Customer Reviews

Great American Soulbook

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What can I say? After forty years of making incredible soul music, Tower Of Power comes out with yet another blockbuster album! They sound great and it's all here: the magical sound of the Fillmore concert in 2008 courtesy of Castillo, "Doc" Kupka, Francis Rocco's infusion of funk, David Garibaldi, Larry Braggs, Roger Smith, Tom E. Politzer on saxophone and more, trumpeter Adolfo Acosta, "Iron Mike" Bogart and 2007 inductee Mark Harper. I agree with the reviewer who writes that there's not a single dud on this album; TOP is one of the very, very few groups that could ever even hope to pull off a set of covers that is all this good!!! The guest appearances by the likes of Joss Stone, Tom Jones and Huey Lewis only make this even better.

"You Met Your Match" starts the CD with an electrified tune that couldn't be better. The band plays this with all their might and just one listen proves it! "You Met Your Match" is a Stevie Wonder tune with Larry Braggs doing some mighty fine singing along with the others. I love that percussion, too! "You Met Your Match" is a strong beginning for this CD. "I Thank You" features Tom Jones; and when Tom gets together with Tower Of Power the result explodes into a fantastic number that you won't forget anytime soon! The beat is awesome and I really like "I Thank You."

"It Takes Two" features the wonderful Joss Stone; this ballad has some great music to go along with Joss Stone and Larry Braggs who sing one out this without missing a note! "It Takes Two" is a major highlight of this album and I know you're going to like it. In addition, "Me & Mrs. Jones" by Billy Paul shines bright in the capable hands of Tower Of Power. TOP gives the classic "Me & Mrs. Jones" a most romantic flavor that would make most "celebrities" green with envy; and I really like that "Star Time" lets them do a fine tribute to the immortal James Brown.

"Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel" has all the brightness of the world's biggest diamond when Tower Of Power performs it; they sway gently and play that music so well that you just know "Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel" is yet another big highlight of this album. Joss Stone returns to do some more work with TOP on "[Heaven Must Have Sent] Your Precious Love;" this stuns me with its beauty; and when Tower Of Power does this with Joss Stone the result is absolutely mesmerizing. Huey Lewis joins in for a great effect on "634-5789;" and the album ends strong with Tower Of Power performing "Who Is He (And What Is He To You)?" This last number showcases the fine vocals of Larry Braggs--and they don't come too much better than Larry!

Great American Soulbook scores yet another big goal for Tower Of Power. This group is alive, well and kicking! They have a great sound that can take just about any ballad and make it into a masterful soul number. I highly recommend this for their fans; and people who like high quality control soul music with some electricity on the side will not be disappointed.

I am glad to see that there are a lot of loyal ToP fans out there and glad to see that a lot of people are happy with this cd.That's good for ToP. But, I must say that I am much in agreement with "Saxman's" review of this album. I, too have been a fan of ToP for many, many years and saw them live many times back in the Rick Stevens and Lenny Williams era when they were fresh, tight, and cutting edge. This current collection of covers is just that. There are no standouts, no re-inventions, nothing to make the songs "theirs". They just played them the way they've been played before - right down to the sappy string arrangements on "Me and Mrs. Jones".

For a group of ToP's stature I would have thought they would have brought some fresh arrangements to us with some real snap and exceptional musicianship. Instead I find the whole project uninspired and lackluster. The production quality is poor as well. It strikes me as something done quickly and easily to get a product to market. At best it is just "okay".

There's no doubt about it... Tower of Power is the world's greatest SOUL band... they stand on their own for the great American Soul Book which *they* wrote, and they can also be heard as the guest horn section with many other legendary pop groups... that said, I'll be honest: I can't quite fathom an entire album as TOP doing covers of other artists' tunes... I would have much rather sat through a compilation featuring tracks that TOP did with other pop artists over the years as the guest horn section (hey, wouldn't that be a good idea???)

The tracks, however, in themselves are great... and as a "cover band" TOP does the job BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE COULD EVEN THINK OF... but after all these years, there's really only one thing that I, a die hard fan really wants... More Oakland Bump, un-compromised, from the masters who created it.

In conclusion, had the album offered a mix of fresh material and covers, I probably would have dug it way more... Its a cute project, cute idea... demonstrates a band that is as musically vibrant as they were in the FILMORE days - - if you like THE BLUES BROTHERS, the COMMITMENTS and other groups like that, this album will have great appeal... however, all in all, unless your cup of tea is TOP doing COVERS (something very rare at their show) this album is definitely not the one us die hard fans are all still waiting for...

They've done it again! My boys are back in town...can't wait to see you live.

When I heard the pre-release snippits of 'TGAS', I wasn't excited. Hopeful that short clips of the songs weren't going to do them justice, I looked forward to hearing a couple of them when TOP recently played Wash, DC...but they didn't play a one, though Emilio mentioned the album.

So I wasn't in a big hurry to buy it, and didn't until yesterday - and was I ever blown away. This is the best music they have made since the early Warner days. The arrangements are great, the recording is fine, Larry is in fine voice, and the guest stars fit their slots. I thought that 'Loveland', the James Brown tribute, and 'Mr. Pitiful' where the best numbers. I don't have a beef with any of the cuts except 'Me and Mrs. Jones'...in opposition to what others have said, I found this one to be just too much of a direct remake with no TOP influence at all...Larry even sounds like Billy Paul. It wasn't BAD, mind you, just nothing I don't hear in the original - even the string arrangement is EXACTLY the same. I found the sensiblity of 'Heaven Missing and Angel' and 'Heaven Must Have Sent your Precious Love' to be too similar, but both were fine tracks.

This is a kick-butt album. If you're over 40, love classic R&B, Carolina beach music, or just amaznig musicianship, this is the one for you.

Although this TOP release may not appeal as much to those who grew up listening to the original versions of the twelve cuts included on this fabulous set, those that do appreciate "old school" are in for a real treat. On the other hand, for long-time fans, any new TOP release is cause for celebration, and this latest fills the bill beyond already high expectations, from my perspective. Although not all the songs included top the artists that put the tunes on the Billboard charts, enough do to make this a bona fide no-skip-play-it-all-the-way-through-and-sing-along-with-all-the-songs disc; and none in my book are served up as lesser than the originals. Simply put, this is great stuff - just check out the swaggering stroll that Huey Lewis takes with all those punchy horns on 634-5789, or the de-disco-fied version of Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel, remade into a purely pop tune that you'll be humming along with before the first chorus is over with. Sam Moore, Tom Jones, and Joss Stone do more than just nicely mimic on their numbers - without exception, each digs into their portion with a gusto that pleases right down to the toes. I know that old soul music is not everyone's cup of tea, but for those of us who appreciate it, this disc puts it right in the ten ring. Already lining up my coins for Volume two, while praying it won't be too long in the making!

I was initially very harsh in my criticism of this CD. Having lived with it for a number of months, I guess my only real problem is with cover albums in general: not a fan. However, TOP is miles above any other horn band and any other horn band doing covers (paging Chicago - Night & Day, What's It Gonna Be Santa and XXVI - The Live Album where they cover earlier tunes with only about half of the original band...now down to two these days).

TOP has made SO many albums and even their weakest efforts (see the Columbia era of 1976-79)are miles above the rest of the horn/R&B pack. Larry Braggs is in fine voice, the horns are a tiny bit more subdued, but the rhythm section pops and overall, it's a worthy edition to their catalog. But then again, I think all their albums are. Once I got the TOP bug, I forgot about Chicago, Blood, Sweat & Tears, etc. No one can touch them and I feel the same about this release. Even the guest star turns are very tasty: Tom Jones, etc. duet quite well with Larry Braggs and only add to the party. This one would get 5 stars if it were all original material as the band's originals are of a very high standard.

This new CD by Tower of Power has the good horn group performing classics from the great american "soul" book.All of the cuts are funky but my 2 favorites was the cut with Tom Jones and the song "Me & Mrs.Jones" I would have enjoyed a straight ahead ballad tempo to mix it up with all of the other selections-but you really can't go wrong with this new CD from the group.

I've been following ToP from the "East Bay Grease" days. I was a continent away but when these guys broke out with that album, horn playing kids in my Junior High and others throughout the 5 New York City Boroughs went nuts for the band. ToP along with James Browns' band, early Kool and the Gang and Mandrill, formed the core of what we listened to and the cream of crop of horns bands, only Chicago and posibly BS&T could be included from the non-soul side. All this being said I've owned and listened to ToP since their inception. I never, ever thought I'd see/hear them do a cover album but here it is.

While I do NOT think ToP performing covers is a blasphemy, I do think the band was ill served by this effort. The primary problem with this work is the weak source material. ToP was first and formost the tightest horn band in the world and perhaps the funkiest behind the JB's but you wouldn't know that by this album. Too many of these songs are either horn weak or from the wrong genre. While I loved Tavares' "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel" from my disco days, WTF does that tune have to do with ToP? The only time this album catches fire is when the boys tackle their greatest rival, James Brown, then and only then do you see what this album could've been.

Had this effort been left to me to plan THAT is what I would've done with it! Have ToP tackles horn driven songs from Chicago, Son's of Champlain, Spence Davis Group, P-Funk, early Kool and the Gang and, of course, more James and then we'd have had a real reason to celebrate ToP's first venture in to the songs of others. But as we all know, that didn't happen. My recommendation? Buy the mp3's of the tunes you like but leave the rest of the album here.

Da Worfster

Wow....can Larry Braggs sing or what!!!
The band played a few of the tunes this summer while on tour and I just had to go out and buy the damn thing. These are all time classics that the TOP boys re-classified. A must have in your music collections.