Everything's Ok

Al Green

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 15, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Blue Note Records
• ASIN: B00006I8LO
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #130,997 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The great soul singer made his secular comeback with 2002's I Can't Stop, but Everything's OK is truly Al Green's return to form. Green left the concert stage for the pulpit in 1979, and while his pretty falsetto reading of Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful" could easily be holy praise, he makes it clear in his asides that he's keeping things on a strictly earthly plane this time. Twenty-eight years after "Love and Happiness," these satisfying songs glide on those emotions as Green celebrates joy and carnal desire. He couldn't be clearer than in numbers like "I Wanna Hold You." When he sings about lovemaking his voice seems buoyed by helium, it's so light, high, and soaring. Green and producer Willie Mitchell made magic together at Memphis's Hi Records in the '70s with their mix of Green's buttery tones and ecstatic cries and deep percussion-, horn-, and keyboard-swathed grooves. They do it again here repeatedly, capturing the élan of their heyday on numbers like the title track and "Build Me Up." If Green's new missionary work is putting a little love in our hearts during these turbulent, conflicted times, this reassuringly titled CD is a great start. --Ted Drozdowski

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A serious disappointment, March 18, 2005

By	Camelopera (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

When they recorded their comeback "I Can't Stop" in 2003, Al Green and Willie Mitchell pulled off a difficult trick: they made an album that recalled their legendary 70's work, but without falling into self-imitation. It was a fresh, wonderful record, and track for track it nearly measured up to their classics.

Now, in 2005, they set themselves an even harder task. "Everything's OK" wants to be a serious hit on the contemporary r&b charts, but not alienate the longtime Al Green fanbase. It doesn't work.

The album has two major flaws. The songwriting is timid and uninspired, and the production is annoyingly thick. Personally, I don't mind if the material is weak: most of Green's albums in the mid to late 70's featured lazy songwriting, but remain classics because of that laidback, minimalist Hi sound, and, of course, Green's beseeching, barely-above-a-whisper vocals. And then there was the Hi band, consisting of the Hodges brothers and Al Jackson--they knew when to play, and, perhaps more importantly, when not to.

Here, however, the arrangements are busy, busy, busy. There isn't a crack on the album that hasn't been slathered over with horns, strings, or a million kinds of percussion. It doesn't matter how good the band is, since so much is going on that you can't pick any single player out. And it certainly doesn't help that Green himself is low in the mix, or that his singing occasionally sounds a bit hoarse and grasping.

To be fair, there are some nice moments. Perhaps only Green could remake the sodden "You Are So Beautiful" and turn it into a genuinely moving soul ballad. "I Can Make Music" recalls, in a minor way, slow burning classics like "Take Me to the River." "Magic Road" is also fun, marking the first time I've ever heard Green attempt socially relevant lyrics. The rest isn't bad, just unmemorable.

In summary, "Everything's OK" is the commercially ambitious, artistically unexceptional album I was pleasantly surprised "I Can't Stop" turned out not to be. If this album had come out first, it would have made more sense. Hopefully, it will get enough bad reviews to convince Green and Mitchell that they're barking up the wrong tree. I'm fine with artists trying to remain current; I just don't want them to sacrifice their originality for a bit of airplay.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT SOUL ALBUM, October 10, 2005

By	D Bourgie "[e-mail]" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

Al Green returns with one of the best soul albums I heard in a long time. His voice sounds like it is still the seventies and the music is beautiful. His version of You Are So Beautiful grips to me and Green makes it his own. Magic Road is a great song that has some funk in it. This is a true soul album done by the one and only Reverend Al Green. I can't wait till the next album because I'm wanting more. Favorites include Everything's OK, You Are So Beautiful, Build Me Up, Nobody But You, Real Love, I Can Make Music, Be My Baby, Magic Road, I Wanna Hold You, and All The Time. Highly Highly Recommended.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Everything's Wonderful!!!, March 17, 2005

By	Corey Johnson (cincinnati, OH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you enjoyed Al Green's last CD, "I Can't Stop," you should pick this up as well. The 1st single "Perfect to Me" is good, but "Build Me Up" and the title track are great. These three songs sound much like the tracks on the previous CD, but the Reverend takes more chances on this release which pays off on songs like "Nobody But You" and "Real Love." With his voice as awesome as it was 30 years ago on song after song and Willie Mitchell on production, only his all-time classic albums ("Let's Stay Together," "Call Me" & "I'm Still in Love With You") surpass the quality of "Everything's Ok." It's great to hear this legendary soul singer still at his peak. Highly recommended.