Review of Isaac Haile Selassie: "Unite"

At only one year of age, Isaac lost his mother. His father was a farmer with no way to raise a child, so he passed him off to the Emperor Haile Selassie I. He was brought up at an orphanage only a mile from H.I.M.'s palace, and was visited weekly by the king. In the liner notes, Isaac talks about how much of an inspiration this was in his life, "My being raised by him gave me an experience of wisdom and understanding and loving everyone the way I want to be loved."

So how's his album? I was told by an individual that knows Isaac that his singing is continually improving and he's really developing a style and sound of his own. I can concur with that after listening to his debut album, Unite, on Resin Music.

The backing riddims and melodies are all original and relatively strong. The players include Santa Davis on drums, Ras Michael on horns, Richard Hardy on flute, and several others. Lyrically, Isaac is quite talented; on "Can You Hear Me Knocking?", he sings: "Amongst us who is spreading hate and violence? / Who is wearing the flesh and the bones (like me and you)? / Filled with hatred and jealousy, / In powerful portions, / Controlling us with the evil laws they condone."

Vocally, however, Unite is a slightly mixed bag. Some tracks, like "Life," are driven more strongly by the backing vocals than by Isaac's straightforward, somewhat undynamic, lead vocals. "Day of the Fear" suffers from the same problem. Fortunately, though, Isaac shows his skills much more notably on "Dear Bob (Tribute to Bob Marley)" and "I & I." It seems that his range is getting better in leaps and bounds, to the point where you can tell from track to track on the CD.

Other worthwhile cuts include "Can You Hear Me Knocking?" which is sung largely in his native Ethiopian tongue, "Abatechion Hoye Chant," which is the Lord's Prayer over a nice tribal riddim, and an interlude of His Imperial Majesty's last words from the throne.

So while this particular album may not go down in history as one of the best, there's no doubt in my mind that in the near future, Isaac will be putting out an album that will be considered a classic. It's in him, perhaps divinely, and when it comes out, we're all in for a real treat.

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