'Sowing Seeds': A review of "Good Prevails" by Alpheus

Growing. We do often speak about development in terms of artist's coming of age and entering new stages within their careers as it can be an extremely interesting thing to follow. If you can, off the top of your head, just begin to trace back some of the things that some of your favourite musicians have gone through over the years, and how they have managed (if they did manage) to maintain and you can get a very brief 'clip' of just how compelling these situations can be and almost always are. And this certainly isn't a phenomenon which is only reserved for younger and up and coming names, as you'll find people who have likely been around longer than you have who are continuing to progress and go through various musical changes in their careers. You can mention someone like a Glen Washington who is currently, still, enjoying a renaissance within his career which is now being presented to… who knows how many generations of entirely loyal fans. And Washington's case, in particular, will always be fascinating to me because it was never as if he changed his style or something like that and there was never anything to really 'mark' the occasion -- fans just seem to, one day, begin to give his music its due and, a few years later, we haven't stopped -- and he can deliver that new album whenever he's ready! And when you begin to look at people of that same class of Washington's, some of  them have also achieved a lasting amount of success very deep into their careers, but nothing has been as abrupt when it comes to the successes enjoyed by individuals such as Beres Hammond and Freddie McGregor. But I think that someone who would make a very interesting comparison would be an individual who we first covered just a few years back and someone whose re-rise to prominence has also been very sudden, yet far more explainable than Washington's - the wonderful Alpheus. Though I wouldn't necessarily call him a 'household name' in Reggae circles (although, at this pace, you might be able to argue with that fairly soon), the UK veteran has had a very good career and, in 2011, he put himself on a map which, obviously, is going to take him a lot longer to get off of than three years. What he managed to do, for what it was, is probably one of the most remarkable surges in Reggae music's recent past. 

WHAT HAPPENED?! I'm referring to Alpheus' last album (which, I think, was his third), the MASSIVE "From Creation". The circumstances surrounding that album may've been one of a kind as word of how fantastic it was preceded its release date by a month or two [!] and when it finally did arrive, it was one of the most discussed Reggae albums of its time. Fortunately when we got to listen to it, fans were thrilled by the results and surely Alpheus made a whole heap of new fans based, solely, on the strength of "From Creation" and I was one of them. The album was a delightful old-school charged set which placed the former Studio One singer in his element and allowed him to shine brightest, fulfilling on everything that we had heard about it prior to its release and providing fans with a bit extra. The stars had aligned just perfectly and Alpheus took full advantage of the moment and dazzled!  

"From Creation" [2011]

So maybe they can realign? Hopefully that is exactly what is at work because Alpheus now brings forth his first album since "From Creation", the also much anticipated "Good Prevails". If you were going to try to maintain your best form, you might not want to change much and Alpheus hasn't as the new album finds him, once again, teaming up with the increasingly well respected Spanish producer, Roberto Sanchez and his A-Lone Productions imprint. This time, also at work is Liquidator Music and, thus far, all involved have done another stellar job in getting the word out as, once again, Alpheus releases an album which is promoted exquisitely well. I was very happy when I learned that Sanchez was producing "Good Prevails". As I said, when you go back and look at an artist's history, it's interesting to see them progress through the various stages and, though we can't see what happens in the future, perhaps years from now we'll add heat to an already flaming project and designate "From Creation" as not only a great album but one which began a very fruitful relationship between artist and producer. The fact that the two sit down to even do the second album (regardless of its results) shows that the moment wasn't lost on them and they also appreciated the work that they had done together and wanted to see if they could do it again. And I wanted to see as well! Personally - Alpheus is been someone who has been making full albums from when I was a kid and I'd always meant to listen to some of his work extensively, but I didn't get around to it until "From Creation" and that album was so good that you wanted to hear more of it and "Good Prevails" presents that opportunity. It is a condition you think of more in regards to 'mainstream' projects where an artist can explode internationally and then you wonder if any of those new fans that they made will come back for the next project or the next one after that, but I also think that Alpheus is experiencing that with this album and, seemingly, entering another stage of a very progressed career. So, with all of that being said, this album had no room for error. It had to be damn good and I didn't get very far into it at all before becoming aware that they had done it again! Let's examine.

Just like with its predecessor, on "Good Prevails" Sanchez provides Alpheus with old school and old school vibed tracks which play so wonderfully to his strengths throughout the album. Speaking of strengths, at the head of the album is a tune which is one of its brightest lights, 'Our Strength'. This song leads me into a major point that I want to make about this album. This is the type of album in which you can fully immerse yourself in the music and the vibes and if you do that, that's great - have fun. But be sure not to get so deep into that aspect of it that you lose sight of the lyrics which, at least in my opinion, are just as crucial as the music they feature across. On 'Our Strength', in particular, Alpheus delivers a message about taking pride in who you are and standing up for yourself when you have to. Most memorable are the first lines uttered on the entire album, "As long as there is life in we, we nah go let them treat we like dirt". 'Open Your Eyes' is another winner with a great riddim behind it. There is a wildly infectious DUSTY type of feeling absolutely engulfing this tune which is hard to describe (and I just gave it my best shot, hope that you appreciated it), which dominates for me, but if you dig deeper, and you should, you'll also find a very nice track about self-awareness and learning everything you can from your life experiences. And also infectious is the bounce of 'The Right One' which is a love song. I love that an album which sounds like this isn't brimming with selections like this, but you NEED a few of them and if they're of the quality of 'The Right One' they can actually be standouts and it is in this case.

Of a similar class to "The Right One' are the other love songs on "Good Prevails", the big sounding 'Secret Rendezvous' and the GORGEOUS and damn clever 'Pass The Test'. The former has a very unique quality to it. It's a love song but it kind of sounds suspenseful (and that may be the first time I have ever used that term in describing a song), which does play into the direction of the song. 'Pass The Test' is a fantastic song and NOTHING like what I expected from the title as Alpheus speaks about bettering himself and making improvements in his life so he won't lose someone very special in his life. The song may be one of the most unique love songs that I've heard in a really long time and I always appreciate originality when I least expect it and I didn't expect it AT ALL in this case. Big tune. That may have come as a surprise but something which certainly did not was the title track which takes top honours on the album named after it. 'Good Prevails' is a very interesting piece because it is just as much of a musical display that it is an actual song. There is a heavy focus on the musicianship and although it isn't the THICKEST song that I've ever heard (more on that in a minute), it is saturated in a star quality which is inescapable.

"At the end of  the day -

Good will prevail

The words of truth could never fail

Live good today and always

Live good today

Evil believes they've won the day

But time will tell through good leads the way

Live good today and always

Live good today"

Book-ending the title track are a pair of also outstanding efforts, 'Look In The Mirror' and 'Rudie No More'. In this case, the former is my second favourite song on this album, but the latter is also strong as it also combines big lyrics with a sterling composition. 'Rudie No More' is a song about someone attempting to fix up themselves and lead a better existence and, taking it further, I think that Alpheus presents a song like this to say that it is possible and if you are someone in that situation, you don't have to be like that for the rest of your life - you can make changes. It does not have that kind of a BRIGHT feeling that you typically hear on a song like that, but that's a good thing as Alpheus takes a serious method of delivering a serious theme. However, if you are actually looking for brightness, you can just 'Look In The Mirror' for a very intense light and another extremely clever offering. This is a song about self-esteem and liking the person who you are. I take a song like this on so many different levels (because I’m an over-thinker and can't help it) and while you can take it to a deeper step and deal with the mental side of the song, I like the immediate aspect also.

"Look in the mirror

Love what you see

Believe in the image

Never delete

Respect the reflection

For its yours to keep"

You could make the case that he is dealing with subjects like body image and people not being happy with themselves physically and not enjoying their appearance. In that case, I think that it is an even more crucial song because that is a subject RARELY explored in Reggae music.

The final third of vocal selections on "Good Prevails" continues to serve up delicious material including 'Reach For The Top'. This one is a full JOY to listen to. It has a very vibrant feel to it and it features Alpheus saying to just be the best you can be and enjoy your life as much as you can. It is kind of 'loose', but that is a nice feature on a song like this. Being too rigid here would have been… very strange. The tune which follows 'Reach For The Top' reaches even higher in my opinion. 'Show Some Love' is a similarly directed piece to the tune ahead of it and it, WONDERFULLY, has Alpheus, essentially, identifying love as a contagious element in the world. Saying that if someone shows some love to someone else, then maybe someone else will pick up the momentum and carry it for themselves (and even if they don't, you do it for yourself!). 'Stand Up' may feature the biggest bite on "Good Prevails". You need a song that has a little anger on it and though you could also feel that in the opener, on 'Stand Up' it is even stronger. 

"Now that we've pushed the past behind -

A STRICTLY UPWARD WE CLIMB

We ahgo stand up!

Nah go give up!

Now everyday is a struggle

But we nah go decline

We ahgo stand up!

Nah go give up! 

Sometime it's not an easy ride

And we slip and ah slide

But we nah go fall down, down, down"

And finally (not really), "Good Prevails" ends with the excellent 'Liberty'. This song is a fairly straightforward one with the emphasis being, obviously, more of a social nature, but Alpheus seems to deal with it on big levels [in terms of, literally, not being able to be free] and small ones [as in people pushing themselves into areas of your life where they do not belong] which is a nice touch. Another nice touch (two of them) are the pair of instrumentals which really do complete this album. 'The Shadow' is the same suspenseful and enthralling [WHAT!] piece backing 'Secret Rendezvous' which seems to have added a melodica to the display which is a great one. And there's also 'Soul Food' the riddim from 'Soul Food' (although every time I hear it, I immediately begin to sing, "I'm still in love with youuuuuuuuu"), which also heavily incorporates some melodica and is another very nice idea. 

So what don't I like about this album??? As you can see (hopefully), I really like it and I enjoy it so much that I wish that there was more of it! An album like this one which is of a type where the music is as much of the 'story' as the lyrics, should have more weight to it. I want to hear long extended instrumentals after the vocals on songs and while you do get stretches of that, eleven of the fourteen tracks are less than three minutes in length for a total playing time south of forty minutes (and because I know you're curious, "From Creation" was more than ten minutes longer). I'm a nerd, and I know it, but on some of these songs, you could have let them play and play and play and I would have LOVED it. 

Alpheus

Overall, I did love the album and, thinking about it for in respect to what it is for me, I'm glad I came back! Along with being just a great album, "From Creation" was kind a landmark release for Alpheus which well saw his profile increase and a lot of people like me took notice and on "Good Prevails" he begins the work of reinforcing his newly found fan base and pleasing his more longtime fans as well. I can't imagine that any from either group will be disappointed by what they find here, If you are a more established Alpheus fan then you (probably just wasted your time reading this) know what to expect and you know you're going to love it, but for those people like me, "Good Prevails", is not a large deviation from the previous album, but it is enough of a unique piece that you don't feel like these are just the next fourteen songs from "From Creation". I do have to, once again, mention the link here as well. I don't know what they're future plans are, but it would be awful if Alpheus and Roberto Sanchez never made another album together. It is so clear that the two have generated so much functioning musical chemistry with one another that should do another of these every two or three years. "Good Prevails" is both a big followup to a future classic and a strong album on its own merits which, again, finds Alpheus turning in a major performance when everyone is watching. Well done. 

Rated: 4.35/5

Liquidator Music

2014

CD + Digital

Review #510

'Much Ado About Something': A Review of "From Creation" by Alpheus

Isn’t the Internet a wonderful place? Besides being a seemingly endless reservoir of knowledge and most random information, it can also be quite helpful to interests such as ours - wonderful music. There’re places like this truly ridiculous corner of the web which you find yourself faced with now which make a relatively decent attempt at keeping current as to what is going on and, thankfully, there’re others which do an infinitely better job and both of those types of areas, in the bigger scheme of things, definitely do a great deal of work to help things along. Still, I have to say that one of the most remarkable things the Internet can do, specifically in terms of Reggae music, is to, very randomly, begin to push an artist or an album or a tune and genuinely have much to do with the ultimate success of that something or someone. Of course, when it’s someone like a Sean Paul or a Shaggy or someone or something which . . . doesn’t really need much help in terms of promotion or general ‘word-of-mouth’ stirring about it in order to thrive - It’s much less noticeable, but every once in a while, something or someone which certainly doesn’t rise to those international levels will arise and the online community will obviously be one of the significant driving forces behind what it ends up doing. I look at different entities which have taken much advantage of the Internet and its never ending resources for particular examples and, somewhat surprisingly, I’m lead to the UK. Achis Reggae favourite Necessary Mayhem is a label which has closed the gap between itself and better known UK/European labels largely based on its digital work. Besides the fact that, almost surely without exception, you can pick up 100% of their catalog with but a few strokes of keys, Necessary Mayhem goes the proverbial extra distance in promoting their material and their artists as well and just commonly making them a part of ‘common’ Reggae discourse. Also, there’s the curious case of sweet singing UK veteran (and another Achis Reggae favourite), Lloyd Brown, whose online presence over the past few years or so has been impressive to say the least. His most recent batch of (yearly) albums has been largely supported by the work he has done online and as he shifts his audience base more and more international, seemingly it’s something which will continue to grow. Furthermore, the work of acts such as Gappy Ranks, Mr. Williamz and others (like Adele Harley) have all benefited from the Internet greatly. HOWEVER, I can honestly say that no one single thing that I’ve seen come from out of the UK has generated as much online buzz as the album in question today.

Alpheus is a singer who belongs to a group of names who I always find myself wanting to get to know of much better but I almost never get around to doing it. The London born singer has been on the scene for quite some time now and even as I began to take a listen and more involved looked at some of his more well known peers such as the aforementioned Brown, Peter Spence and Peter Hunnigale, the leap towards him was just one which I wasn’t prepared to make, because unlike those names, Alpheus didn’t seem to have much going on, save for an album, 2007’s “Everything For A Reason” which I really should have checked out (and may still) because it came from one of my absolute favourite labels at the time, Special Delivery. Apparently he had something really big brewing, however. It was late last year (maybe even as far back as November when I first heard that the wonderfully name singer was going to soon be releasing a project and doing so through the same A-Lone Productions with Roberto Sanchez from out of Spain, of whom I knew virtually nothing about with the exception of the fact that earlier in the year, the same label had worked on another very celebrated release, ”And God Said To Man“ from veteran singer, Earl Zero (an album which I managed to ‘elude’, predominately based on the knowledge that it only contained six or seven vocal tracks) (apparently that wasn’t a wise idea on my part). What Alpheus and Sanchez came up with in Spain would ultimately lead to one of the most discussed albums of the second half of 2010 and one which would arrive in early 2011, ”From Creation”. News story after news story and article and review after article and review - I have read SO MUCH about this album prior to receiving it that I felt that I would be doing myself a disservice if I didn’t pick it up at that point and I thought that it would be a pretty good opportunity for me to really dive in and vibe Alpheus’ music. I even had readers recommending it to me (as recently as earlier this week actually) who, presumably, know that I’m not much of an old school head and my interest in such a release, at least ostensibly, wouldn’t be too great, but like I said, after all of that, I felt very compelled to have a listen. While ”From Creation” certainly did not surprise AT ALL in terms of what it turned out to be, what it does for me on a personal level, is offer an opportunity to really musically ‘meet’ Alpheus. It’s so interesting in doing research for this album I ‘found out’ that an album of his that I already knew of, ”Quality Time”, which was Alpheus’ debut set back in 1999, was actually produced by the immortal Sir Coxsone Dodd and Studio One and this new album features Sanchez’ relicks of old compositions from Studio One and material from Phil Pratt as well (who also served his apprenticeship at Studio One). So you would think that the singer would feel completely comfortable over what he was presented with for ”From Creation” and it well shows on the album which takes the listener on a very colourful trip from Reggae to MAMMOTH doses of Rocksteady and Ska. And the old school fans have been eating it up - Maybe the new school heads should take a listen as well. Let’s see why!

'From Creation'

I hate being late! As seems to be the case with most people who I’ve read discussing this album what really strikes me about Alpheus’ brand new album for A-Lone Productions, ”From Creation”, is just how sonically pleasing it is (of course, most of those other ‘journalists’ wouldn’t put it like so because their vocabularies aren’t as good as mine so my take will still be FRESH I assure you) and it isn’t shy about putting its best foot forward either as the album gets started with what is clearly its finest effort, the title track. The song is unity piece of HUGE proportions as Alpheus does his take on an old Phil Pratt riddim and does it to the point of brilliance.

“From creation
We’re meant to live as one
Love as one
Work as one

From creation
We’re ‘sposeta walk as one
March as one
Live as one

We shouldn’t need fi forgive or forget none
One love must full up ’til it caan done
Live could be sweet like a sugar plum
One love
One heart
One dominion

Events in life will happen for a reason
So dat don’t mean wi haffi stress a situation
Keep cool and calm, live as one nation
One love
One heart
One dominion”

And I noticed that most people seemed to get dazzled by the tune itself (as did I, I’ve probably heard this song sixty times by now, but if you can, definitely try to have a deep listen to the lyrics of the track because they are well impressive. The next track in, ‘Call It A Day’, hops aboard a Studio One composition and it provides golden results. I pretty much LOVE this track and I haven’t heard a great deal of discussion about it, in specific, but after THOROUGHLY spinning it, I have to start wondering why because it’s also one of the best tunes on this album. And speaking of “one of the best tunes on this album”, the final selection of the opening lot, the Ska-ified ‘We Are Strong’ also registers as one of my favourites, but does so after COPIOUS journeys through. Apparently this one is a brand new track from Sanchez and it sounds EXACTLY like it was ripped from Kingston circa 1965-1970 and for the MANY hardcore fans of vibes from that era, I would imagine this tune, especially, would be potentially CLASSIC material for you.

'Far Away'

Although ”From Creation” comes to its end with four consecutive riddim tracks (more on that in a minute), within its twelve vocals it offers up a most FULL experience and really when you take that and add to it a few SPECTACULAR moments and a very ‘DETAILED’ level of consistency throughout, you really have a fine project by album’s end. To my opinion, the best of the rest is likely to be the sublimely hypnotic ‘Far Away’ on which Alpheus taps his inner Ossie Dellimore. This tune is downright STERLING and even though I do favour the opening and title track (ever so slightly), if you want to declare this one the best the album has to offer, you’ll receive no arguments, none at all, from me - ‘Far Away’ is HEAVY! The Pratt constructed ‘Live & Learn’ has to be considered another standout on ”From Creation”. Although not so much as the song I just told you about, this is another hefty track and its power comes from a very smooth delivery as well as some of the strongest lyrics on the whole of the album.

“Used to be friends but now we’re foes
Where the respect go?
No one never knows
From year to year none secrets would be told
No more trusting
Friendship dead and gone
We live and learn yeah
Move on”

Another standout piece, the upful ‘In Time’, isn’t exactly lacking in the scholarly department either - Should you get that far - The tune, itself, is also an utter joy to simply listen to and it’s one which makes up a ‘problem’ with ”From Creation” that I’ll get to shortly. And later there’s the OUTSTANDING ‘Always’ which . . . If you can listen to that tune and not find yourself smiling at some point (despite the subjectry of the song) then you’re a different individual because the song really lights things up in my opinion. Alpheus is essentially saying goodbye to those who’ve left us and while his vocal tones may be the most HAPPY in the world for the most part, I really feel a lot of joy coming from this one and if someone were going to make a song like such about me after my time has come, I’d want it to sound like this!

'Live & Learn'

Now, with all of that being said, certainly the remaining songs on ”From Creation” aren’t BAD - The album has no bad material on it (and you’re going to have to try damn hard to convince me otherwise - even from a ‘matter of opinion’ point of view). Although this isn’t your typical heavy UK Lover’s Rock type of release, there’re still a couple of strong love songs on the album, ‘Ultimate’ and ‘Inside Out’. I absolutely LOVE the Studio One track behind the latter and the actual song is written very cleverly I should add as well (and Alpheus sounds just a bit like Everton Blender - a GREAT thing). The former is just a really COOL track. It doesn’t try very hard and you might be able to call it lacking in passion, but for me almost everything about this track works through almost perfectly. I could also probably add to this line ‘Turnaround Ball’ where Alpheus seems rather marveled that “she asked me to dance” at a turnaround ball. The music here, again, is excellent - right out of Studio One - And the singer makes the most of it with another very ‘chilly’ piece of vibes. ‘Keep The Faith’ is a song which I’m seriously considering going back and sticking into the spectacular moments on this album because it is very good and the riddim (a Sanchez original) is simply divine also. And ‘Do The Ska’ is almost obligatory in a sense with all the various Ska-ness just randomly lying around the place. The song is still the vocal changeup on the album (although OBVIOUSLY not out of place) (AT ALL) and if you have functioning ears and you can move ANY piece of your body, it’s sure to get you moving in some capacity.

As I said, the album wraps up with four instrumental tracks, ‘When You Call Me’, ‘Far Melody’, ‘Keep The Dub’ and ‘Creation Dub’ and they are all VERY strong. My personal favourite (unsurprisingly) is definitely ‘Creation Dub’. The DRUMS on that one just start in and it turns NASTY! That thing is UGLY and absolute master class of a track. I also really like ‘When You Call Me’ and all of the four are just very good and I always have no problem when you just stick in random instrumentals.

'Call It A Day'

My only really prevailing critique of the album is the fact that (and I know I said it was a “FULL experience” and I well stand by that) the longest track on the album, ‘Far Away’ (and its melody track) is twenty seconds shy of four minutes. That’s somewhat odd with instrumentals (they could have let those things go on for ten minutes and I wouldn’t have complained) and I think that they could have just put more into it and even letting the music play on various tracks which only happens occasionally throughout ”From Creation”. Also, as I alluded to, I think that there’re a lot of people and there’re going to be even more who don’t look at this album as much more than an instrumental release and they’re going to, unfortunately, miss out on some really deep messages and notions so don’t let that happen to you.

Overall, I can very comfortably say that while this isn’t my focal area - I try to stick to more current and even more ‘forward-looking’ albums - I am COMPLETELY impressed by Alpheus and ”From Creation” and I can definitely see now what all the talk has been about and it was all warranted. Last April we received an album in ”Judgement Time” from Chezidek which was EASILY one of the best releases of the year and while it didn’t quite go to these lengths, it also involved more than a small bit of old school flavours and charms and it was a BIG album. ”From Creation” is a BIG album. I would think that there’re a great deal of fans, like me, who aren’t the biggest fans of the singer, but now is an excellent time become acquainted in my opinion. Besides the attraction here of being this ‘old school’ and ‘Rocksteady’ release (I think people just REALLY like using those words) (obviously I do too), Alpheus does a great job as well and he Roberto Sanchez link up to push one excellent piece of vibes for early 2011. Well done.

Rated: 4.45/5
A-Lone Productions
2011
CD
Alpheus @ Myspace