Stage One

by

Sean Paul

Edit

This cd from Sean Paul is one of the best reggae cds to come from a Dj in a while. The first time I heard this I had this on repeat for a long time. The skits right down to all the songs have a tight flow and beats on every track. Some of the beats you might recognize hearing already but with sean paul's voice over it, it makes it sound all his own. I cant pick out one favorite becasue I like the whole thing so much but I would have to say tracks: 2,9,6,8,11,14,19, and 21. Anyone who lieks dancehall and are unsure about whether or not to get this cd, believe me when I say this is the one for you. Nothing but back to back non-stop dancehall all mixed into one.....and its all sean paul. Dont just take my word for it....get it!

Sean Paul has become an international star and a sought-after guest vocalist courtesy of his mega-selling "Dutty Rock" album. As a reslt, many listeners are picking up "Stage One" as well to see if there are lots of undiscovered gems in his back catalogue.

Simply put, "Stage One" is not an undiscovered gem. It is, however, a good listen.

The two absolute standout tracks here are "Deport Dem" and "Infiltrate". "Deport Dem" is famous partly as a result of its own quality, but also for being an example of the successful "Bookshelf" riddim (so named for Beenie Man's hit single on it). Both tracks of course appear in the introduction to "Dutty Rock" as examples of a sound which a rock band just can't create. Beyond these two tracks, there are moments of brilliance on the rest of the album, but not in song-length form. A lyric here, a phrase there is really the longest the rest of the album sustains top quality for.

By no means is this a slight on Paul's work. As in the case of many debut albums, he just didn't let his full talent shine through enough. Dancehall reggae being a singles-based genre, he had already earned a reasonable following before releasing the album and didn't lose much of it as a result of this performance. As we all know, unless we've somehow been living on Mars in the past few years, by the time the next album came round, it was quite a different story.

Overall, this is a decent album, but not a must-have or anything like that. The dancehall fan will find more than enough to keep them entertained - predominantly on the riddim side of the ledger. The casual Sean Paul fan, however, will probably lose interest here.