DENNIS BROWN
Let Me Be The One (VP)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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Reggae fans should drop all other plans and run out to pick this CD up right now. Not because it's the best reggae CD of the year. It's damned good, but it has too much competition to just have that title slapped on it. No, you need this because it's the very last album Dennis Emanuel Brown recorded. It's a wonderful set of songs so alive it momentarily catches you off guard and makes you forget that the man is gone, taken away from us far, far too soon. The joy of his music washes over you and carries that sadness away, at least for the duration of the CD, and that's what Dennis Brown was all about in the first place. There's no need to get into a major dissection of individual tracks here. Each one has his loving voice and magic delivery, that "everything will be okay" spell he always cast and continues to cast. There's been a whole lot of stocking going on in front of the Dennis Brown card at the CD store since his passing, and so far, I can't find too much fault with any of it, outside of misleading packaging, because it's bringing out the work of one of reggae's greatest artists. This, however, should be moved to the front of the stacks where it belongs.

© 2000 - DJ Johnson