Customer Reviews

Boombastic

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was a big fan of Reggae back in the 70s - I listened almost all the time to Rock steady and early Reggae beat. Sometime - round about the mid 80s it all became rather boring and repetitive so I gave it up. Coming back to the music with the new millennium in sight what a thrill it is to discover Shaggy and the 'Bombastic full length album'.

What excitement, what power, what freshness of approach, what impeccable choice of tracks to toast to (toast means DJ in traditional reggae). This must be the most exciting toast album I have heard since Big Youth's 'Dread Locks Dread' (check it out). Shaggy has a wonderful strong voice, and the tracks he chooses to toast are all gems. Most of them unknown to me apart from Mungo Jerry's 'in the summer time' and Marley's 'Mr. Brown' (although the original is almost unrecognizable after shaggy's treatment of it). Shaggy generally goes for raunchy humor but social issues also play a part and I defy you not to be moved by Shaggies masterly adaptation of Ken Booths "The train is coming" (anybody know where the original can be found).

Go out - buy the album - get into a suitable state of mind and play it loud. you won't be disappointed.

On the surface, Shaggy should be the best dancehall performer around at the moment - he has the right image and seems to have the right lyrics. The only problem is that he is not as good as he could be.

The main reason for this unfulfilled potential is shown here on this disc. Shaggy is able to create very good singles, however his musical vision - such as it is - doesn't lend itself well to the album format. On "Boombastic", we begin with the Rayvon collaboration "Summertime" - this is quite a good partnership as songs of this nature go (although Chaka Demus And Pliers have perfected the art) but is slightly lighter weight than it should be.

The song which really sums up the album is "Boombastic". Here we have a great hit - worldwide number 1 etc - which should set the tone for the album. Certainly it is a standout but really only because the rest of the album doesn't fulfill the promise of the title cut.

Don't think that I'm saying that Shaggy is nothing when it comes to dancehall - quite the contrary. Three songs on this album ("Heartbreak Susie", "Finger Smith" and "Forgive Them Father") demonstrate a solid understanding of the attitudes and requirements of the proper toasting DJ.

Shaggy falls short here because his net is cast too broadly (a problem with many of the younger dancehall artists). He tries to integrate elements of hip-hop ("Why You Treat Me So Bad") and gospel ("Train Is Coming") among other styles on this album - reggae is not meant to do this.

By all means buy this album - it makes a great soundtrack for parties and the like. Just don't claim any great knowledge of reggae or dancehall having listened to it. For a more comprehensive dancehall education, try Chaka and Pliers, Buju Banton or Beenie Man.

In short, an artist with great potential who needs to work on keeping things simple before trying new things. From the potential he shows here - I hope he takes this on board because he could be very good.

This CD is great. Many CD's only have two or three good songs on them, but this one has eight that I like!

This is the perfect pool-side CD to have. I liked it the first time I listened to it and it gets better each time I play it.

Shaggy is one of the best reggae singers out there.
This album is his best and one of the best reggae albuns ever released after Bob Marley's.
A must to all reggae music lovers and collectors.

This is the best CD of Shaggy's. I recamened it to anyone who likes reggae or who likes the well known song Boombastic.

Hey, yo Shaggy is so smooth and so sexy especially in his song Boombastic...we need to hear some more music by him now a days.

I got to see Shaggy live not long ago and it was awesome. So is his alblum! If you are a true reggae fan, you need this CD!

I like Shaggy because he is one of the one of the singer
that enjoys singing

This is a horrible album, from a mediocre reggae artist.