- Audio CD (15 Dec 2000)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Commercial Marketing
- ASIN: B000006TEI
- Other Editions: Audio CD | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 93,491 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Lewis Taylor began musical life playing in The Edgar Broughton Band, an unlikely apprenticeship for the work he produces here. Lewis Taylor is the greatest Marvin Gaye record never made; he's got Gaye's passionate, creamy inflections down pat, even simulating his hurt macho pride on "Lucky" and "Right". Yet this is more than a formidable exercise in soul replication for 1970s nostalgists; Taylor brings to this record a prowess as a multi-instrumentalist and a highly eclectic musical sensibility. Shades of The Beach Boys, Joe Meek and Pigeonhed, prog rock and psychedelia are present here, as Taylor's songs sweep up to dark crescendoes, as on "Damn", which dissolves in a squall of heavy metal guitar. Taylor suffered commercially because programmers and punters didn't quite know what to make of him or where he was coming from; the secret is to stop trying to figure it out and just enjoy. --David Stubbs
Product Description
Great CD, 10 tracks including the singles 'Lucky' & 'Whoever' please note I also have Lewis Taylor Lewis II for sale, fast dispatch, UK SELLER
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I was given this album as a gift and it was the best CD I had listened to for years. I have since ordered several copies and distributed them among friends because no-one had heard of Lewis Taylor. The response has been, "Who is this guy? He is fantastic." The CD is just gorgeous.
I'm not sure why the other reviewers compare him with other soul singers! There are plenty of different styles and Lewis' is unique and not at all a pastiche of Marvin gaye, nothing like him! I adore Marvin too but this album is very different.
19 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I bought this album when it first came out in 1996 after seeing Lewis Taylor on 'Later with Jools Holland' and was immediately blown away. To this day it remains one of my top ten albums of all time. Essentially it is soul music, but from an artist who clearly has more than 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill', 'Stevie Wonder's Greatest Hits' and 'The Best 60s Soul Album...Ever' in his record collection.
Lead vocals akin to Marvin Gaye (but with much more contemporary styling) backed with multi-layered, often complex, harmonies of 'Pet Sounds' era Beach Boys are perfectly accompanied by laid-back but seriously gritty funk/hip-hop instrumentation.
The music is predominantly guitar-led with a host of organ and synth sounds in tow, drums a mixture of live loops and electronic percussion. Taylor plays and programs everything and clearly has an understanding of music far above that of your regular chart performer, invoking jazzy chord structures and changes that never suggest an unhealthy fondness for late 70s jazz-funk.
Lyrically there is nothing that's going to make Smokey Robinson consider a career change, the themes being the usual triad of love, lust and insecurity, but everything fits in perfectly with the arrangements and each song is eminently sing-along-to-able.
The album as a whole is darkly dramatic, reminiscent of early Doors (without the panic), Scott Walker (without the self-pitying poetic tendencies) and Stevie Wonder's '71-'77 period.
This album really is superb (the follow-up, Lewis II, is not quite as exciting but still fantastic) and never ceases to amaze me with its originality and atmosphere.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Balls to the Marvin Gaye comparisons! Clearly Taylor has a wide ranging and eclectic musical mind. Comparisons and stylistic compartments are better applied to lesser talents.
'Whoever' is a standout track for me, having a melodicly strong core that's more easy to follow than some of the other tunes. It also sums up the dichotomy at the heart of a lot of Taylor's music: joyful music with melancholy lyrics. It's true to say that sometimes these pieces appear sprawling, unfocussed even. But that's the psychedelic soul of it!
The upside of this last factor is that sometimes, an already excellent song will morph into something very different, yet just as good, or, as is the case with 'Track', something even better. The playout on this number is phenomenal. Some people would be hard pressed to come up with something this musically compelling and enjoyable in a lifetime of trying. Lewis manages to tack this on the end almost like an afterthought, that's how many good ideas he's got!
My one complaint (and I'm a drummer myself, so this might be why) is the lack of real drums. Apart from what might be live drums on the 6/8 groove of 'How' it's all programmed beats. Given the sprawling, psychedelicized organicism of the bass, guitars, keys and vocals, this strikes me as inconguous and a missed opportunity.
I don't think lyrics are Taylor's strongest card (at least on this album, exceptions being 'Whoever', 'Damn' & 'Spirit'), but they're certainly perfectly ok, just perhaps not as finessed as the music/playing. This is a funny thing too, because of the fabulous quality of his voice, and the way it's so much in the foreground of the album. Throughout multi-layered vocals are a real feature, and the album closes on the sublime acapella of 'Spirit', with a vibe that, like one of the track title's, sums up the feel of this debut album: 'Bittersweet'.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
No One Else Compares
I bought this album in 1996, and it is still my favourite album of all time. Lewis Taylor cannot be compared to any other musician, his music is simply unique. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Arcturus
Most under-appreciated album ever?
Not many albums are truly 5 stars. Lots of albums are great while your getting into them but lose something down the line. Not this one. Read more
Published 13 months ago by A. Humphries
A hugely neglected talent...
Listing Lewis Taylor's ingredients is n't much help because nobody cooks like him but he's soulful, quirky & very clever at building a beautiful song with sounds, rhythms, voices &... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Tyrone
it gets better with age
I first reviewed this album in 1996, on tape, for a college music magazine. I loved it then I lost the promo tape and bought (shock horror) the cd. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mr. Simon J. Brown
lewis taylor
You really do need this cd in your collection ,an album that is just perfect funky soulful rocking have never tired of listening to it ,so many influences shine through on every... Read more
Published 23 months ago by A. M. Barsby
Style over substance? Only up to a point...
Style over substance? Only up to a point...
Firstly, I really enjoyed this highly atmospheric album. Surely this is all that matters. Read more
Firstly, I really enjoyed this highly atmospheric album. Surely this is all that matters. Read more
Published on 1 Jan 2010 by Mr. Tim Balderstone
Legendary Album
"A prophet is not recognised in his home town...or by his own people". This album is pure genius and this man is a musical genius. Read more
Published on 11 April 2008 by Mr. P. A. Charles
Unique. Dark. Soulful. Psychedelic. One of Sadly Too Few Albums
This is Lewis Taylor's first, and I first latched onto him when I heard the first track, "Lucky", playing in the local record shop many moons back. Read more
Published on 25 Jun 2007 by JazzUK777
WELL, IT'S DEFINITE...
This guy thinks he is/wants to be Marvin Gaye...BUT HE'S NOT! and therein lies the rub.
Trite lyrics. Read more
Trite lyrics. Read more
Published on 19 Oct 2004
Is Lewis taylor for real?
How LUCKY am I to own this CD? The BITTERSWEET tenderness of the voice. WHOEVER described this as the best Marvin Gaye album that Marvin did not write was not far wrong. Read more
Published on 17 July 2001
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