclusion. The album is convincing but mainly
because the Jah Warrior sound has developed.
It starts already on "Most Royal" which has been released on 7" before. I don't recall if the bass sounded the same on the 7" but right now, the bass sound sounds fresh and promising. Still, no bass can compete with the Jah Warrior Bass (like on the "Can't Take The Pressure" album), of course. Jah Mason with his very rough, sometimes more shouting than singing and therefore fits to the Jah Warrior sound. Still, Jah Mason needs getting used, too. It reminds me more of dancehall singing and is completely different than for example the charming voice of a Peter Broggs or Prince Allah. Besides "Most Royal", there are two more tracks on the album that have been released on 7" before: "Rainbow Circle Throne" (a soundsystem stomper) and "No Joke". 11 more songs are presented on the CD, 9 on the vinyl. The range of styles is quite big, "Love How The Youths Them Live" is for example a very unusual riddim while "Can You Feel The Pain" or "Don't Cry" are strict one drops and "So Long" for example is a very fast stepper inna warrior style. I think my favourite is "Rumours Of War" because of it's very
driving bassline. And I mean very! I also like "They Say They Love
Us", the bass is cool and the skanks, well, skank. |
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All in all, the
album is a serious piece of modern roots music. But I think it all depends
on if you like Jah Masons's voice or not as you have no dubs here...
