Life is the fifth, maybe sixth full-length for the alarmingly prolific
Sizzla in 2004. This time there aren't any crossover surprises like the cover of "Subterranean Homesick Blues" from Jah Knows Best (released June of 2004) or the acoustic reggae of "Speak of Jah" from the album of the same name (February of 2004), it's just a solid 16 cuts of dancehall and reggae. The digital slackness of "When Nature Calls" and "Greater One" are gritty sides here, but
Life is largely an upbeat album with
Sizzla leaning more than usual on the singing side of the sing-jay style he's known for. "Mortal Man" pairs his chalky rasp with the smooth croon of
Thriller U, but otherwise it's all
Sizzla's show as he sings about God ("Jah Works"), smoking ("Marijuana"), and staying positive ("Things Will Be Better"). What's missing this time, and on the last few albums as well, are the hellfire damnations that bogged down the otherwise good-natured
Sizzla, and that is a good thing.
Life isn't the definitive
Sizzla album out there, that honor still falls to his early classic
Black Woman & Child, and it's hard to say if it's the best of the year even -- he could release another album after all -- but it is another compelling chapter in what is becoming a hefty book of song from a Jamaican artist who is proving to be as consistent as he is inexhaustible. ~ Wade Kergan