Everything's OK

by

Al Green

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If you enjoyed Al Green's last CD, "I Can't Stop," you should pick this up as well. The 1st single "Perfect to Me" is good, but "Build Me Up" and the title track are great. These three songs sound much like the tracks on the previous CD, but the Reverend takes more chances on this release which pays off on songs like "Nobody But You" and "Real Love." With his voice as awesome as it was 30 years ago on song after song and Willie Mitchell on production, only his all-time classic albums ("Let's Stay Together," "Call Me" & "I'm Still in Love With You") surpass the quality of "Everything's Ok." It's great to hear this legendary soul singer still at his peak. Highly recommended.

When they recorded their comeback "I Can't Stop" in 2003, Al Green and Willie Mitchell pulled off a difficult trick: they made an album that recalled their legendary 70's work, but without falling into self-imitation. It was a fresh, wonderful record, and track for track it nearly measured up to their classics.

Now, in 2005, they set themselves an even harder task. "Everything's OK" wants to be a serious hit on the contemporary r&b charts, but not alienate the longtime Al Green fanbase. It doesn't work.

The album has two major flaws. The songwriting is timid and uninspired, and the production is annoyingly thick. Personally, I don't mind if the material is weak: most of Green's albums in the mid to late 70's featured lazy songwriting, but remain classics because of that laidback, minimalist Hi sound, and, of course, Green's beseeching, barely-above-a-whisper vocals. And then there was the Hi band, consisting of the Hodges brothers and Al Jackson--they knew when to play, and, perhaps more importantly, when not to.

Here, however, the arrangements are busy, busy, busy. There isn't a crack on the album that hasn't been slathered over with horns, strings, or a million kinds of percussion. It doesn't matter how good the band is, since so much is going on that you can't pick any single player out. And it certainly doesn't help that Green himself is low in the mix, or that his singing occasionally sounds a bit hoarse and grasping.

To be fair, there are some nice moments. Perhaps only Green could remake the sodden "You Are So Beautiful" and turn it into a genuinely moving soul ballad. "I Can Make Music" recalls, in a minor way, slow burning classics like "Take Me to the River." "Magic Road" is also fun, marking the first time I've ever heard Green attempt socially relevant lyrics. The rest isn't bad, just unmemorable.

In summary, "Everything's OK" is the commercially ambitious, artistically unexceptional album I was pleasantly surprised "I Can't Stop" turned out not to be. If this album had come out first, it would have made more sense. Hopefully, it will get enough bad reviews to convince Green and Mitchell that they're barking up the wrong tree. I'm fine with artists trying to remain current; I just don't want them to sacrifice their originality for a bit of airplay.