Customer Reviews

Hold on to Love

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

 

 

this album is a mixture of good beats and thoughtful lyrics that will enchant you while you play it! and make you play it over again!

By this time Third World had been around ten years and,since they started off their career with a cover of a Gamble & Huff song it seemed only logical that they would wind up the producer/writers of half of this album. Even with the band producing their own half this album doesn't have the same high energy electro funk flavors of the excellent previous album Sense of Purpose and instead this is music that relies more on atmosphere and texture than on rhythms and grooves. "The Spirit Live","Hold Onto Love" and "Simplicity" all have more elaborate arrangements than even typical pop-reggae. There's also Christian/gospel messages underlying these tunes which actually work in an interesting way with the bands rastafarian backround surprisingly. As for the other two Gamble & Huff tracks here there's the hardcore funk/reggae jam in "Corruption" which conjurs up images of a Jamaican version of the O'Jays making music in the mid 80's. "Manners" is a great Teddy Pendergrass/Bluenotes type uptempo Philly jam as only Gamble & Huff could deliver it that show that,no matter what your beliefs are treating other people right is always the way to go and it was a great plea for humanism in the "me" generation. Of the songs Third World provided themselves they bring back the Minneapolis connection,even though it's in a leaner style than before on "We Could Be Jammin' Reggae". "Get Outta Town" and "Reggae Radio Station" are the more reggae-ish of the songs here and again showcase sudtlty over showmanship. From the sound and lyric of "Pyramid" there's no doubt that it comes from a similar musical environment as Michael Jackson's "Liberian Girl" from his album Bad which by sheer coinsidence was released the same year. The album ends again on a somewhat gospelish/rasta combination (only this time from the bands own pens) on "Peace Flags". This album is somewhat more on the experimental side for Third World as their usual focus on melodic rhythms is sacrificed more for....melodic harmonies and such. It's a different kind of Third World and at the very least it was a good example of a band progressing as opposed to remaining in the same place just to keep an audience.

What is interesting about this disc is that in 1978, Third World was able to hit the pop charts per a reggae version of "Now that we've found love"; a song that was originally a Motown type R and B tune, maybe done by the Temptations but apparently not a big hit. The song was written by Kenneth Gamble and Leon A. Huff: now 10 years later in 1987: Gamble and Huff produce and pen a number of the songs here on a TW (Third World) album. Those songs being "The spirit lives", "Hold on to love", "Corruption", "Simplicity" and "Manners." It's like the band and the producers agreed that, after the success of the single in the '70s, they would now collaborate on a project.

As much as I'd like to say it is a 5 star effort, I think it lingers between 3 and 4 which is still fairly good. It is just not as memorable as some TW efforts but is definitely of historic interest.

My review likewise, should be taken with a grain of salt. Third World often wishes to keep up with trends and the Toasters and Dance Hall were now coming on to the scene but they also often do the different and unexpected at the same time. There is not much roots here.

The title song "Hold on to love"; is done in almost a way, that one can almost imagine it being performed by a Christian pop band as it is, like the last track, "Peace Flags" is reminiscent of Gospel music. Additionally, this CD seems to have an absence of the typical effects of a Third World reggae album, tri-colored themes mirroring the Ethiopian flag and music that emanates a lot of energy. The opening tune, "The spirit lives" by Gamble and Huff mentions Marcus Garvey, the back picture shows a photo of the band with Bunny Rugs pointing the one way like Christian sign to heaven. It is almost ambiguous in some parts of this album as to what religion might even be under discussion with the Gospel flavor it has, but it still works well.

On the other hand it isn't a bad experiment in some ways, when was the last time we heard a band sing about "Manners"; huh? "Manners, ain't nothing wrong with having manners, show respect and some courtesy" and "brush your teeth before you go to bed... you don't have to use profanity to get your point across to me."; So, though this collection may not be all that strong, it still isn't bad to see Third World get out of their box once in awhile instead of just being seen as a reggae band.

That said, there is some reggae here, "Reggae Radio Station" is basically a song much in the same mode as "Reggae ambassador" but even with a few other efforts, it really is an effort comprised with R and B, Soul and Gospel about equally.

I guess if I had "Manners" I'd bump it up it a star! However, the usual cliches of maybe needing to meet a contract obligation, sounding forced and/or uninspired and formula type songs may indeed apply to this album in parts.

But right after the reggae boom of the late '70s, early '80s, I think quite a few recording artists found it difficult to keep their hard edge and define their niche.

More righteous reggae jammin' from the brethren of Third World. This album has a broad mix of reggae which should appeal to all...also a great introductory album for those new to the scene. Check it out!