 |  | This Album Is a Masterpiece |  |
In all honesty, I really don't care anymore about the people who are in opposition to this album because its ambitions. I even tried to convince some of my family members to listen to NFNF but they all fell on death ears. This album should be considered a milestone in pop music history, esepcially Black music history since just about every form of music created in America is Black music. Sananda Maitreya (changed his name)was willing to break the racial boundaries among genres and stereotypes that still continue to plague Black artists as of 2008. Black artists only playing R&B/Hip Hop while White musicians could play Rock music and do crossover with ease was something that Sananda at the time looked down upon. His first album was great but he felt he was heading into a direction where he was being categorized as this safe, non-threatening Black R&B artist. Sananda at the time and still today gets overshadowed. Documentaries on Black music (even the ones on Vh1 Soul) don't do a good job covering Black artists in the 80s (such as Prince, Sananda, Living Colour, Lenny Kravitz)that stuck in the tradition (Sananda grew and sung in a Church. His mother was a great gospel singer. He wasn't allowed to listen to secular music until he was 16. The only option was listening through a small radio or transmittor.)but took it to another level by combining different styles and genres of music. Once they talk about Black music in the 80s they just talk about Hip hop. Don't get wrong, hip hop has been influential and I can't deny its impact and popularity but there are still issues that haven't been addressed properly in Black music and culture (even though rock music is not as popular as hip hop or as popular as it used to be in the past.) One of issues being Black musicians playing rock music. Hopefully artists like Sananda, Prince, Living Colour, Lenny Kravitz and more will be put into the textbooks for Black students to read on in terms of contemporary Black artists trying to break the still unbroken legacy of the race records/race charts. Sorry if this review is long but I feel strongly about this issue.
April 21, 2008| | | Brilliant album left to obscurity...... | |
After the immense success of "Hardline..." I recall looking forward to this album. He had two videos from this project that aired only on VH-1 at the time: This Side of Love and To Know Someone Deeply. I ran to the store and got this on cassette tape and was blown away! It far exceeded my expectations and has always been one of my favorite albums.
Sadly, I was the only person I knew that bought it and I have spent years turning people onto this album ever since. The lyrics, music, arrangements, etc. all bear witness to the immense talent that is (not was) Terrence Trent D'Arby (Sananda Maitreya). If you slept on this one as the masses did, do yourself a favor and pick up this soundtrack that almost 20 years later remains an overlooked effort.
March 30, 2008 | | Superstar to Commercial Oblivion | |
Neither Fish Nor Flesh's downfall is it's lack of real commercial singles and a certain jealous Sony labelmate's sabotage if you believe Terence himself. That's not to say the music here is any worse overall than Hardline. The unofficially Stevie Wonder Summer Soft sampling "To Know Someone Deeply", Motown-esque "Billy Don't Fall" and the gospel attack of "I Don't Want To Bring Your God's Down" are some favourites of mine. Don't believe the hype, there was no dramatic artistic post-Hardline disaster.
November 15, 2003| | | A heavenly feel, but TTD is reaching for more... | |
This is truly a mood album, but what mood is it? This is the main question you'll ask yourself as you play this over and over, which might be T's main goal on this, his unforgettable second album. The delectable "I Have Faith..." will make you a believer in his lyrical ability, and "I Don't Want To Bring your Gods Down" will make you stand up and say amen. His influences truly shine here: James Brown, Sam Cooke, maybe early Michael Jackson and Prince with his syrupy falsetto. Definitely a richly textured if somewhat unevenly sequenced set of sounds from a most unpredictable artist. Still, I got the feeling he was reaching for more, but couldn't put it on the record. It ends too soon, I wanted just one more song. But I'm moody, too. TTD and I share the same birthday, maybe that's his point: keep us wanting more. Children of the Ides do that. If this is his goal, yeah, it worked! Pop it in and press "play." You won't be disappointed.
July 29, 2003So, it is 2003 now, and I see several great reviews just popped in. And there comes mine. There are only few moments you doubt the statement of 'brilliant' to be put here. And there are many more exciting ones, to confirm, that man was ahead of his time with his efforts and searches. Thank you for this distinctive pleasure.
June 19, 2003More reviews at Amazon.com ...
