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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sophisication, 6 Mar 2002
By A Customer
While probably not all will agree, this album is Grace's finest. It is also Sly and Robbie's greatest collaboration. It was the last in a string of three great albums ( Warm Leatherette, Nightclubbing and Living My Life ) which featured Jamaican rhythms and settings of rock songs from the likes of Sting, Roxy Music and Chrissie Hynde. While all three are good, this one was the most sophisticated and the most consistent with no weak tracks. I dont know if it was Chris Blackwell's idea to put together the band that featured throughout this trio of albums, but if it was, it was the best idea he ever had. In my opinion, it was and still is a peerless line-up of quality players. The unsung hero is Barry Reynolds ( Marianne Faithfull's musical director for a number of years ) whose driving guitar adds the dynamic which counterpoints the rock solid rhythm section. Grace talks her way through and doesnt do too much singing but where she does as on the album's highpoint "The Apple Stretching and Yawning", she is more than adequate. After this classic, she teamed up with Trevor horn and co for the flawed 12 inch single Slave to the Rhythm and the album of the same name which is effectively an album of remixes of the title track and then on to relative obscurity. This is a short album (compared to today's standards) but it is sheer quality throughout.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Jamaican Journey , 30 Jan 2007
The third and final release in the Island trilogy with Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare. This time around, Grace chose less covers and actually wrote or co-wrote all of the material on the album. The arrangements on this album are top notch, and the production is equally as impressive. The album opens with the infectious "My Jamaican Guy" which has been sampled by various of rap artists over the years, and continues by recycling the bouncy-rhythm of her 1981 hit "Pull Up to the Bumper" on "Nipple to the Bottle." All of the songs on Living My Life were crafted by some of the finest musicians in Jamaica; with Walla Badarou on keyboards, to Uziah "Sticky" Thompson on percussion duty, the arrangements couldn't have been any better. Grace only chose to include a single cover (which is a wonderful cover of Melvin van Peebles "The Apple Stretching"). No matter how people may want disregard Jones for her vocal inadequacies, her imitable vocal prowess can be heard on the glorious ballad "Inspiration," which proves that Grace could belt with the best of them. There is not a single weak track on the album; from the narrative of Jamaican jail time (Cry Now, Laugh Later) to the everyday drama of "Everybody Hold Still," to the glorious free-fall of love on "Unlimited Capacity for Love." Living My Life would have been complete if the title track had been included, but it wasn't, and was instead released a single in 1983. Excellent record.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
NEW YORK MEETS JAMAICA, 14 Jul 2000
The spacious Living My Life completed the Sly Dunbar & Robbie Shakespeare trilogy which represents of Grace Jones' distinctive reggae/dub phase. Grace wrote My Jamaican Guy, co-wrote Nipple To The Bottle with Dunbar and four of the tracks with Barry Reynolds, an associate of Marianne Faithfull's who also contributes his distinctive guitar. The Apple Stretching by Melvin van Peebles is the only cover.
The style extends her avant garde direction of this era by utilizing a variety of innovative rhythms to stunning effect. My Jamaican Guy with its yelping chorus, echoed vocals & swaying beat contains snippets of charming Jamaican patois whilst Nipple To The Bottle is an affirmation of pride displaying profound psychological insight; a mid-tempo ballad, it has prominent male vocals and atmospheric instrumental textures.
The lilting sonic poem about New York titled The Apple Stretching ["... just the apple stretching and yawning, just morning/New York putting its feet on the floor"] is a masterpiece and one of the best songs ever written about the big apple. The edgy Everybody Hold Still with its striking choral vocals is about a hold-up whilst the funky sound of Cry Now Laugh Later recalls Pull Up to the Bumper from Nightclubbing, although it is also about crime.
The gentle, introspective Inspiration has beautiful keyboards and the album concludes with the thought-provoking Unlimited Capacity for Love, a graceful ballad. On Living My Life, Grace's 1980s Sly & Robbie experiment significantly extended the boundaries of her music. The next two albums, Inside Story and Bulletproof Heart explored pop music in all its rich variety. It was only in 2008 that Grace worked with Sly & Robbie again, on the challenging and ultimately rewarding Hurricane.
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