Search - Meters :: New Directions

The Meters' Last Album

Melissa | Puerto Rico | 09/17/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Finally released on CD, this reissue of the Meters' last lp is rather disappointing. This is no longer the greatest funk band on the planet. There are good moments--"Give it What You Can", "My Name up in Lights", "Funkify Your Life"--that make it worth a listen. The Tower of Power horns add punch to the open, behind the beat grooves that made The Meters enjoyable for so many years. But, on the whole, the songs just aren't that good. The cover of Peter Tosh's "Stop that Train" doesn't add anything to the original. "Be My Lady", a love ballad, isn't particularly inspiring. "No More Okey-Doke" is a somewhat infectious melody, but lyrically confusing. What exactly are they talking about? In the old days, their songs made sense: "Fire on the Bayou", "Africa", "Hey Pocky Way". If the lyrics were silly it didn't matter because the groove was just so undeniably funky that nothing else mattered. On this recording, it's a given that the lyrics will be just this side of puerile--and the music only occasionally makes you think twice. Why this album was called New Directions is beyond me. It continues the downward trend begun with the previous year's Trick Bag."