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The Cool Ruler is not known primarily as a cultural roots singer. Instead, his bread and butter has always been a particular brand of seductive lover's rock, always delivered at languid tempos in a reedy, not-particularly-attractive voice. So the largely political content of Mr. Isaacs, while not unprecedented, was still something of a departure from the norm when it was originally released in the '70s on the Jamaican Cash & Carry label. It succeeds for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is the rock-solid playing of the Revolutionaries. But Gregory deserves credit for understanding that trenchant political statements are sometimes most effective when delivered with the least amount of drama. The lines "I was given as a sacrifice/To build a black man's hell and a white man's paradise" are all the more biting when sung in Gregory's cool, lilting tenor-lesser interpreters would have clenched up and emoted; he lets the words speak for themselves and offers a vocal counterpoint instead of hammering the message home. "Story Book Children" is sweet and wistful; "Handcuff," like "Sacrifice," simmers with quiet outrage. And there are a couple of love songs, too, just so you don't forget you're listening to the Lonely Lover. Excellent.
© Rick Anderson /TiVo
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Gregory Isaacs, MainArtist - Shudley Thomas, Writer
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group Inc
Gregory Isaacs, Writer, MainArtist
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group Inc
CHIP TAYLOR, Composer, Writer - Gregory Isaacs, MainArtist - Billy Vera, Composer, Writer
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group Inc
Gregory Isaacs, Writer, MainArtist
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group Inc
Gregory Isaacs, Composer, Writer, MainArtist
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group Inc
WILLIAM ROBINSON, Writer - SMOKEY ROBINSON, Composer, Writer - Gregory Isaacs, MainArtist
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group Inc
Gregory Isaacs, Writer, MainArtist
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group Inc
Gregory Isaacs, Writer, MainArtist
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group Inc
Gregory Isaacs, MainArtist - Clement Dodd, Writer - Grant Gilmore, Writer
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group Inc
Gregory Isaacs, Composer, MainArtist
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2014 Greensleeves Records Ltd
Keith Anderson, Writer - Gregory Isaacs, MainArtist
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group, Inc
Gregory Isaacs, Writer, MainArtist
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group, Inc
Gregory Isaacs, Composer, Writer, MainArtist
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group, Inc
Gregory Isaacs, MainArtist - Oswald Hibbert, Writer
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group, Inc
Gregory Isaacs, MainArtist - Edward Lee, Writer - Martin Riley, Writer - Lloyd Tyrell, Writer
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group, Inc
Gregory Isaacs, Writer, MainArtist
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group, Inc
DISC 2
Ossie All Stars, MainArtist - Oswald Hibbert, Writer
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group Inc.
Ossie All Stars, MainArtist - Oswald Hibbert, Writer
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group Inc.
Ossie All Stars, MainArtist - Oswald Hibbert, Writer
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group Inc.
Ossie All Stars, MainArtist - Oswald Hibbert, Writer
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group Inc.
Ossie All Stars, MainArtist - Oswald Hibbert, Writer
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group Inc.
Ossie All Stars, MainArtist - Oswald Hibbert, Writer
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group Inc.
Ossie All Stars, MainArtist - Oswald Hibbert, Writer
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group Inc.
Ossie All Stars, MainArtist - Oswald Hibbert, Writer
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group Inc.
Ossie All Stars, MainArtist - Oswald Hibbert, Writer
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group Inc.
Ossie All Stars, MainArtist - Oswald Hibbert, Writer
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group Inc.
Gregory Isaacs, Composer, MainArtist
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2014 Greensleeves Records Ltd
Gregory Isaacs, Writer - Dillinger, MainArtist - Winston Holness, Writer
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group, Inc
Clint Eastwood, MainArtist - Ossie Hibbert, Writer
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group, Inc
Big Joe, MainArtist - Oswald Hibbert, Writer - Joseph Spalding, Writer
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group, Inc
U Brown, MainArtist - Huford Brown, Writer - Oswald Hibbert, Writer
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group, Inc
Dillinger, MainArtist - Lester Bullock, Writer - Oswald Hibbert, Writer
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group, Inc
Album review
The Cool Ruler is not known primarily as a cultural roots singer. Instead, his bread and butter has always been a particular brand of seductive lover's rock, always delivered at languid tempos in a reedy, not-particularly-attractive voice. So the largely political content of Mr. Isaacs, while not unprecedented, was still something of a departure from the norm when it was originally released in the '70s on the Jamaican Cash & Carry label. It succeeds for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is the rock-solid playing of the Revolutionaries. But Gregory deserves credit for understanding that trenchant political statements are sometimes most effective when delivered with the least amount of drama. The lines "I was given as a sacrifice/To build a black man's hell and a white man's paradise" are all the more biting when sung in Gregory's cool, lilting tenor-lesser interpreters would have clenched up and emoted; he lets the words speak for themselves and offers a vocal counterpoint instead of hammering the message home. "Story Book Children" is sweet and wistful; "Handcuff," like "Sacrifice," simmers with quiet outrage. And there are a couple of love songs, too, just so you don't forget you're listening to the Lonely Lover. Excellent.
© Rick Anderson /TiVo
About the album
- 2 disc(s) - 32 track(s)
- Total length: 02:05:55
- Main artists: Gregory Isaacs
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: VP Records
- Genre: Reggae
© 2019 VP Music Group, Inc ℗ 2019 VP Music Group, Inc
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