A Dream....
brian | North Carolina | 04/05/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Imagine G Love, Jay Kay, Prince and Elvis Costello get together for coffee one day, just to discuss music. G Love and Jay Kay are spouting of music notions to one another, throwing song ideas back and forth, commending each other on how groovy the other one is. They write a few tracks back home, songs like "Mind and Body", "Keep On Moving" and "The Soul of You". But Prince butts in with some quick lessons for the youngsters on what funk truly is all about, how to sing from the bottom of one's heart, and the eloquence of sincerely great song writing. They nod their heads compassionately, feeling enlightened by their newfound knowledge, and go back home to record a few more tracks. Out comes "Heaven", "(Baby We Belong) Together" ready for the radio. Elvis Costello is tapping his feet gently and approvingly, but hints to the boys that they still have a few quirks. He suggests that he take them back to his studio for a few rehearsals and jams and such. The young artists are delighted; being schooled has never been so fun. They feel armed with a virtual arsenal of artistic knowledge, and prepare to wrap up their newfound concepts with such tracks as "Confusion", "Tattooed in Vain" and "Last Goodbye". And finally, they all converge for the grand finale, "Hold On To Me". But wait a second, you may be asking yourself, when did this happen? It didn't, at least not in real life. No, instead singer/songwriter and producer Steven Alex probably had a dream that ran along these lines, woke up, and decided he needed to form a four piece quickly and make some fantastically inspired tunes. He adapts Costello's vocal range and style with Prince's texture, acquires steady pulse keeper Mike Chilton, soulful bass plucker Johnny Deliz and an extremely talented dream weaver Paul Anthony. Voila, Soulsystem is born. Well, that's about the only way I can think of to describe this disc chockfull of heart-string plucking, delicately arranged pop/soul selection of head swaying tunes -Brian Connelly April 01, 2000"
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1