Customer Reviews

Much More Than Much Love

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

 

 

I disagree with the previous reviewer although we each have our own voice. I enjoy this CD very much and found it through the recommendations page. Dice and Beautiful Nature are two of my favorite songs on this album. If you like slow, jazzy, sort of funky sounds that FQ provides, you'll love this CD! It's a mellow sound with a very warm and heartfelt message in the majority of the songs.

'Much More Than Much Love' is a huge departure from his 'Maverick A Strike' style (I don't own Vanguard, so I can't comment about it), so if you're only really inclined to that reggae trip-hop(ish) sound, then I advise you give Quaye's latest a decent listen at your local. If you've already decided that you're gonna love it and live inside America though, then it would be wise to find it for a far more attractive price than what Amazon is offering, unless you're insane, that is.

I mentioned Quaye has abandoned his original reggae sound, and that's true for the most part, except for a couple of songs--"Now and Forever" and "Pearls of Wisdom" which sound like they could of just about been plucked straight out of 'Maverick'. The rest of album is left with largely a resounding rock, eh, sound though. This new rocking Finley shocked me on my first listen, but after a few more spins I began to realise Quaye has definanetly made the right choice. I would of been concerned if he just stuck with a generic rock sound though, like a lot of these artists who experiment with a different style, but fortunately he makes every song different and distinctly his own.

The shock mentioned above could mainly be attributed to the acoustic love-ballad (I didn't want to use the word country incase it scared people off...), "Lovers Return" by the way. Don't be scared though because his voice actually suits the genre (perhaps we will see a 'Finley Quaye - Unplugged' in the near future?).

As much as I love Finley's new direction, he does make a few small missteps, such as the second track, "Beautiful Nature"-- it starts off well enough, but becomes rather bland and boring, but luckily he does a right-turn and makes the song interesting before the end. This seems to be the case with a few songs-- he has some great idea's, but just doesn't know how to string it all together and ends up filling the songs with, well, filler material. I guess this makes you appreciate the good bits all the more, right? Besides, no album is ever perfect.

All the albums wrong moves are made up for by the oustanding "Dice"-- Beth Orten and Finley make beautiful music here and arguably create the best song on the album (Beth really makes the song with her a amazing voice-- if you don't buy the album, you should probably download this song). Another stand-out song for me was the toe-tapping, "Adorable", which is by far the most rocking and catchy song on offer.

Just a little tip; like 'Maverick A Strike', 'MMTML' <i>needs</i> a decent pair of earphones to pick up all the little details Finley jams into his songs, or a really good sound system (if you don't have either, you're basically doing the CD and your ears an injustice).

I recommend "Much More Than Much Love" to those who looking for something different from the norm with their rock, or people who want an album with plenty of variety, but for those who really preferred his older stylings, then try it before you buy it (one-minute clips for just about every song can be found [online], that might suffice). Also for people who hated Finley before, give this a listen-- you might be in for a suprise.

This one is hard to classify: Rock-Reggae (less than the first 2 albums)-Electronic-Dub + strings... but there are some good acoustic "Folk" tracks too.... Probably the most "mainstream" of Finely's albums - the electronic influence of William Orbit with Beth Orton's vocals makes for a great album that should appeal to fans of good music. His best work yet.

This is by far Finley Quaye's best reggae album in years titled "Much More Than Much Love", released in 2003.The album has classic hits/gems "Your Love Gets Sweeter", "Dice" & my favourite track "Face To Face" and hence the title of my review! Track 05 "Lovers Return" is an amazing beautiful acoustic duet for just under 3 minutes! Other notable songs/gems include "Something To Say", "Beautiful Nature","Waiting For You", "Living Without You", "Now And Forever" & "Overcome". This album should be accesible to the masses due to its pop/rock feel in most songs, with distinct reggae songs being "Face To Face", "Now And Forever", "This Is How I Feel" & "Pearls Of Wisdom". This album has 10 beautiful solid tracks out of 14, great release by Finley Quaye, highly recommended listening with well deserved 5 stars!

obviously this CD (on SONY MUSIC btw) is quite a "commercial" sounding album. But I'd picture hearing some of these songs on AM radio maybe. Understanding abit where Finley comes from, I certainly appreciate his personal expression he gives us through this CD. I hear influences of 70s rock, country (one song sounds almost like johnny cash-style), leonard cohen, & modern pop music. For pop music, it is very good. For Finley Quaye it is very good. I certainly like listening to it. I can understand how some people are touchy about listening to this music, as it deals with subjects that not everyone can appreciate, but he does so subtly. I see abit of rasta shine through the gloss. There is still hope, and the naysayers I guess they just don't know.

This is one the most boring albums I have ever purchased. Whopee, Finley is in love...but he sure lost the beat. What happened to the edge and funk of Maverick?
This is pathetic singer-songwriter pap. There is no reggae,
no intresting insturmentation and the lyrics are god awful.

I first saw Finley Quaye open for Ben Harper in 1997 and I quickly thereafter went out and bought Maverick a Strike. What an album his first one is- without a doubt his best to date. Vanguard grew on me after several months of listening to it, and I think it is also a strong work. I can't, however, seem to take this latest CD of his seriously. Look how many people are selling thiers used through Amazon- over 60! What does that tell you? Well, it tells you that if you buy this CD new then I have a bridge to sell you. If you are a big FQ fan like myself, buy a used copy and see for yourself. But don't have high expectations; simply put, Quaye's talent does not come through in this album. It's a piece of fluff.

this album is the final demonstration that Finley Quaye is not a musician. His producers and all the working team around him made "Maverick a Strike" a great album and "Vanguard" a nice comeback, but he still isn't able to write a good song (maybe The Emperor, on "Vanguard", is the only decent one he ever wrote); useless calling William Orbit and Beth Orton to give a little hand... this album is a lame pop record without soul...