Take Me to God : Deluxe Edition

Alternative Press - "...Spattered across seventeen songs what leaves you reeling is the sheer versatility of that roar..." Option - "...There is an overabundance of hopefully tongue-in-cheek neomystical nonsense here, along with a couple of tracks of throwaway reggae, the usual supply of world-tinged house music, and at least two great songs..." Musician - "...Wobble has indeed grown from a prankster to a musical swami who can power grooves and, more importantly, stir emotions..."

After he'd been a fixture of the British new wave/punk/underground/alternative scene since the late '70s, 1994's Take Me to God marked Jah Wobble's first major commercial success as a solo artist, reaching number 13 in the U.K. The use of numerous guest musicians (including Can drummer Jaki Leibezeit) gives this a feel of a rotating collective, with Wobble (who plays several instruments here in addition to the one he's most known for, bass) the constant. Quite a few singers contribute, giving this more of a song-oriented feel than some of his other work, some of the more celebrated including Gavin Friday, Dolores O'Riordan of the Cranberries, Senegalese vocalist Baaba Maal, and top world music artist Najma Akhtar. The 66-minute length of these sprawling excursions almost inevitably means the program will drag at times, according to your musical inclinations. Lyrically, too, it's so varied as to make it difficult to connect with a pronounced attitude or viewpoint, the concerns ranging from the almost indecipherably frivolous ("Yoga of the Nightclub") to the numerous references to God that pepper the song titles. But it's an interesting assortment of tracks combining currents flowing through mid-'90s alternative rock, world music, reggae, club beats, dub, and African pop, adding up to an extremely heterogeneous whole. ~ Richie Unterberger|