Audio Review

Artiste: Courtney John

Album: Unselfish

Rating: ★ ✩✩✩

In many ways Courtney John should have stayed selfish with this CD and kept it on the shelf. In the 14-track CD, only one track warrants a repeat and that is the last song 'Hey' which features Jovi Rockwell. After tons of airplay, 'Hey' has become one of the songs that grows on you, not one that is an instant hit.

One of the first and most striking features of the CD and, not in a good way, is that it is a bit monotonous. None of the beats nor rhythms are experimental in any way and each track seems to run into the other. John's voice is one that is unique in many ways and could take some getting used to in order to listen to and appreciate an entire album.

In a reggae album one excepts good lyrics, a message that grabs one's attention with conscious, profound or unusual lyrics. However, in Unselfish, there are no lines from any of the songs that immediately pull a listener in.

Many of the songs deal with love and relationships, which is a time worn topic. To truly stand out when singing about love, there should be a compelling degree of emotion in your voice, or new and innovative theme or lyrics, but both are lacking in John's treatment.

His unoriginality shows itself in the song Good Life where he takes a line from the classic song Tainted Love, singing, 'sometimes I feel I could run away".

There are other songs, and especially beats, that sound too familiar right through the entire CD. As for the title Unselfish, it is not overtly obvious how it suits the album.

Track listing

1) When You Say

2) Gone Away

3) Sometimes

4) Baby Tonight

5) So Long

6) This One

7) If I Could Only

8) Love's Gonna Lead The Way

9) Everytime You Leave

10) Did Your Best

11) Good Life

12) Warrior

13) Get Up

14) Hey featuring Jovi Rockwell

-K.H.

Reggae