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Al Green |
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Lay It Down |
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Blue Note |
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By DONYA BLAZE
Published: June 18, 2008
Snoop may drop a CD every nine months, but you’d have to catch a play starring Boris Kodjoe just to hear new tunes from your favorite old school artists these days. (Aren’t you just a little tired of playing Maze's “Before I Let Go” over and over on your iPod?) Executive produced by Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson and James Poyser, Lay It Down effectively combats this problem in just eleven tracks and brings Al Green’s classic sound into the new millennium.
Anthony Hamilton sounds like a long lost nephew on the opening ballad “Lay It Down” and “You’ve Got the Love I Need,” and we could get lost in John Legend’s “la, la, la’s” on “Stay With Me (By the Sea).” Al also teams with Corinne Bailey Rae for “Take Your Time” to bemoan the fast pace of modern life: “Swing low and take it slow / I’m inclined to agree / ‘Cause ain’t nobody living can hurry me.” His guests are too in reverence to outshine him, though. Plus, Al does just fine solo on “What More Do You Want From Me,” ‘No One Like You,” and the superb “Just For Me.”
One could probably argue that the disc sounds a little too retro. We, however, are happy the singer stuck to his strengths instead of chasing trends. “Al Green featuring Akon” just doesn’t sound right.
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