Even as a listener not normally drawn to reggae, I can honestly say that this album is excellent. Ziggy and his group are extraordinarily versatile and diverse. Spirit Of Music is a pleasure to listen to, from beginning to end.
As a singer, Marley’s voice perhaps may remind some listeners of his father, Bob Marley. It is harsh at times, but always remains in pitch, never tedious or annoying to any of the senses. In actuality, Marley’s voice gives the illusion of tranquillity, even on the faster songs here. His range is excellent and he is always unique in his work. Another plus is that the backup singers really do add to the songs, not distracting as is the case in some music. In the track “Beautiful day” (which sounds very pop-like for a Marley), the energy of the backup vocalists can be heard.
As a primary songwriter of Spirit of Music, Marley blends many different genres of music. From pop to reggae, blues, bluegrass and almost a Latin sound, the music that Marley creates is always upbeat and enjoyable. There are no traces of the anger that seems to be so popular in the present music media. The best song on the album is the second track, “We Are One”. Marley sings, “Wake up to the realization/ that we are all of one nation.” The song is primarily acoustic and has a compelling beat (not the trademark, annoying off beat of both traditional and dance hall reggae). I would think that Marley should be more popular than he is. Instrumentally, Spirit Of Music does some interesting things. As mentioned before, the genres are extremely varied on the album. The song “Let it Go” has an almost dance club-like bass, and Marley’s voice and his instrumentals build and incredible tension. Such tension, in modern music, is hard to find.
Above all, the thing that I most appreciated on this album was the fact that it was well mixed. The instrumentals never overshadowed or fought with the vocals, and thus the vocals never sounded strained and overdone. All in all, the band is actually very talented, a seemingly obsolete idea in this day of garage band kings. Marley combines the laid back feel of reggae with a modern classical touch. The whole album is worth sitting back and listening to more than once. Almost any listener is bound to enjoy Spirit of Music, just don’t expect to hear anything that will pump you up. And I recommend you start with the track “One good Spliff”.
+Sara Bennett
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