Customer Reviews

Sincere

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Well, after searching all of downtown Toronto for it, I have finally found this CD... UK Garage heads have been hyping this album months before it even arrived on promo, and the release of 12" vinyl songs like "I See" and "Crazy Love" made everyone's appetite stir... Well this album has hit, and it's absolutely fabulous. Even though UK Garage is my favorite style of music, there are very few songs in the genre that even come close to delivering the emotional impact that MJ Cole does on this album... Almost every track is pure and utter class, using top-of-the-line production and crisp synths. Nothing is too overly poppy and a lot of the album has a very chilled, ambient feel. Hold On To Me has got to be the best song on the track, the 2-step beats are perfect, the melody is there, and the vocals are absolutely gorgeous... I See is a fantastic love song, although it's much more downtempo than the rest of this album, the lyrics are definitely intelligent and just puts you in a chill mood. There is no denying that Sincere and Crazy Love, the 2 big singles off the album, are classic UK Garage tracks in its own right, it's a shame they didn't include the fantastic Todd Edwards mix of Crazy Love though... The only disappointment I have with the album is that You're Mine with Guy S'Mone wasn't included on the album and the album promised to have a bit more 4 to the floor garage (there is a rumor going around that record label owners wanted MJ to make the album fully 2-step to reflect the total dominance of the 2-step sound over the UK Garage scene)... If you even like UK Garage a bit, this album is for you... If you never heard of UK Garage before but prefer something a bit more soulful than the glut of vacuous pop music, cheesy trance, depressing rock music and lame heavy metal, this album is a MUST BUY!!!

Simply one of my favorite albums I have ever taken the chance to purchase. They say the best music is the one that can take you back to a certain era of your life, a time that is forever in your mind when you hear the songs. This album is chockful of those moments: hearing "Tired Games" or "Sincere" takes me back a few years: although it doesn't always remind me of the best events or people, it is still a wonderful CD to me, and I still love to listen to it and relax. The one shame is that it's so over-looked here: I'd buy a "2-step" album over some generic rap anyday, and this is about as good as UK Garage gets. Lush, organic, and sincere (pardon the pun), everyone is encouraged to own this album.

UK Garage may be the fad of the moment in dance music, but it occupies a special place as the first mainstream-accessible tendril of the beast known as electronica. Combining the skittering drums and booming bass of drum and bass, the soul of R&B, and the thump and tempo of house, UK Garage has proven itself a profitable endeavor in terms of finance and art. The finest of the current crop is British wunderkind MJ Cole. Classically trained, he creates compositions that are perfectly crafted and slickly produced. And this is not a bad thing. It's the one thing that may drag American R&B into the 21st century and out of the ghetto of Babyface.

On these American shores, MJ Cole is best known for his UK garage treatment of Mariah Carey's single "Loverboy." Armed with jittery beats and a jerky bassline, it helped introduce 2-step to the US. His album, "Sincere," doesn't stray that far from what the average dance guru expects from a two-step release: nervous drumbeats, rubbery basslines with some vocals and rapping. But what separates this from the rest of the pack is the attention to melody and song structure. This is a two-step album with soul, and from the word "go," the beat never relents. But Cole is no one trick pony, as he also incorporates mid-tempo r&b which saves "Sincere" from being one-dimensional. Some snobs may call two step "so 2001," but this record is still noteworthy and solid enough to deserve your attention.

It took me a long time to get into this album. After purchasing it, I gave it a listen, enjoyed parts of it, but overall wasn't too enthralled. It also doesn't help that the American version (which I bought; why doesn't it show up here at Amazon?) sticks all the worst tracks at the beginning. The intro is bland and inoffensive with only a catchy piano riff to keep interest. "Tired Games" and "Attitude" both follow the basic two-step format, except that everything exciting and catchy has been taken out. "Bandelero Desperado" has a great title, but truly embarassing rapping, and the "MJ FM Interlude" is a waste. Do we really need two interludes bookending three lame tracks?
Fortunately, MJ Cole redeems himself in spades for the rest of the disc. "Crazy Love" and "Sincere" are the big singles, and justly so, but don't forget "Sanctuary", the chillout vibe of "I See", the more upbeat tones of "Rough Out Here" and "Hold On To Me", and the rougher "Slum King". From "Crazy Love" on out, the album knocks out hit after hit, and never looks back. Also, special thanks goes out to the remixers of "Crazy Love" and "Sincere" at the end of the disc: they're both excellent.
So it turns out all the hype about MJ Cole was actually pretty legitimate after all. Just start the CD at track 6, and you'll experience the art of two-step at some of its finest.

Simple put, every person I've introduced this album to has been blown away. The soulful vocals, endearing lyrics, and choppy 2step beats bring a fresh modern sound firmly rooted in the London underground. Historically, 90's speed garage, which can be described as hard-hitting pitched-up American-stye vocal house, was the predecessor of the 2step sound. But at some inspired point in the late 90's, the speed garage scene dipped back into the underground, transformed itself, and re-emerged as 2step. Today, most mixes like Artful Dodger's "Sound of UK Speed Garage," (which is recommended) combine new 2step material with the deepest garage-style house. A modern speed garage set can combine house, ragga-style mc-ing, 2step, and is always incredibly groovin. But back to this album though -- lets put aside the usual suspects here, numbers like "Sincere" and "Crazy Love" are obviously great songs, but the diamonds in the rough like "Hold On To Me", "Sanctuary" and "Tough Out Here" are absolutely outstanding productions and give this album its 5 star rating. In fact, in my opinion, "Hold On to Me" is the best song on this album and one of the very best songs of the year. MJ Cole is championing the worldwide 2step invasion with cohorts like Bigfoot & Shanks, Artful Dodger, Tuff Jam, Dreem Team, Bump & Flex etc. So don't be suprised when you start hearing 2step at your local club because this music is the immediate future of dance.

Two-step as a musical form will become the new millenium rage and here's the disc to prove it. If you're willing and brave enough to be "two steps" ahead of the game, then jump on the train now. A dance form that materialized in England (of course) over the last couple of years, it brings a warmth and depth rarely encountered in not only electronica but much of today's music in general. Inspired by American R&B and soul, Cole, with a big dose of heart, flexes an intuitive musical muscle that gives the listener a sense of two-step's tremendous potential, making anything seem possible. The title track is the bomb and the disc includes the UK smash, "Crazy Love" as well as comprising the sum total of Cole's output to date. Balancing itself between the underground and a full-on frontal assault of pop, soul, and R&B, "Sincere" is a masterpiece of a new form that intends to deliver, adding yet another dimension to the profound genius of dance music. Look for the V2 label release, "Vital 2STEP" due out shortly as another compliment to the validity of two-step's power.

Matt James Cole, known as MJ Cole, used to be an engineer proggramming drum machines for jungle musicians. The pigeon-holed genre for this album could be called "UK Garage", it has its own anglican background, a product of the melting pot of influences that mix in London on pirate radio stations. It sound like sped-up r & B. This album is musically a step forward. The tracks here are more accessible, with full vocal performances courtesy of Elisabeth Troy, Jay Dee, and others. There is one instrumental track, but it won't lose your attention. The rythimic sophistication is still here, just underneath soul vocals and string arrangements. The strings, keyboards, and 2-step garage beats fit together perfectly. MJ Cole is a producer, not a pop star, so the content is low key. At performances he plays keyboard behiund a troupe of vocalists, he isn't trying to knock you out with in-your-face elements or abrupt insensitive rapping. The slow songs, like "I See" stand against the grain of the faster songs such as "Slum King". This is lite, easy listening, at a brisk pace. This domestic version has two bonus tracks not found on the import, one is a radio edit of "Crazy Love", the other is a slower version of "Sincere", each are worth listening to.

Based on the sucess of "I see" and "Sincere", MJ COle, the "Don of Two Step" is back with an album full of original material. The leader of the "Gucci clique" was classically trained at a young age but has bboy roots in his blood. Well, we're in for a big surprise cuz this album not only silences the haters but also pushes the scene to new limits.

What i like about this album is, each track is finely done without any of them sounding anything alike. Gettin the guest star of Nova Casper, Danny Vicious, Elizabeth Troy , Cole manages to slide everythin from Jazz, Mcing, to R&B.

The first single "Crazy Love" has sumthing that most Rhythem and Blues lack these days ... Real Soul and Passion. I am not a fan of today's R&B sound, i find it boring and very fomularic. However, the tracks on this album is reminisscent of the same passion put into Soul durin the 1960s and 70s.

Cole does sumthing that few can possiblity do. he is able to make music that cross many boundaries of ethnicity. He holds no loyalty to one particular sound but decides to expand and experience with sounds from different genres. Some fail at this, settling for something predictable and stereotypical. Cole is able combine sounds that have some sort of legitimacy that in no way does it sound cheap, but "Sincere".

I recommend everyone giving this record a chance. It finally made me a fan of MJ COle, but also more importantly, it gave me a reason to give Uk 2 Step a chance.

The impeccable production on this album is only part of what makes it great. Like Roni Size did for drum and bass with Reprazent's _New Forms_, MJ Cole has made a great at-home listening album as well as a collection of smooth, mixable tracks for the garage selector. MJ's beats are extremely tight and the guest vocalists he uses on this album are all up to the task. A superb statement from one of the leaders in the garage Underground.