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Lewis Taylor
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12 new or used available from £2.00
Average customer review:
Track Listing
- Lucky - Lewis Taylor, Paul Staveley O'Duffy, Ali Staton
- Bittersweet - Lewis Taylor, Paul Staveley O'Duffy
- Whoever - Lewis Taylor, Ali Staton
- Track
- Song
- Betterlove - Lewis Taylor, Paul Staveley O'Duffy
- How - Lewis Taylor, Paul Staveley O'Duffy
- Right
- Damn
- Spirit
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #83182 in Music
- Released on: 2000-12-15
- Number of discs: 1
- Dimensions: .22 pounds
- Running time: 50 minutes
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
Lewis Taylor began musical life playing in The Edgar Broughton Band, an unlikely apprenticeship for the work he produces here. Lewis Taylor is the greatest Marvin Gaye record never made; he's got Gaye's passionate, creamy inflections down pat, even simulating his hurt macho pride on "Lucky" and "Right". Yet this is more than a formidable exercise in soul replication for 1970s nostalgists; Taylor brings to this record a prowess as a multi-instrumentalist and a highly eclectic musical sensibility. Shades of The Beach Boys, Joe Meek and Pigeonhed, prog rock and psychedelia are present here, as Taylor's songs sweep up to dark crescendoes, as on "Damn", which dissolves in a squall of heavy metal guitar. Taylor suffered commercially because programmers and punters didn't quite know what to make of him or where he was coming from; the secret is to stop trying to figure it out and just enjoy. --David Stubbs
Customer Reviews
One of the best
I was given this album as a gift and it was the best CD I had listened to for years. I have since ordered several copies and distributed them among friends because no-one had heard of Lewis Taylor. The response has been, "Who is this guy? He is fantastic." The CD is just gorgeous.
I'm not sure why the other reviewers compare him with other soul singers! There are plenty of different styles and Lewis' is unique and not at all a pastiche of Marvin gaye, nothing like him! I adore Marvin too but this album is very different.
Incredible
I bought this album when it first came out in 1996 after seeing Lewis Taylor on 'Later with Jools Holland' and was immediately blown away. To this day it remains one of my top ten albums of all time. Essentially it is soul music, but from an artist who clearly has more than 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill', 'Stevie Wonder's Greatest Hits' and 'The Best 60s Soul Album...Ever' in his record collection.
Lead vocals akin to Marvin Gaye (but with much more contemporary styling) backed with multi-layered, often complex, harmonies of 'Pet Sounds' era Beach Boys are perfectly accompanied by laid-back but seriously gritty funk/hip-hop instrumentation.
The music is predominantly guitar-led with a host of organ and synth sounds in tow, drums a mixture of live loops and electronic percussion. Taylor plays and programs everything and clearly has an understanding of music far above that of your regular chart performer, invoking jazzy chord structures and changes that never suggest an unhealthy fondness for late 70s jazz-funk.
Lyrically there is nothing that's going to make Smokey Robinson consider a career change, the themes being the usual triad of love, lust and insecurity, but everything fits in perfectly with the arrangements and each song is eminently sing-along-to-able.
The album as a whole is darkly dramatic, reminiscent of early Doors (without the panic), Scott Walker (without the self-pitying poetic tendencies) and Stevie Wonder's '71-'77 period.
This album really is superb (the follow-up, Lewis II, is not quite as exciting but still fantastic) and never ceases to amaze me with its originality and atmosphere.
flawed masterpiece - dark, multi-layered & moody
Balls to the Marvin Gaye comparisons! Clearly Taylor has a wide ranging and eclectic musical mind. Comparisons and stylistic compartments are better applied to lesser talents.
'Whoever' is a standout track for me, having a melodicly strong core that's more easy to follow than some of the other tunes. It also sums up the dichotomy at the heart of a lot of Taylor's music: joyful music with melancholy lyrics. It's true to say that sometimes these pieces appear sprawling, unfocussed even. But that's the psychedelic soul of it!
The upside of this last factor is that sometimes, an already excellent song will morph into something very different, yet just as good, or, as is the case with 'Track', something even better. The playout on this number is phenomenal. Some people would be hard pressed to come up with something this musically compelling and enjoyable in a lifetime of trying. Lewis manages to tack this on the end almost like an afterthought, that's how many good ideas he's got!
My one complaint (and I'm a drummer myself, so this might be why) is the lack of real drums. Apart from what might be live drums on the 6/8 groove of 'How' it's all programmed beats. Given the sprawling, psychedelicized organicism of the bass, guitars, keys and vocals, this strikes me as inconguous and a missed opportunity.
I don't think lyrics are Taylor's strongest card (at least on this album, exceptions being 'Whoever', 'Damn' & 'Spirit'), but they're certainly perfectly ok, just perhaps not as finessed as the music/playing. This is a funny thing too, because of the fabulous quality of his voice, and the way it's so much in the foreground of the album. Throughout multi-layered vocals are a real feature, and the album closes on the sublime acapella of 'Spirit', with a vibe that, like one of the track title's, sums up the feel of this debut album: 'Bittersweet'.
