Search - George Duke :: Guardian of the Light

George Duke Reaches Out For Ecstacy!!

Andre' S Grindle | Bangor,ME. | 05/31/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"'Guardian Of The Light' is Duke's FINEST album of the 1980's
bar none.It begins with the orchestrated theme "Oveture" with a
high ended beat.The monsters "Light" with it's Clarke/Duke Project sound,"Fly Away" and the folkish "Soon" have a certain
art jazz/rock edge that nobody has heard out of Duke in some time.Two catchy R&B songs "Born To Love You","You Are The Light"
and the jazz pop of "Give Love A Chance" are three of Duke's
best ballads.And of course the Dukey Stick still offers up some
seriously dangerous funk in "Shane",the millitantly anti-war
"Silly Fightin" and the classic "Reach Out".He even pulls some
electro funk out of his pocket with the instrumentals "Stand"
and "Celebrate" then touches on classical on "The War Fugue".
Eveything here is built around a concept about a power
struggle between Rol-the 'guardian of the light' and Shane,a wizard who is in charge of all darkness.They are fighting overcrystals that expend positive energy;all as dreamed by a human man.The 'Guardian Of The Light' script was never filmed but this
'soundtrack' (as Duke calls it) is here and the story is explained in the liner notes.Not only the best thing he's done
since 1977's 'From Me To You' but the hardest JAM of 1983!!!!"