Customer Reviews

Peace Beyond Passion

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Mulittalented singer-bassist Me'Shell NdegéOcello may confound some of her fans with her unique views on life and politics, but she never fails to disappoint. "Peace Beyond Passion" is a mixture of '70s soul-jazz revivalism and modern romance and culture that stays interesting throughout its playing time. Sexual and religious lyrical views notwithstanding, this is a must have for the modern R&B lover.

The fipped on its ear cover of Bill Withers' classic "Who Is He And What is He To You" got heavy (for NdegéOcello) airplay on MTV, and is a highlight, along with the very well done tracks "The Way," "Bittersweet," and the shockingly real "Makes Me Wanna Holler." NdegéOcello wisely avoids hip-hop on "Peace" for the most part, but her unique rapping (in the traditional sense) and singing keeps it current and non-formulatic. NdegéOcello's bass playing also gives the work a signature edge. Two notes into the song, you instantly know it's her, and that's a good thing.

If you loved Me'Shell NdegéOcello's other recordings, or those of contemporaries Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, India.Arie or Floetry, this is the CD for you. Even fans of non "neo-soul" acts will find much to like here. Plus it's sublime music for a romantic evening. Trust me.

It may fall a hair short of her best album, "Cookie: The Anthropological Mixtape," but Me'Shell NdegéOcello's "Peace Beyond Passion" is a nerve-hitting CD that gives a big middle finger to the conventions of modern r&b and soul. Equally intelligent and head-bobbingly groovilicious, this album has MeShell serving up an arsenal of funk using real instruments and smooth, but not slick, production. She tackles homophobia as if she were grabbing a bull by its horns on "Leviticus: Faggot" (whose video BET stupidly declined to air). In "The Way," she flirts with blasphemy and challenges religion with the eyebrow-raising lyric "Maybe Judas was the better man/and Mary made a virgin just to save face." NdegéOcello also finds herself confronting suspicions of infidelity in her smoothed out cover of "Who Is He and What Is He To You." "Peace Beyond Passion" elevates MeShell as a soul sista peerless and unrivaled. It's a brilliant album of amazing depth that oughn't be ignored.

While not as playful as "Plantation Lullabies", as sad and heavy handed as "Bitter" or as experimental as the recent "Cookie...", Me'Shell's sophomore LP is by far her best. Her sensual sing/speak gains a certain depth and confidence here that's not as defensive as her debut and points fingers at false religion, homophobia ("Leviticous: Faggot")infidelity (a fine remake of Bill Wither's "Who Is He And What Is He To You?") celebrates sex and romance ("Stay")and even veers into near blasphemy with the ode to Jesus' mother ("Mother Magdelene" a stunning acoustic number)while lashing out to the parents that emotionally scarred her ("Make Me Wanna Holler") she never misses a beat, the LP never loses it's momentum (even on the slower tracks) and hits the mark lyrically every time. "Peace...." is a sprawling, sometimes languid masterpiece employing funk, jazz (Sax genius Joshua Redmond contributes a buzzing, squealing, brilliant solo to "Deuteronomy:Niggerman")soul and hard rock for a dizzying but quite cohesive listening experience. Of all her releases, this one remains my favorite. A daring and almost too real idictment of our beliefs and ideals, "Peace..." is a modern work of art.

With Peace beyond Passion Me'Shell NdegeOcello moves from first time sensation tom seroous songwriter producer. Where her first CD plantation lullabies was rather melachololy peace beyond passion is a serious, searching effort that surpasses her first. Where this album differ from the first is in the songwriting. On plantation she wrote light songs like Dreadloc and If that was your boyfriend.. but on peace she seems to be intereted in something more soul searching. Many of the albums songs deal with serious almost somber topics racism Deuteronomy: , homophobia Leviticus, promoscuity Mary magdalene, even her own past Make me wanna holler. What makes peace stand out is the fact that Me'Shell' delivery adds a new perspective on these topics. Her songwriting is very honest and sincere. Another thing that makes this album what it is is the music. Ms. NdegeOcello continues to crank out funky rhythms and grooves. Even on her cover of Bill Withers tune; who is he and what is he to you it sounds fresh. Innovative, chalenging yet still enjoable. A great album

Although this release was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, Meshell has never received the popular acclaim enjoyed by less talented peers. The critics have always liked her, but professional critics sometimes can kill certain artists with praise.

On her second album, Meshell NdegeOcello continues to use a seamless blend of funk, jazz, rap and soul as a foundation for her sociosexual observations while raising the bar by tackling racism. homophobia and other societal maladies. Before my description makes this sound like going to Sunday school, anyone who is familair with Meshell knows that her spiritual bent and musical prowess makes her one of the most affecting acts in music. You feel her despair and hope as if you were the one singing. She's amazing and I am reviewing this release because I am on my Meshell re-discovery as I've been listening to all her CDs since the release of her latest and the only thing that these disks have in common is that they all deserve 5 stars. What a talent!!!

The centerpieces of the album are three songs named for books of the Bible: "Deuteronomy: Niggerman", "Ecclesiastes: Free My Heart", and "Leviticus: Faggot". Don't let the wordy titles and foundations for this release prevent you from listening to one of the greatest period.

The music is less hip-hop-oriented than that on her debut and it suits her well as it's fleshed-out with heavier jazz nuances and '70s funk shadings. The dance between the sax, guitar and Meshell's base blurs many musical lines yet sounds like a natural. Try listening to her cover of Bill Withers' "Who Is He And And What Is He To You" and if you are not tapping your feet you ought to see a doctor ;-). This is one chunky cover that fits seemlessly into this amazing release.

For those who are just discovering Meshell from her latest release, give this a try. If you have not had the privilege, then this would be the release that I would recommend as a point of departure.

Release such as this remind me of the power of music and why I keep at it, even when I wind up buying junk, as there is always light at the end of the tunnel and Meshell is always one that you can rely on when one thinks that the music industry has gone to the dogs. Not so!

Easily one of the top five finest albums of the last ten years! EVERYTHING on this cd is cream! Show me another track as original, riveting and subtle as 'Make me wanna holler'! Marvin, you're listening, aren't you?! Here is the MEANING of genius. I agree with another of the reviewers who makes mention of "so many hidden things" layered into this woman's music; Ndegeocello, in finding her own self, really has created a new genre within popular music, one that transcends category. Her attention to musical detail is astonishing, without hint of self-importance, no taint of self-congratulation - the rewards of this kind of music making are inestimable. The purity of human spirit embedded in art of this magnitude is something so admirable. A finished work of the highest reaches - period! Get it - you'll have purchased part of yourself!

I could not in good concience allow the one star reviews on this album be the first thing you see when clicking to read the reviews for this album..... I think my heart nearly broke when I saw the reviews that called her a racist, offensive and vulgar. The truth that lies in this album is staggering. It still sends me reeling to this day 8 years later.

This album is simply full of the purest most heartfelt expressions. Nothing hateful about it. Nothing racist. Raw, unadulturated and unabashed in it's truth. A remarkable album and I feel truly sad that people wouldn't understand. It reminds me of the furor over Pat Benatar's song "Hell is for Children". She was pointing out the issue of child abuse and really if you listen to the words and think about what she's saying you'll see she isn't wishing kids were in hell, like church leaders were claiming. She was advocating and pleading on behalf of the children. Being their voice when they had none.

In this album she adresses so many truths, be it social issues, struggles of the soul, hearbreak and love. She carresses injustice and pain with so much integrity that if you really listen to what she's saying you can't help but lay down your guard and learn a lesson. She sings about redemption and betrayal, love and loss, justice and injustice.

I can understand why people might see the word "faggot" on the track listing and jump to conclusions. But she really deals with the core of the issue for so many gay men and women in this world. Many people just don't understand what it's like to be brought to the point of questioning your very existence. That is a place many of us have been. I have. That song is a commentary on exactly what many of us have gone through. To not be accepted by your own parents for nothing that you have control over. It's sad.

If you listen to her music about spirituality you can hear and feel how much God and her spirit means to her. She is definitely searching and I identify with that very strongly. She is a hero to me. Someone I have the utmost respect for. Someone who inspires me to reach deeper and higher. She represents her race, her gender and her sexuality with strength and maybe that does scare or intimidate some. There's nothing fake about her expression, just genuine unabashed truth, and she pours that into song, into musicianship. Her music really is far from being angry and bitter. Her honesty is compelling to me and it has brought me to my knees time and time again.

Please, please people, do NOT let those one star reviews turn you away from giving this album, and her work in general, a chance. This woman is strong and you can find that strength in her music. There are a handful of artists that engage me on such deep levels and she is definitely one of them. I thank God the day this woman walked into my life.

One of my favorite offerings from MeShell. I'm appalled at reviewers who take issue with the subject matters of her songs on this and other albums. Not racist, but observant of problems and emotions that people of color and the LGBT feels TODAY. This album could be appreciated for MeShell's instrumental talent alone, but no, there's more! The lyrical content is refreshing, and songwriting close to ingenious. Any naysayers should step outside of their own perspective (and perhaps skin), and open your minds.

Ten years after its release, this is still my favourite Meshell Ndegeocello CD ("Bitter" comes a close second) and is one of my favourite albums of all time. A mistress of the bass guitar, with the sexiest voice I've ever heard in my life, she covers a wide variety of subjects on this controversial, bible-referenced album, ranging from her issues with religion ("The Way"), to her love for women ("Mary Magdalene") to familial homophobia ("Levicticus: Faggot") while all the way through speaking of a love much deeper than any I could ever imagine or hope to experience. "When we make love I feel it so deeply/ When we make love I cry," she sings on "A Tear And A Smile", for instance. She sings later on in the same song: "I would not exchange the sorrows of my heart for the joys of the multitude/ And I would not have the tears that sadness makes to flow from my every part turn into laughter/ I want the hunger for your love and beauty to fill me from the depths of my spirit."

Or check out "Bittersweet": "You enchant me so my bittersweet flower/ Mystery of the sages come into my realm of imagination/ Let Me Digest You," she sings (I've never heard it put like that before) and then goes on: "I cry myself to sleep over you/ You come and then you go/ The more I fall the more you let go/ The sweet taste of you stains my lips/ Even through the pain it's only you I miss."

Damn, girl.

She's right of course, in my opinion. I too question whether religion has ever really been a force for good and I too think real love does mean giving oneself completely, without fear of falling; jumping without a parachute, if you will. I've just never had the guts to try it.

Meshell Ndegeocello is a pioneer in more ways than might be immediately apparent. She was certainly combining hip-hop, soul, funk and the spoken word long before anyone else that I know of. This is top-notch music right from the intro to the end of the last song. Personally, I feel this is a five star classic. I liked "Plantation Lullabies" well enough but it was this album that made me a life-long committed fan. I think she's a genius.

I can count on one hand the number of hip hop CDs that I like. One is Plantation Lullabies, the first solo release from Meshell. The problem was that she followed up a masterpiece by two so-so CDs. Now comes her latest, Peace Beyond Passion, a return to the funk/soul/hip hop of Lullabies. A lot of artists today are compared to Marvin Gaye but to my mind, if Marvin were recording today, Peace Beyond Passion would probably be it. This CD contains lyrics of blackness and a view of the world from a totally black perspective. Some white people may have problems with the lyrics but they are part of the beauty. Like Marvin's songs against the Vietnam War or songs of black life and love made his new brand of funk so memorable. So it is with MeShell. MeShell combines soul music with a funk rhythm line, hip-hop beat. It is the synthesis of the styles that makes this such an aural delight. If you consider yourself musically adventurous or are a fan of funky soul, be sure to pick up Peace Beyond Passion.