Finley Quaye

I cannot help but compare every reggae album I hear to Bob Marley. It is an unfair and unnecessary comparison, but I find myself doing it nevertheless. So now here comes the earth-shattering, mind-blowing news you all have been waiting for. Finley Quaye is not Bob Marley. He is not the crust on the side of Marley's mouth.\nBut this can be said: Finley Quaye is different. To his credit, he has attempted to forge his own brand of (Watch out, here come the hyphens.) techno-pop-reggae, which, for the better part of Vanguard, works. Quaye throws out the steel drums in favor of drum loops, which are used prodigiously. \nThis is Quaye's second major label album. His first, Maverick A Strike, sold just more than 100,000 copies but was an immense critical success. Vanguard should follow the same path. Commercial radio is not ready to embrace reggae artists such as Quaye, but reggae enthusiasts will appreciate the new twists Quaye takes with this genre. \nThe techno influence on Vanguard is evident with the album's first track, "Broadcast." It continues from there with moderate success in "Chad Valley" and "The Emperor and Calendar." At times the synthesized sounds Quaye incorporates can be overbearing. The beginning of "White Paper" sounds like the intro to a movie presented in THX Surround Sound.\nLuckily, Quaye realizes too much of anything is bad and gives us little palate-cleansing nuggets. These come in the form of the rock-inspired tracks "Spiritualized" and "When I Burn into the Distance." He also ends the album with its best song, "Hey Now," where Quaye takes all his slide guitars, bass drums and trumpets out to the compost heap. All the listener hears is an understated beat in the background and Quaye's voice. \nThe overall tone of the album is decidedly upbeat. In a recent interview by Mixmag, Quaye describes his approach toward lyric writing this way: "I like rainbows. I like to walk barefoot in the grass in the morning, in the morning dew." \nHe might not be Bob Marley, but he is the next best thing.