Search - Aswad :: Not Satisfied

Aswad's last great album

04/10/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In 1982 the roots scene was steadily sinking, with bands such as Black Uhuru, Steel Pulse and Aswad still struggling against the current that was early, pre-digital dancehall.
This album is the follow up to the all-but-forgotten "breakthrough" record New Chapter, which was one of the most underrated and yet influential albums in British reggae(its' dub reworking was the first noteworthy British dub product).
Not Satisfied is a disillusioned, angry album in it's sad, stoned kind of way, with heavy rock steady influences, extensive use of analog keyboards(a romantic and brave move in the early 80s), blues guitars, a sparkling horn section[courtesy of horn genius/producer Michael Campbell] and a few mind expanding dubs.
The album opens with the hard-hitting, brass heavy social comment of Oh Jah, which is followed by a few notable songs like the happy and yet bluesy Pass the Cup(the song becomes a sprawling reggae monster in the added extended version), the angry and flashy title song Not Satisfied, the sleepy rock steady number Down the Line(I remember how I use to relate to this one in my reggae listening days- the lyrics are sensi-ational), the great The Girl's Got To Know with it's memorable brass riffage and my favourite on this album, Need Your Love(not to be mistaken with the 1984 abomination of I Need Your Love), that gives pot smoking a whole new dimension and that contains great keyboard and drum work.
The album, however, also contains some weaker tracks, like No More Living A Lie, which is listenable, but not much more besides, Your Recipe, a weak studio lovers' rock song that the Aswad transformed into one of reggae's greatest love songs on the live album Live & Direct and a sappy ballad called African Children pt.2(they would have done better to leave the world with just the majestic pt.1, which is still one of reggae's finest live songs).
At this point, Aswad had lost the battle but not the war.
They recorded Live & Direct the following year, an album that is almost difficult to behold in it's brilliance and that is still my favourite live reggae album.
Buy it, but you may also be interested in this effort, which is far from weak.
Actually, it's one of reggae's finest moments."