"The One & Only": A Review of Now & Forever by Sanchez

There’s Elvis. There’s Madonna. There’s Cher. We have Sade. You could even say Beyoncé. And you could also go with worded ones like Jay-Z or DMX, I suppose. In the annals of mainstream music, you have these big one named artists who have established their names to the point that they have essentially taken the word which is their name COMPLETELY out of the lexicon of pretty much every language of the world. To make the point, EVERY child until the end of time who is born and given the name ‘Elvis’ will forever be thought to be named after the legendary performer, despite the fact that ‘The King’ is long gone and also, every church or heritage institution with the word ‘Madonna’ in it, certainly runs the constant risk of being on the business end of some lame ass joke. But although Elvis is long gone (save for the occasional ‘cameo’ he makes outside of some bed & breakfast somewhere in Switzerland) and didn’t do anything for Reggae music and that reported combination between Madonna and Macka Diamond never actually materialized, we have a few single-word superstars whose names have done a similar thing in terms of distinguishing themselves and definitely taking on a different meaning besides whatever they are. Of course, the two which immediately come to mind from the current scene are Sizzla and Capleton. The difference between those two and this case of course, is that even though Sizzla somewhat may have an issue with it being used in other forms (like sizzler) and I don’t know in what possible other capacity one would be able to use ‘Capleton’ as a word, those aren’t words you run into on an even semi-daily basis. The very popular name Sanchez on the other hand? Definitely. I can almost GUARANTEE you that there is some poor Reggaeton artist out there who really chose a bad name is CONSTANTLY confused with an artist with a single name which has perhaps resonated within the landscape of Reggae music more so than any other within the last thirty years or so, the legendary Reggae crooner, Sanchez. Sanchez is one of just a handful of bonafide living Reggae LEGENDS and even though he doesn’t necessarily ‘roam’ in the more current trends of Reggae music (more on that in a minute), his name is established and reestablished to the point where if he decided to strictly start singing country music for the rest of his days, his place in Reggae would still be cemented. Why? The man sings amazing songs. That’s it. I know people (mainly amongst the older crowd) (biggup my Mother), who’ll swear his talent is THE greatest Reggae has ever heard even to this day and despite a fairly long absence from the music it’s still the case. Now, apparently fully rested, it’s time Sanchez came back to reassume his rightful place and in the process perhaps introduce himself to a younger generation of fan who his music probably helped to conceive.

I don’t know where Sanchez has been in terms of making albums. I think he’s been touring with the vocal group L.U.S.T. and obviously he’s been spending time in the studio, particularly for another established entity in Reggae music who has also been returning to the scene, Donovan Germain’s Penthouse Records. The two venerable musical geniuses come together to link on what is (by my count) Sanchez’ first new studio album since 2003, Now & Forever. The album comes via the label with which Sanchez has DEFINITELY most been associated with, industry leader VP Records, with whom he’s had probably a dozen or so studio albums, dating back to the mid 1980‘s. The last time I had actually heard anything dealing with Sanchez and an album it would have been following his last release No More Heartbreaks and I believe he was set to do his own thing and release his own projects on his own label. But apparently he’s decided, instead, to return ‘home’ and for the sake of TRULY getting the album to the farthest and most obscure corner of the world, where it will most certainly be in demand, I definitely think he’s made the correct choice. He’s also chosen well as far as Penthouse is concerned. Over the last eighteen months or so, that label has been doing BIG things. They’ve released (and re-released) a relatively steady stream of compilations full of big tunes and big riddims voiced by the likes of Penthouse favourites such as Beres Hammond (for whom they also released a compilation/album), Buju Banton, Tony Rebel and Assassin as well as BIG shots from newer entries such as Queen Ifrica, Busy Signal and even I-Octane. They’ve essentially also resumed their rightful place in Reggae as one of the more active producers/labels, just as things should be. Also, it’s definitely worth mentioning that Sanchez’ and Germain’s paths have certainly crossed in the past they both have as they’ve worked together on numerous singles (although this is their first full blown album together, I believe). Most notably, the two linked to add to Sanchez’ ridiculously beautiful catalogue, ‘One In A Million’, unarguably one of his biggest hits and best tunes altogether to date. So, let’s quickly recap: Sanchez is back. Penthouse is also back and once again one of the biggest labels on the scene. Sanchez and Penthouse are making an album together and it’s coming through VP Records. Nuff said! It doesn’t take a genius or a long-winded reviewer to figure out that Now & Forever immediately becomes one of the biggest and most high profile releases of the very young 2010, thus far and even if it’s an outstanding year, certainly the magnitude of such a name under such circumstances will remain, making this one, at least presumably, one of the most talked about of the year. But of course the question now must be asked: Is it any good? Well, for the most part, if you REALLY listen to Sanchez’ material, historically speaking, he seems to have exercised quite a bit of quality control in his career, particularly when it came to albums. Now & Forever is DEFINITELY no different in that regards and the legendary singer puts together an expectedly SOLID and CLASSY release.

Although Sanchez hasn’t been the most active artist on the scene for awhile (and at this stage of his career, he shouldn’t have to be), he has dropped a few singles and made appearances on a couple of Penthouse compilations. So, to no surprise those tunes are also here and two of the most popular go to open his brand new album, Now & Forever. The first is one which has proven to be an absolute hit, the infidelity anthem, ‘Won’t Surrender’. The tune is getting so much response, partly because it’s definitely a nice tune and partly (I’m sure), because it also happens to feature the world’s most horny ass golfer. Certainly there’s a nuance to the tune which may distract from the song itself, but the actual song is VERY good (it’s kind of reminiscent of Kiprich’s big tune from a few years back, ‘Telephone Ting’) and it’s also a bit humourous and allow me to just say that, I definitely love my wife (and I don’t use my damn phone!). Next up is another tune fans might be quite familiar with, the very fitting ‘Longing To Come Home’. This tune was a pretty big deal not too long ago and it’s probably my favourite tune altogether on Now & Forever. The tune, for me at least, definitely comes with a bit of double entendre, as Sanchez is seemingly talking about something in the literal sense, but the story could also be inferred as being one regarding his re-arrival on the scene in the music. In any case, the tune is VERY strong. The Serve & Protect riddim which is its backdrop is COOL kind of post modern sounding one-drop and Sanchez definitely climbed all over it for its greatest usage to my ears. BIG BIG tune definitely. And lastly of the opening lot is a tune which I’m sure I know but can’t quite put a finger on and another strong effort, ‘Who I Am Without You’. This is the first bit of the old school Sanchez to a degree as it has the feel that it could have arrived during almost any point of his career (maybe that’s why it sounds so familiar), which is DEFINITELY a good thing as is the opening to the album full on.

It’s interesting in respect to the majority of Penthouse’s most recent output, the word that most often comes to mind is ‘COOL’ and there is most certainly some polar-ish songs throughout the album. The chilliest of the remaining lot is almost certainly ‘EXTRAORDINARY‘. This tune! Big song! Having already received the seal of approval from Mrs. Achis, I definitely have to concur (really, I HAVE to). It is a LOVELY tune and one of the finest on the album. Another source of seriously sub-zero vibes can be found on the ‘authenticating process’ which is ‘I’m For Real’. This one is just SMOOTH, I could definitely see it playing on mainstream radio and such and, who knows, with his name, it just may happen. And speaking of ‘cool’ - how cool do you have to be to go all Winston Francis on the people like Sanchez does on ‘Feel Good All Over’. I had to actually look that one up as far as who made the original (found myself doing that a few times on Now & Forever actually), but Sanchez’ remake, as usually is the case with him, is most certainly even better. And it definitely serves the purpose the title forecasts (inna Studio One style). Keeping it going in succession, ‘Bet Any Amount’ is PURE and typical Sanchez. This one could have come at any time during the veteran’s well decorated career and perhaps a decade ago or so it would have been an IMMEDIATE hit. ‘Bet Any Amount’ is just the “scream and shout” type of romantic vibes on which Sanchez has made his name and here, he just seems to reiterate the fact that, despite a little while away, he certainly hasn’t lost a step in that regard. I’m so sure that I recognize both the KNOCKING ‘My Everything’ and the OUTSTANDING ‘Don’t Fall For It’, that I’m going to keep looking! The latter is just wonderful and a bit funny as Sanchez essentially lets the women in on the ‘tricks of the trade’ many men might use to gain their favour (yours truly, certainly not included) and it has a bit of an ‘attitude’ in it as well which is definitely not to be missed. And then there’s the title track which is EVERYTHING you would expect. This is another one which might’ve fit at any stage of Sanchez’ career, but it has clearly more of a feel towards the modern era to my opinion, but it’s certainly no less sweet than some of the others and given the circumstances (that it is the title track here), I think it just may be afforded some time in the spotlight from VP in the not too distant future. As Now & Forever begins to wind things down, it leaves us just as we met, with outstanding vibes. ‘Release That Property’ is a very clever tune with a kind of ‘movie’ feel to it and it finds the singer having identified the object his affections, telling her “you’ve got what I want, release that property”. Then there’s ‘I Can Feel It’ which is rather easily my second favourite tune on the album. The tune is just a very jovial (but cool) vibes about enjoying the music and everything which comes along with it. It’s very nice and easy and just a lax tune about having a good time. Very well done. The next tune ‘Enjoy Life’ doesn’t change much the pacing of the vibes and definitely the message, albeit more complicated than that of its predecessor, is an expansion of what we hear on ‘I Can Feel It’. The tune takes the message out of the musical context and just translates it to the general and literal sense which is, at least in my opinion, what the CORE of the previous tune was, but ‘Enjoy Life’ is a very welcome underlining of that ideology. And underlining the entire Now & Forever album is ‘When Someone Says I Love You’. You’ve taken the whole of the album like a report, it’s been written well, it looks very nice and, ‘When I Love You’ is essentially the SIGNATURE. It’s very traditional for Sanchez and if you love and appreciate his signature sound (and you most likely do if you’ve stuck around this long), you’ll most certainly love this one as well. It’s kind of hard to appreciate in its spot (going by how the vibes were going just prior to it), but you pluck that one tune out and listen it on its own merit and it’s NEARLY spectacular with now exaggeration. And there you have it - a beautiful project.

Overall, this is interesting because it’s clear that Sanchez’ FANS are going to eat Now & Forever up, immediately; but will newer fans be able to appreciate it? I think they will. The album isn’t much of a deviation from what the artist has done in the past and that’s a GOOD thing, but it does have a very FRESH appeal to it. I was thinking that there may have been a combination or two with some of the more aggressive likes (namely Busy Signal), which would have been great, but in retrospect maybe it is even better that there weren’t. Sanchez isn’t an artist who people look at and feel inclined to show respect based on what he’s done and not what he is (and in the grand scope of Reggae there’re so many of those types and NO, I won’t name names), he’s not there yet (and he probably will never be while active). He is, instead, a talent which has been WELL cultivated and after a nice rest, is still to be appreciated. And, after all, the album is fittingly called NOW & Forever and not ‘THEN & Forever’. Thus, if you haven’t been keeping too close of a watch on Sanchez, NOW is definitely the time to start.

Rated 4.25/5

VP Records

2010

Sanchez