Fantan Mojah - Hail The King

[The Arch Angel Gabriel]

ok..listened to this twice now since I got it..

over all impression?..I thought I was buying a reggae album..

C to C- on the scale level...stick with the singles..(for those outside of the US A = excellent, B = above average, C = Average, D = Poor, F = Failure_

g

[lankou2]

mind you, such such A to E marks (grades) also exist outside of the US! ; )
some good tunes from the rasta teddy bear, OK.i saw the Hail the King video the other day, a little pompous, in a way.

[zapatoo]

What's an "E"?

...laying myself open here...

[dubminister]

Stick with the singles is definitely my impression of a lot of modern reggae. Some real high points but not much good over a whole album.
I love 'Hungry' and 'Hail to the King'
dm

[The Arch Angel Gabriel]

yes..i think it is just something I have to get use to..except for some modern labels..there is a mixture of reggae, r'n'b-type numbers, and hip-hop on these modern "roots" lps..it is quite disconcerting for these ears..it use to be "back" in the day that when you picked up a reggae lp - it actually was a reggae lp.

[lankou2]

i suppose that's why the best current reggae albums (in the broad sense of the term) of each year rarely have much in common with the tunes that do well in the JA charts.
Jr Kelly's latest is a notable exception, though i am not really sure it contains many "hit " singles.
i found F Mc Gregor 's latest one produced by Bobby Digital an excellent LP but i'm really not too sure it raised much of an eyebrow among the younger current 7" aficionados...
i stopped buying current 7"s (apart from stuff from selected labels i've been following for many years) some years ago and mainly get albums, most of them i find rather inconsistent, though they do contain several good tunes.It's hard for me to listen to one in a row, apart from some exceptions! Gi ven the many tunes released every month, i think that comps could be of a much better quality than most of the recent one-riddim albums, be they "one drop" (ahem) or hardcore dancehall.
I still enjoy what Jet Star does with their Reggae Hits series , though. their mixing UK tunes and JA tunes is rather refreshing, imho.Comps seem to be the ideal format for JA music for those who don't follow or drop out of the current 7" market.but their conceptors often go for the obvious choices, which is understandable, given the commercial situation for such music.

[dubminister]

Lankou2 I thought about the Junior Kelly album as I have a couple of singles that I really like but in the end decided just to pick up good singles here and there.
I think quality control has always been an issue in reggae and I'm with you gabriel on the mixture of sounds - not somehting I generally enjoy either.
dm

[BMC]

Junior Kelly's latest album (Tough Life) is a killer imo! Very very good and surprisingly consistent: hardly a weak track. When I saw him live a few weeks ago he did almost the entire album: a pleasure to see! Recommended album if one would ask me.

Favourite tune of mr. Kelly at the moment: Jam For A while from said album, love that tune!

As for the Mojah album, haven't heard it myself but know at least 11 or 12 tunes from it that I have on 45 which all are quite normal recent reggae riddims and have been reasonable to big hits. This doesn't seem too bad for an album of 17 tunes I'd say. Besides that I personally don't mind some influences from other related music types, that's just a part of the music nowadays and does give nice additions sometimes.

Two recent modern reggae comps that are well worth picking up imo are the two Young Lions discs (Vol. I & II).

For me though, 45s is the way to go if you're really into this music, you'll miss out on a whole lot of killers instead.

[dots69]

bmc said:

For me though, 45s is the way to go if you're really into this music

i shared similar sentiments on 'another' reggae forum recently and got a severe beatin for it ;D

of course you're 100% correct bmc

respect
Dots

[BMC]

dots69 said:

of course you're 100% correct bmc

I know. ;D

Respect mr. Dots, hope all is well!

[The Arch Angel Gabriel]

yes..i think i am coming to the conclusion that 45s is the way to go for the new stuff..unless i get a recommendation from someone on these boards..like the JR Kelly..I think I may stay away from current lps...

g

[admin]

I don't think the album's weak but it's not a classic either. 7/10 from me.

Respect

Gordy

[Dr Cool Breeze]

Best album by far from last year imo
Nice to see the killer track Hold The Faith Released on 45 on Dennis Browns Hold On To What You Got - Big Tune

[Dr Cool Breeze]

Oh - and the Fantan Mojah Album - Very Average

[BMC]

Well as said, I don't have the record myself, but looking at the tracklist again I'm quite sure this Mojah record is easily an above average and actually pretty good album for me.

It has a whole bunch of wicked tracks:

Hail The King, Corruption, Hungry, Thanks & Praise, She Makes Me Feel So Nice, Rastafari Is The Ruler (With Mr. Flash), Murderer and King Of Kings.

And some pretty ok ones too:

Uplift Yourself (With First Born), Don't Bow Out and Authentic Love (With Mr. Flash).

I don't think I know the others, but this already are 11 wicked to good tracks for me out of 18 of which I don't know the rest, of which some might be nice as well. So I'd say this album wont be as good as Tough Life, but it is pretty good imho.

Just to give a different view as well. ;D

[Ital Dokta]

I haven't got the Mojah album myself (I probably will pick it up at some point though) but as BMC says, of the tracks I know already (not as many as him!) it looks to be a pretty good collection of tunes.

One catch with modern reggae albums that bears reiterating, is that they are usually compiled from a bunch of big tunes released on various rhythms with cuts by many different artists by several producers. So they are not conceived as an album at all in the rock music style concept of the term which can lead to consistency or flow problems when you listen to them all together. Whereas listening to the same tunes run together with some versions by other artists on the same riddim tracks, can sound much better and have a much more effective musical flow (depending on the selecting skills involved). A subjective difference to be sure but quite a real one with modern reggae I think (and the reason why, when I buy singles I always try to pick up more than one cut on a rhythm, the tunes just somehow don't sound right when heard by themselves).

Yes I know reggae albums have usually been put together by compiling previous singles, however in the past you would have for example a Mighty Diamonds album where all the tunes are recorded at Channel One, or Burning Spear and all the tunes are for Coxsone or Jack Ruby or whoever...leading to a more consistent sound and stronger albums. That approach doesn't seem to exist today as it did in the old days.

[satchmo]

Its a very nice record for what it is. Compare it to other full lengths by new artists coming out of JA.