Customer Reviews

Straight

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Tyla and company moved to California to record this set in 1990 and the change of scenery was well worth it. Jo Dawg shows himself to be the best slide guitarist ever captured on record (Ry Cooder eat your heart out) Bam is Keith Moon without the O.D., and Steve James is like John Entwhistle - always there but never noticed. Every song on the album is a gem - There are at least eight songs which should have been hit singles - (Kiss My Heart Goodbye, Victims of Success, Empty World, You Can't Burn the Devil, Heroine, Cardboard Town, Evil, and Lady Nicotine") Strings, Ian McLagan's piano, and black background singers, are employed unobtrusively to maximum effect - as the band opt for a more layered and polished sound than previous recordings - but what comes pouring out of the speakers is pure and pristine... the joy of depression that Tyla wallows in. A must have CD

When you think you've heard all DJs especially those of the Big Youth, U Roy era, you think you've heard it all, what could possibly be left to chat bout? Well, I Roy the unmistakeble DJ out of Spanish Town blessed the mic for many years until he opted out of the music business by the 80s due to the changing of the times. However in I Roy's hey dey, he was hot!! His earnest, intelligent lyrics still manage to have a profound effect and he manages to stay distinct beyond his predecessors and contemporaries. This album Straight to the Heart, catches an I Roy that is fast, witty and giving headway to roots classics that have an edge, this is totally noncommercial stuff, you won't hear anyone blaring this type of reggae alongside a Marley, because it is so underground and so relentlessly deep that you have to be a true roots fan to truly enjoy it for what it is. I Roy's delivery is precise and thoughtful and each track is well put together, with some skits w/ an I Roy signature that is known w/ his music. The surprise on this album are the 4 dubs on the end of the album that have very little do w/ I Roy. However the stand out tracks include "Natty down de", "I Self", "Dread in the West", "No Turning Back" All display an artist at his best. I Roy passed in November of 1999, a true artist that many Jamaicans and others know nothing about. He laid the foundation for many today. He is sorely missed.