CD Review

"Open The Door"

Gregory Isaacs

[Ras/Sanctuary

Review by Mr. Marlon

Lucky to still be alive, does Gregory still have it? He does, thanks to the aid of duo-producers, Mafia & Fluxy. In the studio, Gregory relies on his strength of keeping it cool and calm, highlighting his distinctive, golden vocals, while producers Mafia & Fluxy arm Gregory with solid songs to rock any dancehall. The production duo, famous for classic rub-a-dub riddims pushing Beenie Man and Bounty Killer as household names back in the early 1990’s, crank up the bass to perfectly fit the power of your built up, theater-structured speakers.

This is cool Lovers Rock, the vibrations pounding on your chest as the engineering surges extra weight on your sub woofers. Gregory gently wakes the town with “Margaret,” singing all the way through, begging and pleading his case after another woman. Oh yes, the history on Mr. Lovers' Rock is tremendously long, and so is his list of the many relationships gone bad of which he sings.

Open the door to see for yourself, but with titles such as “She’s Gone,” “Promise Me” and yes yet another woman, “Josephine,” it’s pretty obvious to see without peeping through his window, that his heart is yearning AGAIN. See him cry his best tear and feel his pain on “Have I Sinned,” giving Mafia & Fluxy the avenue to rip your speakers apart with a riveting bass line for the coolest ruler's vocals.