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VARIOUS ARTISTS
Here Comes The Sun: A Reggae
Tribute To The Beatles (Madacy)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson
My kind of tribute disc is the kind where the bands take an entirely different approach to the material than the band of honor took. The String Quartet tribs to Zeppelin, The Who and Pink Floyd, for instance. Classical versions approaching avant-garde. Very cool. But can an entire CD of Beatles songs (reggae artists work? Not all of it, maybe, but almost all of it.
Too bad it opens with Ellis Island's riskless take on "A Little Help From My Friends," because there are several better choices for the opening slot. Moving past that and the pretty but much too glossy version of "Yesterday" by Mankind, we find some good tracks and a few great ones. Steel Pulse contributes "We Can Work It Out," giving it a beautiful groove and an interesting hesitation that catches you off-guard, singing early in places until you finally shut up and leave it to the pros. Toots & The Maytals kick "Hey Jude" into a happy little ska celebration that makes perfect sense and lifts the spirits. The Burning Souls give "Here Comes The Sun" an arrangement that could be seen either way; it's a sweet little island delight or a ball of synthesized fluff, but the original doesn't exactly demand toughness.
The most interesting track is "Come Together," cleverly arranged by Edi Fitzroy and Bigga Starr to blend traditional reggae vocals during most of the song and dancehall rapping during the breaks, resulting in a very rhythmic, percussive sound that allows them to claim the song as their own. The most intensely beautiful track, however, is Mello's version of Lennon's "In My Life." Is it because that particular song, more than any other, is our glimpse into the soul of John Lennon? Partly, I think, but I also think Mello is either a Lennon fan or he relates to the material as it applies to his own life, just as we apply it to ours. Whichever the case, his performance brings goosebumps and a lump in the throat. This tribute disc is worth all the trouble it may take to track it down, and then some.
Track List:
A Little Help from My Friends (Ellis Island) * We Can Work It Out (Steel Pulse) * Something (Lehbanchleh) * Come Together (Edi Fitzroy & Bigga Starr) * She Loves You (Hugh J) * Imagine (Chalice) * Norwegian Wood (Wayne Armond) * In My Life (Mello) * Yesterday (Mankind) * Hey Jude (Toots And The Maytals) * Here Comes the Sun (Burning Souls) * Let It Be (Fiona)
© 2002 - DJ Johnson