The Impressions - This Is My Country/The Young Mods' Forgotten Story

great

These two albums have all the elements that made Curtis and the Impressions giants: great singing, insightful lyrics, and Mayfield's great writting.

But what strikes me here as never stuck me before is how good the playing is. Forgive me: I am not sure if the Impressions played their own instruments, but the bass playing and drumming is tight and dynamic. The drum fills especially are complex and really add flair to this work. This is something you often did not get with great vocal groups of the 60s I overlooked this before due to Curtis' heavenly arranging and singing.

Whichever element you like, you can't go wrong with these two albums, or with Curtis Mayfield. June 26, 2008

Interesting, but good in parts.

"This Is My Country" appears to have been recorded after Dr. King was killed, as "They Don't know" alludes to that tragedy. (Unfortuantely, it includes the lyric "Every brother is a leader/every sister is a breeder." OUCH!). But the title cut is a good sermon on race relations as was Curtis Mayfield's forte. "Stay Cloe to Me" is a nice midtempo number that was also done by the Mayfield proteges the Five Stairsteps. Other good tunes include the sweet "Seven Years," "Soulful Love," and "So Unusual." October 2, 2004

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