Customer Reviews

No Place Like Soul

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Soulive has wandered down a completely new and exciting path. The addition of vocals and carefully sculpted and structured songs is a major change from the deep and dirty funk these guys once brought to their live shows. But their talent and song writing ability shine through brilliantly. Rather than focusing on individual merits through solos this album shows the bands ability to blend with one another and to put out consistent modern soul music that still manages to stay true to both the roots of the band and the origins of soul music itself. There are a number of Standout tracks such as "Waterfall" "One of Those Days" and the openly sweet and sexy album closer "Kim" (Written and sung by the group's drummer Alan Evans). This record is going to be a shock for longtime Soulive fans who expect the usual funk from the group but those fans who are open to new musical experiences will find that the talent and energy that have become a hallmark of Soulive are present throughout. Pick this one up, lay back poor some wine and dig.

OK. Looks like I'm going to have to come to bat for the best band of all time. I have big beef with Amazon's review of this album. 1st of all, throughout the years Soulive's staple has always been their ability to change their sound yet retain their local fan base. Many fans have their preference. Some loved the oldschool trio material,others loved the sound that came about when horns were added and now they have a full time vocalist named Tousaint who in my humble opinion fits the trio like Willie Mays' glove. For the last couple of years they've been experimenting with sit-in vocalist. Artists like Chaka Khan,Ivan Neville,Reggie Watts,Goapele and one night for some super-lucky people in Los Angeles....Stevie Wonder jumped on stage to jamm a few precious minutes. For those that are new to Soulive I'll admit that this album might not come out and bite you right away but as any long-time fan would tell you....it is a COMPLETELY different experience to hear them live. Neal Evans' organ/clavi/bass chops,Eric Krasno's guitar rifts and Alan Evans' tight pocket drumming are still killn'. I can absolutely garuntee that after you hear the new material live you'll be listening to this album over and over again.The sound is different no doubt but this is hands down their most complete album from top to bottom. Head to Soulive.com and check their tour schedule to see if they're shaking the walls at a club near you. Peace!

I'm tired of all these jamband fans coming up here and ripping Soulive for branching out and trying something different. I've been a fan since Doin' Something and I think this album is great. I listen to it every day and I've also seen them perform live with the new material twice and it's even better live. As mentioned before Toussant is the first singer that can match his voice with Soulive's sound. For those that have seen the new material live Neil, Eric, and Alan still have solos where the jam out so you're able to see their unbelievable musicianship. This album is going to get Soulive to the masses mark my word and for those that don't like it move on to something else.

The best thing about Soulive has always been their combination of jazz with funk, hip hop, and soul. I've never heard anything quite like it, because nobody really does it. That is not what this album is. If you want to hear a "real" Soulive album, get Turn It Out or Soulive, or go on Archive.org and download some shows (completely legal - Soulive supports show trading). I appreciate that they are taking a new road, exploring musical possibilities as it were, but I miss the old Soulive. This CD lacks the kind of groove that made me fall in love with the band, lacks solos almost completely, and as Gracenote (iTunes CD database) categorized it (quite accurately), is pop.

This won't turn me off from seeing them live again; I'll be the first one in line, but I don't feel this album displays what makes Soulive special. The reason I didn't give this 1 star is because I am a fan of the band, and I understand that they're just exploring, but please, please don't think this is what Soulive is all about.

So, Soulive fans get steamed when reviewers don't like this cd because they are comparing it to either live shows, old studio work or preconceived expectations. How about this review then: IT'S BORING!
From beginning to end the album takes me nowhere. I don't listen to music to be bored. I listen to be moved, and when this new effort is finally over... I didn't go anywhere.
The best thing about 'No Place Like Soul' is the name.
For me, it's not the fact that there is now a full time vocals, it's not even the sound of his voice, it's the uninteresting/watered down song writing and composition. I'll listen to just about anything as long as the songs are well written and well played.
This seems to me to be a phoned in effort by the brothers when it came to constructing some tunes.
Terribly unfortunate!

Before I begin, let's get one thing straight. A record review does not consist of comparing a live show to what you hear on wax, so to speak - two different animals. So we won't be doing any of that here. This is a studio recording, and because of that, we will be referencing other studio recordings for comparison and contrast. Hope that's not too difficult for some of you out there.

So, here we go:

After listening (check that, enduring) "No Place Like Soul", one can't help but wonder if Alan's ego has got the best of Soulive. Up until "Breakout", Alan's compositions took a backseat, but then he went the Playonbrother route and emerged with a penchant for turning out recycled textbook cookie-cutter "soul" grooves (see, "Freedom" on "Breakout", et al). "No Place..." takes this tired formula and runs with it, at the expense of the trademark Soulive sound.

Toussaint is a horrible vocalist, hands down. 80% of the time he sounds as if he's straining, struggling to stay on key. This indeed force-feeds the listener the rough-edged soul vocal template, but absolutely negates any of the expressive subtleties that defines a true soul singer (see Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, etc). Add to that the fact that the lyrics are contrived and uninspired, and one wonders if the band couldn't snag a really talented lead vocalist/lyricist (a la Reggie Watts) and settled upon a miscast Toussaint.

The grooves themselves lack any of the carefully harnessed energy, the meticulously placed explosions of improvisation, really the **urgency** that made their earlier work such a refreshing change from the norm.

I guess the best way I can describe this unfortunate experience is: boring, mailed-in.

Let's just chalk this up to Soulive's desperation to graduate from Indie darlings to mainstream box-dwellers. Better yet, let's just make believe this never happened and wait for the REAL follow-up to "Breakout" sometime in '08.

One star for the memories.

Wow, I am shocked by how many detractors there are for this album. No doubt it has to do with the seemingly drastic change they have made with the addition of Toussaint. Yes, they have changed their sound dramatically to accommodate the new vocals, but his sound is a near perfect match for them. If you listen closely, you will realize that Eric Neal and Alan are still in there; it's just a question of structure.

All I know is that when I listened to it, I loved it and was moved. Plus, as a long time fan, I would rather follow them while they try new things, rather than watch them fall apart because they got sick of the same-old same-old.

I guarantee you will still shake your booty.

My first Soulive experience was seeing them live at Bumpershoot the Seattle Music Fesival this past summer and since then I've been a fan. Granted, I hadn't heard them before the addition of Toussaint (who I think is great) I thought they were amazing. So I picked up this album and was more than pleased. I later found out that they had a ton of other albums minus Toussaint and they are awesome as well. I think you just to have to take it for what it is. I think most of the people leaving poor reviews on here are just bitter that its not what they were expecting from them. I suggest picking it up.

I'm a big SOULIVE fan and I paid extra for the import version of this just to get it early. Let's just say I was upset listening to this CD for the first time. I usually skip over the vocal tracks on every other SOULIVE project. THERE ARE ONLY TWO TRACKS WITHOUT VOCALS. Both of those tracks are excelent especially "Bubble". I wasn't really feelin' the vocal cuts at all until I went to see them live. The live perfomance made me want to listen again. There are a few catchy songs on there like "One of Those days" and "Mary" but this project showcases vocals with SOULIVE as the backup.

Although it's not bad, I am extremely disappointed because this is not Soulive. This is not the good jazz that I've come to expect, this is pop. An extreme disappointment, I don't know what they were thinking.