Search - Pato Banton :: Recaptured

Mad & Pato recaptures Magic

12/03/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first Album was good and brought you GWARN, the second even better and brings you Live As One. Pato Banton mixes his lyrics with the sensi dub from Mad Professor. Pato sings / raps of his stories of Birmingham and London, and the different cultures in these cosmopolitan cities.For those who love reggae/dub this album is definiley recommended. Furthermore listen to Abi Shanti I and Jah shaka, all of whom are simular but different!Main problem though: I've seen the two CD's Captured and Recaptures on one CD. I have friends who have the two albums on one CD. But I can not find it in the USA? Look out for this! BTW This is my opinion! so Gwarn and listen to it now."

A brilliant pairing of Pato's Vocal & Professors Production

fetish_2000 | U.K. | 03/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Emerging in his own right, from being a student of the legendary "King Tubby", Mad Professor ("Neal Fraser"), would eventually step out of the shadow of his tutor, and craft his own blend of expanded spacey instrumentals and retro-sounding Dub. And as well as becoming a extremely proficient re-mixer, it was his studio work that brought him the most praise. With his keen ear for manipulating and proficiently working reel-to-reel tape decks, echo and reverb effects & sampling techniques, helped distinguish his work, and earned his U.K. based brand of wirey Dub, much attention amongst his peers.



His work with various vocalists, made him a serious player in the field of Dub, most noteably his work with Lee 'Scratch' Perry, and (for review purposes here) 'Pato Banton'. This the second album, where he works with Birmingham, British based Toaster "Pato Banton". who Like all the best toasters, has a quick wit, and is hugely entertaining when he retells stories from his perspective, usually with a sharp irony or (even better) performing a multitude of imitations worthy of a stand-up comic.



First track "Recaptured" sees Pato in rude health, boldly stating that although he may no longer have the 'Dreadlocks', he most certainly hasn't lost his passion & Roots for black culture/music. Pato (over the course of this lively dance stepper) thanks, the "Mad Professor" for recapturing him, and lyrically touches upon the occurring theme of 'God', with Pato in a unwavering dedication to god and music. The Professor admirably holds up his end of the production bargain with a sublime heavily reverbed version of 'Bob Marley & the Wailers - Exodus", taking the track and spacing it out, and becoming a hypnotic delight. With elements of Pato's vocal stretched and skewered (without breaking the flow of the track), to marvellous effect here, easily a brilliant opener for the album.



"Riot" is a articulate retelling of the British "Handsworth Riots" on a council estate, that saw a community of repressed and ill-suffering people, demonstrate their anger and frustration at their situation, that (unfortunately) ended in a full scale riot. Pato picks apart this incident, pouring scorn on a biased Police force incapable of defusing the situation, (and in some cases inflamming the situation) & retells the social injustice that was served upon that community, citing politicans, Police, and the government in general, as largely responsible for it to evolve into a riot. And even the press come in for criticism, with their hunger for a news story (of which they got), adding fuel to the fire....and although Pato's eye for details when telling this, are incredibly articulate and impressive, it's the occasion tongue-in-cheek statements (and impressions) that leave a lasting impression. The sparse Drum and rhythm arrangements here, give Pato's vocals plenty of room to be at the forefront of this important song, without diluting the message contained within.



Track three's "Satan" is unsurprisingly about The Devil of all things (Pato refers to him as "The Fallen Angel"), and manages to recite stories / parts of the bible, in a unflinching finger pointing righteousness, than never feels conceited or misplaced, in fact Pato merely lays down certain truths, and details how the hardship / greed and disappointments of our daily lives, merely opens doors for the devils work to enter into. Obviously a religious man, Pato lays scorn on 'Improper' lifestyles and 'Greed', and urges people to make the right decisions in life.....at which 3/4 of the way into the track, the Pato takes a back seat lyrically and the rest of the track becomes a blissed out Instrumental Dub Bass (courtesy of Mad Professor).



"Tek Me Time" sees Pato, over the simplest of Dub/ roots instrumentation, (but beautifully rhythmic arrangements) talking about (what else??)....taking his time. Interestingly this the the first track to feature another vocalist other than Pato, with a female vocalist adding backing vocals & Lyrics to parts of this track. From what I can gather, it seems to be a statement about taking your time in the fine art of 'Making love/Affairs of the heart', with Pato cheekily reminding people to not rush into anything and take their time. Its a brilliantly light-hearted track, that has its tongue partially firmly in its cheek, and it's really nice to have a change of mood, after some of the more serious tracks before this.



Uptempo Dub, is the starting point for the excellent "Worries", with a distinctive percussion and Smattering of Roots Reggae, providing the sonic backdrop for this track, coupled with some brilliantly sampled Horns & Drums punctuating the arrangements perfectly, Pato's vocal contributions are (reasonably) minimal here, instead this feels more like an instrumental track, with a vocal introduction at the start, with Pato's concerns about "Waking up in the morning, with no worries on my mind, then I see the news and all I hear about is killing, rape, murder, Drugs", its a consice message for sure, and Pato's sentiments are most definitely in the right place, with him urging later on for people to "Don't worry about it, Don't worry your mind!!".



On the final track "Live as one" Pato ends the album on a positive note ....urging everyone to work together to "Live as one", and put prejudice & Resentment to one side, and all come together in a show of unity, calling all races (black or White) to express a solidarity for a better future for us all. Mad Professors production on this track reflects the positive message contained here, and the muted Horns used here are tremendous, laced with a subtle bass to give full impact to Pato's vocal, it's something of a dubbed out social-anthem, and captures a positive energy and mood to Pato's upbeat lyrics.



As you've probably guessed, this is a fantastic album of which there is no doubt, and it easily ranks with some of the finest work either artist has released (especially the Mad Professor, whose studio albums can vary wildly in quality). But there is no doubt that if you can find this album, it'll find it's way into your collection as one of the Professors most brilliantly produced albums (while I'm on the subject, why is Mad Professors best albums so hard to find in the U.K.??? I only managed to find this second-hand), and a word of note....as fantastic as this album is, and it really is worthy of 5-stars, It's also incredibly short (36 mins???), you'll find that like me, you'll want more...(in fact I'm making a massive point of trying to track down their first "Mad Professor captures Pato Banton album)."