A review of
Damian Marley's "Welcome to Jamrock"
(Universal)
It can't be easy to distinguish yourself in a family full of musical visionaries, but Bob Marley's youngest, Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley, sure is giving it a good try. After winning the Grammy for 2002's Halfway Tree, and after penning one of the most explosive reggae hits of the summer, the menacing anti-violence anthem "Welcome to Jamrock," Marley returns with an album that lives up to the single's promise.
The album erupts right off the bat with "Confrontation," which builds from spoken word dialog by Bunny Wailer (along with recordings from Haile Selassie and Marcus Garvey) into a pounding indictment of war in general, and the war in Iraq in particular. Other stand outs include "Pimpa's Paradise" (with Black Thought and Stephen Marley), a cautionary tale about a casualty of hip-hop's bump-and-grind video culture; "All Night," in which Marley sings about trying to keep up with his insatiable lady over a loping Skatalites sample; and "For the Babies," an Asian-influenced anti-abortion song that takes men to task for abandoning their pregnant girlfriends.
Marley gets quite a bit of help from friends and relatives, including his late father, on several of the tracks. Bunny Wailer, Nas, Black Thought, Bounty Killer, Eek-A-Mouse and even Bobby Brown put in appearances. Marley's brother, Stephen, co-wrote and performs on many of the songs. And at least two songs include "interpolations" or samples of work by Bob Marley himself. But while Marley isn't shy about celebrating (or cribbing from) his father's legacy, the end product is his alone.
Amazingly, I'm feeling pretty good this morning, following last night's costume revelry at Kings. Actually, my arms are so sore I can hardly move, but I think that has more to do mowing the grass yesterday for the first time in six weeks than it does with anything that happened at the show.
Japanese band DMBQ and Raleigh's The Greatest Hits played. I have to say, I don't think any band in this area has grown on me as much as The Greatest Hits. I really didn't like them at first, but they've become one of my favorites.
DMBQ was ear-splitting psychedelic metal. The guitar player secured a place in my heart by playing with a violin bow.
As for our costumes, jessica went as the typical '70s tough girl stoner chick who always sat in the back of the class and played with her roach clips. We decided her name was Tonya. I had made a vow that I wasn't going to dress up, but while we were out at American Way, I found a hideous pair of leopard print cotton spandex pant and realized that all I had to do was dig out my old Krokus T-shirt to have the perfect costume. We listened to Def Leppard on the way over to Steve and Jeff's house and decided my name was going to be Lady Strange. I'd like to thank the rockabilly dude who took our picture while we shopped for beer and snacks at the Kangaroo.
