I bought 3 new CDs yesterday, and they're excellent! I have to say that I'm pretty excited about them. So, I thought I'd share. Why, I don't know? 1) Macy Gray - The Id - This is a great album. I really liked her first album, but this one is even better. Very smooth vocal style and fun lyrics. This is an excellent mix of funk, soul and jazz. 2) Jamiroquai - A Funk Odyssey - Never really been a fan of there, but you can really hear the James Brown/Bootsy Rubber Band/Earth Wind & Fire/Parliament (P-Funk) influences throughout this album. Good funk and good grooves. 3) O Brother, Where Art Thou? - Soundtrack - Just saw this movie two days ago. I love the music. Really strong vocals and great guitar.
Funny how much opinions can differ - I read a review of it yesterday in a Swedish mag, and the reviewer (supposedly well-oriented in the genre) hated both the music and Gray's voice. But who cares about reviewers and their works, anyway? (Far too many I suspect. )
Sounds good, Jazzbo. Our band's guitar player bought the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack and he seems to like it a lot. I'll have to check those out.
I personally think their first 3 albums are way better than this and if you really like the funk influences mentioned, then I would say these are far more in evidence on "Travelling without Moving" which has some awesome funk basslines from Stuart Zender. I honestly believe that he was thrown out after this, as he was too good and was getting more attention in the UK than his boss!! Without Zender to me, they are just a pale shadow of what they were at their best.
I would tend to agree with you on this one. But lately, I've been really in dance music, and this is a great dance-oriented album from a great band.
Cool. Like I mentioned, the only thing about them I knew was Virtual Insanity. Well, since I like this album, (which let me be clear is not a ground-breaking album, but is good, and I enjoy listening to), then I'll definitely have to check out their other albums. Thanks Bruce. Different strokes I guess, but I know she's received a lot of criticism because she's done so well, (you know how people want to bring down success). The fact of the matter is, it's still good music. I search through a lot of soul music looking for something that comes close to the great grooves of the late 60s and early 70s and rarely find anything. Macy Gray has good music, which, when overanalyzed, is it the most original excellent music ever? Probably not. Excellent album though. Great grooves.