Search - Sizzla :: Life

After All These Years Finally a New Sizzla Album!!!

Achis | Kingston, JA/Philipsburg, SxM | 11/23/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Exactly how Sizzla fans waited the agonizingly long 91 days between Life and Sizzla's previous album, Stay Focus is an absolute mystery to me. How they consistently wait the 50 or so days a year between announcements of his albums is even more perplexing. . .



Seriously though, as 2004 comes to an end, Sizzla celebrates the release of his 6th official release (albeit African Children and Red Alert were basically the same album), with another greatest hits album to add even more fire, you kind of start to wonder if it'll ever end. Probably not. With an artist who seems bent on writing new songs everyday and record labels who seem bent on grabbing up enough of them to make albums and fans (myself definitely included)who seem to have virtually no problem with shelling out around $70-80/year for his music, why should he ever stop? And I suppose if his next 10 years in the business prove to be as fruitful as the first decade has, he'll be well beyond a HUGE 60 studio album catalog before he turns 40!



On to the music! Life is a pretty decent album. Its the definite followup to last year's Rise to the Occasion Greensleeves album, but is the literal followup to 2001's Black History album which was the last album Sizzla did which he himself was on the board for, he produces about 75% of Life and the results are mixed to say the least. This is by no means the artist's best (that seems to be reserved for Bobby Digital and Occasionally his producer Fattis Burrel) material, but its serviceable and if 'Rise' could do as good as it ended up doing, I don't see any difference with this one. The best tune here is Mortal Man featuring Thriller U (who I would definitely like to see in the studio more), also like Marijuana, Things Will Be Better, Haven't I Told You (aka For You) riding the massive I Swear riddim, We Got the Love and the really really good Jah Works oh and Jah Love too. Basically the first half of the album is really really good. The second half is pretty weird, the title track starts good but gets really crazy really quick. (Oh and for a second half good tune, has to be Born & Raised)

Overall, if you've been listening to this artist for awhile, you'll find some great vibes here and nothing that will shock you on the downside. Its pretty much what you've come to expect from Sizzla in the most recent years, notable spans of brilliance on one side and a virtual experiment on the other. All in all its still pretty good and will probably please much of the crowd which liked the suprisingly critically acclaimed 'Rise'. See you next fall for the next Greensleeves album, next summer for the VP album and in. . . about What? a couple of months maybe? for the next Jetstar album. . ."

Fresh work of art.

Bubacarr Jammeh | memphis tn | 01/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"its is indeed a new and fresh album from the great sizzla, so expect good music. this is his first personal work of art, written,produced and recorded at his newly built studio in Judgement yard. Its definately a new era for him and music in general cause a whole lot tunes are gonna be flowing outta Judgement yard in the near future so you better brace for it. Big to sizzla for that achievement. Life is a great album , with some classic song.my favourite is HAVEN'T I TOLD YOU. My empress love it too.over all great piece of work. go cop it."

Bravo...a turn for the better!

Upful | Chicago, IL United States | 12/28/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have to congradulate Sizzla on this latest album which shows a broadening of this great musician's ability. This album departs from Sizzla's recent series of screaming harmonies and takes a turn towards rhythm and more concious lyrics. In the Cd booklet Sizzla writes, "I have put my heart and soul into writing these songs, truly this album is really the beginning of another era for me." I hope this is true. That voice of his is a gift from above. The lyrics of this album transcend the last couple of albums.



Best songs in my opinion: 'Haven't I Told You'(sweet, smooth sound), 'Jah Works'(nice beat, conscious lyrics), 'Ain't That Nice'(raw emotion, upful energy), 'Jah Love' (you will feel this one), 'When Nature Calls' (fresh sound), 'One in My Life'."