Groundation Albums (7)
What The Critics Say
Northern California's Groundation has many of the accoutrements of the typical reggae group, from its syncopated rhythms to the horn charts, which hark back to ska, and including the lead vocals of lyricist/guitarist Harrison Stafford, who has a nasal, reedy tenor reminiscent of Bob Marley at his more hoarse moments. Also, Stafford's words are full of Jamaican patois with references to Biblical passages as filtered through references to Jah and Rasta. But there is lurking within Groundation's music a different impetus that distinguishes it from standard-issue reggae. At the start of "Run the Plan," the opening track on the group's sixth regular album, Here I Am, the musicians launch into what sounds like '70s jazz-rock fusion, if not the middle section of some long song by Traffic. It is only after a while that this abruptly stops and the band obediently lopes into a reggae beat behind Stafford's singing. But that element of jazzy improvisation, or jam band playing, never disappears completely. At any given moment, a song may give way to extended group interaction as the music stretches out and the musicians take off in unexpected directions. While that may keep them from being a classic reggae ensemble, it also seems true to an outfit that does not hail from Jamaica, and it makes them different in a field that can be doctrinaire. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Two things will strike you immediately about this album. First, Groundation is perhaps the finest roots reggae band in California. Its seven members generate slow, smoky, disciplined grooves that rumble and shudder with the inexorable power of an elephant stampede and manage to sound simultaneously sensual and mystical. The second thing that will strike you, for probably not the first time, is the degree to which Apple Gabriel's singing style is an acquired taste. A founding member of Israel Vibration, Gabriel sings as a guest on this album and contributes both lead and background vocals, making this whole album sound like a slightly darker and tighter Israel Vibration project -- which is great, unless you think Israel Vibration's vocal sound is just a bit too thin and whiny for comfort, in which case you'll find yourself trying to listen past the voice to those dark, smoky grooves and waiting anxiously for the songs on which Gabriel's fellow guest, Don Carlos, takes the mike. This happens on the brilliant "Suffer the Right" (though Gabriel sings on this one as well) and the very fine title track. The album's strangest moments come on a four-track suite titled "Cultural Wars," part of which includes unusual chord changes that Gabriel can't quite handle. Overall, this is a strange but ultimately rewarding album. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The grassroots consensus on this American reggae band is mixed. On the one hand, there is simply no denying its outrageous way with a roots reggae groove; other than the justly celebrated John Brown's Body, there may not be another white reggae band that plays this music so idiomatically and powerfully. On the other hand, there's singer Harrison Stafford. Unfortunately, he sounds like the demon spawn of Apple Gabriel and Bob Marley, delivering his lyrics with a whiny intensity that he probably thinks denotes spirituality but really comes across as both self-aggrandizing and laughably derivative. When he sings (on "Confusing Situation") "They say Marley gone/But I say no, na na no, na na no," it's hard to know whether he's betraying a baffling lack of self-awareness or (even worse) deliberately casting himself as Marley's Second Coming. In any case, there's lots of great instrumental music bubbling along under Stafford's overwrought vocals, including the horn-heavy "Craven Fe' Dead" and the album's uplifting title track, not to mention the jazzy piano part on "Dream." If Stafford would just settle down and let the songs speak for themselves, these guys could probably produce an almost perfect album or two. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide
'Each One Teach One'
Release Date 7/31/2001
Tracks 11
Label Young Tree
See Album Tracklist and Review
