Dennis Brown – the Best of (The Niney Years)
Reviewed by Sadie O., 11/24/08
Roots rock reggae from one of its finest vocalists, produced by Niney the Observer. Covers Brown’s career from a teen star in the 70’s to his death in the 90’s. You can really pick any track at random – they’re all lovely, with superb singing.
No FCCs detected. I like 6, 8 and 14 best – but all are terrific.
1. **uptempo bouncy skank, rolling train groove.
2. ***midtempo roots rock, simple riddim offset by impassioned vocals.
3. **slow and dubby riddim, reverby vocals.
4. ***downtempo roots skank, great keyboard sound, fine hard times vocals.
5. ***nice clean sound, slightly downtempo skank, remade of the Gaylads classic (and a huge hit for Brown).
6. ****very downtempo bubble, spacey sounding. Extended mix with I Roy. Yeah, baby!
7. ***slightly downtempo roots wiggle, extemporized-sounding lyrics, big hit, remade over and over.
8. ****simple midtempo skank, Scratch-inspired lyrics, another extended dub mix with I Roy.
9. ***rather uptempo skank with an odd additional percussion line. I think they had a lot of stoners in the studio that day.
10. **uptempo with lots of hi-hat, harder they come lyrics.
11. **mid-uptempo bubble, sweet religious lyrics, big hit.
12. ***sweet midtempo bubble with bits of hand drums, upful.
13. **downtempo swingy bubble, revelation time lyrics.
14. ****uptempo forceful skank with lots of instrumentation, vocal harmonies.
15. **downtempo, pretty, love song.
16. ***downtempo skank with syndrum, simple love song. Note to Dennis: try “please”…
17. ***complex uptempo electronic riddim, rather metallic sounding, which contrasts with Brown’s sweet vocals.
18. **uptempo wiggle with syncopated electronic percussion, chorus based on a Supremes hit.