Customer Reviews

Stay Human

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The day a new Spearhead CD is released is indeed a richer day than most. Stay Human represents the best work Spearhead has released to date. It is at the same time beautiful, uplifting, thought provoking, educational, fun, serious, clever, mellow, angry, funky, happy and simply some of the finest music available today. I kid you not. There are songs on Stay Human which are so damn good it must be hard for other artists to listen to them without turning green with envy. Every single track is outstanding. How can I convey the beauty of this music through mere words? I can't. What I can do is recommend you buy this album as soon as physically possible. In a small but significant way it will enhance your life. Check it out. Enjoy it. Share it with a friend or loved one. Stay Human.

I heard Spearhead play live on a local radio station and immediately bought the cd on Amazon. I don't buy hip-hop per se but this album transcends categories. There are wonderful influences here, Al Green, Commodores, Marvin Gaye, gospel. And there are hip-hop influences as well. I recommend that you listen to "Every Single Soul" and "Love'll Set Me Free." These are melodic, refreshing, soulful songs that deal with the themes of redemption and the transcending power of love using lyrics that are never trite or sappy. For example, in "Every Single Soul," Franti sings, "No matter where I roam, every single soul's a poem written on the back of God's hand." The song highlights Franti's talents as a story-teller and a gifted singer who deals with the themes that matter most. Most importantly, the song will melt your heart. All in all, there are six tracks I play all the time. In addition to the previously mentioned, I play "Skin on the Drum," "Speaking of Tongues," "Do Ya Love," and "Oh My God." I've been playing the disc for ten months and still find nourishment from it. Even discs I often recommend usually don't have this long-lasting appeal.

The music on this album is amazing, and the message is right-on. In fact this is probably Franti's best ever album when judged from the viewpoint of music, lyrics, and message.

Unfortunately I found the radio broadcast segments to be ill-conceived and intrusive, but they are easily skipped.

The "music fan" who praised Stay Human but only gave it 1 star because of objections to who Franti chooses to give political support to needs to learn more about the Mumia Abu-Jamal case, which is nowhere near as cut & dried as their post suggests. The trial transcripts don't tell the whole story - the whole point is that this was considered an unfair and biased trial. Dig a little deeper and you'll find plenty to question.

Stay Human is about as operatic a work as we've heard from any 21st century contemporary artist. Franti lets loose and through the guise of pretense of a dramatic play occuring at a radio station we are introduced to a group of characters including the two radio talk show hosts, Sister Fatima, the "Governor" and a host of listeners - liberal, conservative and brain dead, calling to weigh in on the fate of faith healer Sister Fatima now on death row and facing imminent execution that same night.

Woven between scenes at the radio station Spearhead's songs are brought to life that emphasizes Franti's message in a manner which could only be hinted it without the dramatic structure surrounding it.

The first time I heard this album was late on a hot summer night, on the back deck of a friend's house. He didn't prepare me for what I was about to experience and at the end of "Skin on the drum" I was emotionally exhausted with chills down my back and the hair on the back of my neck standing on edge. I'm not ashamed to say I also cried. This is music presented in such a powerhouse of a theatrical production it should be staged or filmed. As it stands, its effectiveness is not diminished one iota by being "audio only."

While some may eschew the socio/politico commentary embedded into the work, no one who listens and experiences it in its entirety will go unmoved, or turn it off free from thought. For these very reasons "Stay Human" is one of the most important works and deserves a wide audience. A truly remarkable achievement from Franti and Spearhead.

Real music engages you in more than one way. First there is the sonic connection. You feel this record pulse through you. You alternate between calm and excited, solemn and hyped. You dance yourself tired, sit back, rejuvenate, and go right back at it. Second is the emotional connection. The connection that comes when you realize that the words and music of an artist have touched you in a way that only the greatest art can.

This album has to be the best that Michael Franti & Spearhead has put out so far....

The music: the band is very musical and pulls in lots of different influences that combine together in a completely original way: hip-hop, jazz, african, rock, spoken word, etc. Every time I listen I hear something new.

The lyrics: As I was an English major, lyrics are very important to me. Franti writes great lyrics-- he is an intellectual poet as far as I am concerned, and you can hear his skill in lyricism come through on tracks like "Speaking of Tongues" and "Skin on the Drum."

Political Message: Franti's political message is to spread tolerance and love. Some of the tracks are explicitly political, such as "Oh My God," while others are just a wonderful celebration of life. It's a good balance.

The only thing that gets a little annoying after you listen to the album several times is the radio show that shows up between most of the tracks. It's a great political message, but sometimes you just want to listen to music and not get preached at. That shouldn't deter you from buying this great album, though.

Great CD!!!

"...it ain't about who ya love, see it's all about do ya love".. Michael, man, why I love your music, your art, is that it makes me THINK. Thank you. For the rest of you who are reading this and wondering if you should THINK about listening to this recording....absolutely!! If you know nothing of Michael or Spearhead, give this one a spin. My God, I have been waiting for this one for awhile (4 years)...and it was worth the wait. Spearhead have changed personnel over the years some, but the vibe and message remains as strong as ever. Michael and the band's constant committment to activism and doing what's right for the people is real, not contrived bull.... like so many other pretenders out there. Listen to the opening track "Oh My God", and let the thoughts, not just the 'words' sink in. In "Stay Human", the streets are alive for everyone with an infectious beat....and speaking of a beat, check out "Rock The Nation", with lyrics to match. We are all a piece of the puzzle...."Sometimes" brings in some summertime fun like a block party, me and mine will be dancin' to it this sum, gather the kids all 'round. "Do Ya Love"...feels so good, one of my early faves here. "Soulshine" will make you want to shed those chains and feel free. "Every Single Soul" renews my faith and makes me have hope. Listen to the segment before "Love'll Set Me Free" and read Angela Davis' words below. Great job Mike. Is that Mary on "Thank You"? Right on. "We Don't Mind", give something back to life, all people. Speak from the heart, not from the tounge. Love like your life depends on it, because it does!!! "Listener Supported".....see them when they come to your city....listen to the information. "Skin On The Drum" will make you want to grow....anew.... I have to disagree with some of the reviews (Dallas and LA) that say the radio segments take away from the album. On the contrary, I think it adds something that cannot be overlooked....that this country (world, oh ya) needs a wake up call. It ain't about machines and control people, it is about people and freedom!! THINK!!! FEEL!!! Thanks Spearhead.....Mike, you are on my DREAMTEAM!!! Can't wait til you get back to Portland!!! You ever been to Bachelor?? PEACE.

Although I loved the Disposable Heroes and I think that Home is a fantastic album I stayed away from this album for a long time. I had heard that Michael Franti had lost it - that he had crossed the line from pointed political and social commentary into buttock clenching political correctness and cliché.

Nothing could be further from the truth - this is a wonderful CD. Yes, there is a message but Franti manages to get his point across while making an excellent CD. Great songs in a variety of styles are interspersed with radio segments describing the lead up to and the aftermath of the execution of an innocent woman. There are no duff tracks or off-key moments.

Recommended.

Stay Human is the bravest, nost diverse and most challenging album of 2001.

With a few notable exceptions, contemporary US black music is floundering between lightweight unengaged pop and directionless meaningless anger. At the same time, concept albums are thin on the ground, and in general that's a reason for celebration! However with this album Michael Franti manages to make the concept album seem worthwhile and inject some much needed intelligent politics into hip-hop, as well as reminding contemporary black artists of their musical roots. Because let's get one thing straight: everyone compares Franti to Gil Scott Heron, often unfavourably, but Stay Human demonstrates what an incredibly broad understanding Franti has of the diverse histories of black music. The tracks on the album, cuts as they are from an imaginary MOVE-inspired community radio station, represent a range of times and places in the last 30 years: as well as GSH there are echoes of Marvin Gaye, of Funkadelic, of electro, even a Jackson 5 style 70's dance track. But none of these are pastiche or imitation: Franti and his band breathe a very contemporary, soulful and positive life into all of them, enhancing and enveloping the politics of the story of Sister Fatimah, the healer and community leader on Death Row for a murder she didn't commit, a story which is woven inbetween and through the tracks.

Stay Human is at once life-affirming, energising but also angry and inspiring. Combining positive politics, a story with comtemporary urban bite, and fine music and lyrics, Franti has finally laid to rest the ghost of Disposable Heroes, and affirmed the potential he showed with that band and in brief glimpses on 'Home'. Standout tracks: a fierce old-skool 'Rock the Nation', the sun-kissed, uplifting 'Soulshine', and the subtle downbeat closer, 'Skin on the Drum' - but this is an album with no bad songs.

For me, it is rare to write such a glowing review for an album that has a "cause". Without giving too much away, this album is engaging from start to finish. It is not your typical R&B, hip-hop or soul album by far. It is much more than that. It has a very important message. But the best thing about this album is that it does not push it's agenda in your face, it pulls you in with Franti's great songwriting and amazingly insightfull lyrics and views about human justice and the death penalty. Taking away the politics, the music on the album will just blow you away. It is one of those albums that you get so involved with, you forget you are listening to a cd, but rather feel you are part of the artists vision.