Review of Triston Palma's TWO ROADS

Triston Palma's Joker Smoker is one of reggae's all-time greatest LPs. Palma is a great voice, both vocally and lyrically, and there's no doubt that his recent teaming with Easy Star, Two Roads, is a welcome effort.

Nineteen tracks deep, Two Roads shows Palma's versatility. One song currently getting a lot of respect in the industry is the hybrid track, "Ragga Salsa." It manages to combine both genres without watering down either one, a task that not even Sly & Robbie could achive on their La Trenngae disc from a couple years ago. Mary Ochoa provides solid backup vocals on a tune that has a true international crossover vibe to it.

Palma is at his best, though, when he's flexing the old school stylee. The title track is a throwback to 80s Waterhouse roots style (and the dub is mighty fine) while "Never Be Ungrateful" and "Revolution" give a nod to Dennis Brown. I also heard tastes of Little John ("Mama") and Lucky Dube ("My Heart Cries Out") that sounded quite good.

Palma provides a good balance between serious roots cuts and more upbeat, bubbling tracks. For instance, "Show Some Love" is more upbeat, but is one of the most catchy and memorable tunes on the disc. "Old Time Teaching" and "Get Up" have similar vibes. At the same time, tunes like the wonderful duet with Glen Ricks, "World Peace" and the title track have a more serious, analytical tone them.

Palma does come up short a few times, as can be expected with an album of such varied styles. The first time comes smack dab in the middle of the disc on a duet with Heather Cummings titled "Only Love." While not necessarily bad on its own, the placement on the album is awkward and feels like a grinding halt after two solid roots duets (the aftorementioned cuts with Glen Ricks and Norris Man). In addition, it's followed by one of the album's strongest cuts, "Hatred in the Youths." A cut with a similar focus that works better is the bubbling "Real Loving" that is reminiscent, stylistically, of Inner Circle's "Sweat."

The only other downpoint comes at the end of the album on the gospel/R&B flavored "Blind Devotion." Again, while this tune is better than a lot of tunes of the same flavor, it just feels uncomfortable and out of place among the other more straight-forward roots oriented tracks. "When I Call On Jah" works a similar topic and even incorporates some gospel styled background singers, but works immeasurably better.

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