Reviews
G. Love
The Hustle
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If you are like me and you are a big Jack Johnson fan, or even if you are just fan enough to own one of his albums, then you have likely been exposed in one way or another to G. Love. He appears on quite a few Jack Johnson songs, and usually brings "The Special Sauce" who until this album had always been featured on G. Love's records as G. Love and the Special Sauce. This cd however, is without the special sauce and therefore is a solo effort. I always thought The Special Sauce was just a bit of window dressing, and so I anticipated this cd to sound similar to what I had heard from him previously. That was a bad assumption. If any of you have heard G. Love before the best way to sum it up is that he usually sounds similar to Jack Johnson but more rocking, and his voice has a bit more range.
And that is partially the problem with this album, the range. Every song seems to go in a different direction, and sometimes it works and sometimes it fails miserably. This album has funk / white boy rap / blues/ alternative /Beatles rip off/ chill surf music / even a bit of country. Needless to say that is an ambitious list of genres to try and cover in one album. Further examination of the booklet shows me that Jack Johnson only produces one song, even though it is on his record label. That might very well be the problem. An album can have range so long as it is cohesive, and the transition from song to song makes sense. Want an example? Andre 3000. This album has no cohesiveness, and therefore probably misses its mark with most listeners.
"Astronaut" opens the album, and this song if given enough mainstream airplay could turn into a bit of a hit for G-Love. I would have liked to have seen G. Love spend more time experimenting with this sound, as it is original and he excels with it. uld download: "Astronaut", "Booty Call", "Give it to you", "Stone Me".The sound is closest to alternative, but the guitar has a bit of a blues sound to it, and the vocals during the chorus are heavily distorted with static to kinda give it the singing through a megaphone kinda sound. The guitar while being more aggressive than anything I have ever heard on a Jack Johnson record, still plays the same type of chords and tunes as Jack Johnson does just intensified. Its too bad that he doesn't try to keep this connection to his roots on some of the other lacklustre tracks. But I would tend to think almost anyone would like this song, as it is really catchy and not too complicated that it's not accessible.
"Give it To you" this song kinda sounds like your typical laid back stoner/surfer sound (which is what I sum up Jack Johnson's sound as). Except this song has a reggae sounding background, to add to the signature guitars. Also adding to this song's success is an appearance by the man himself, Jack Johnson. Sadly, the highlight of the album for me is forty seconds or so that Jack Johnson graces this cd with his presence. Man he has a great voice, and can adapt that voice to any song that he ever appears on. As evidence from his appearance on this cd, and as well the Handsome Boy Modeling School cd would illustrate. I always love when bands or artists dabble in the reggae/dub sound. And I think it is a sound that is massively under explored, this song is no exception. Definitely recommended, if you are Jack Johnson fan its a must to get this song added to your playlist.
"Stone Me" is another favorite on this mish-mash of a cd. this song finds G.Love doing his best Kid Rock impression. And no not your cock rock "Bawitawaba" Kid Rock but instead the soulful minimalistic guitar and stripped back vocals sound that Kid Rock seems to dabble in more and more in recent years. Thus my girlfriend immediately hated this song after hearing it, but me being a big Kid Rock fan I really like it. G. Love even uses the echo effect that Kid Rock always seems to use on his songs. Singing about relationships gone awry in this style of music always sounds so good. Sure if you are a cup half empty kinda guy this is a blatant rip off of Kid Rock, but for me its more flattery to Kid Rock and its a cool imitation.
But now let's talk about the bad. I'll do this as quickly as possible. "Love" is a really really poor imitation / rip off of old Beatles songs and G. Love's sound doesn't work like this at all. I would have thought quality control would have saved us from this song.
"Back of the bus" sounds ok at the beginning but then digresses into an ugly combination of white boy rap and funky guitar and bass. "All the cool kids on the back of the bus, rub-a-dub scrub-a-bub whatcha talkin' about gus?" Maybe the worst lyric of the entire year. Enough said.
More white boy rap, with a guitar part that sounds eerily familiar to a Jack Johnson song I can't quite put my finger on can be found on "Don't Drop it". When non rapping artists decide to throw down a rap.... usually the lyrics are abysmal and the result is disgusting. This song doesn't disappoint in that regard.
"The Hustle" is exactly that. I feel hustled having bought this cd. I mean I don't hate it.... and as I mentioned their are some redeeming songs. But, it just on the whole is so much less impressive than almost every other cd I have bought and heard in 2004. I mean 14 songs and less than 5 of them stand out! That is a serious problem. And I feel hustled because the album is packaged like a Jack Johnson album, it is blatantly advertised as being on Jack Johnson's label, and his appearance on the album is highlighted as well. BUT.... in the end the sound and the quality of the CD bears no resemblence to Jack Johnson. I can't get behind that. So for those who have been clamouring for it, here you go: my first FAIL.
Songs that you should download: "Astronaut", "Booty Call", "Give it to you", "Stone Me".
Score: 4.75
My first-ever fail.
- Dan