Despite the continued vocal strength of founding members Winston "Pipe" Matthews and Lloyd "Bread" McDonald and the guiding influence of legendary bass and drums duo
Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare,
the Wailing Souls' first new album in three years is a real disappointment. Its weaknesses are distilled in its title track, which is built on an unremarkable rhythm with a simplistic and boring melody, and which features a DJ turn by a
Shaggy sound-alike named Ragga Z. Things occasionally get a bit better: "Play the Tape" is a bit more engaging, and "I Shall Not Want" is a nice enough Jah anthem. But very little of the material here ever rises above a sort of plodding, generic mediocrity, and for a group with this much talent, that makes for a sorely disappointing listening experience -- especially because the album features so many near misses. "World Abomination" has the makings of a fine song, if only it were performed with a little bit of energy; "Pacifier" features a great rhythm that is wasted on a lackluster melody; "Make That Change" is OK except for its inane lyrics ("We've got to make that change/Or there will be no change/We've got to change the course/Right down to the source"). Not strongly recommended. ~ Rick Anderson