Search - Luciano :: Sweep Over My Soul

Luciano is reggae's heart, a brilliant singer-writer-performer whose greatest gift is the happiness he gives to listeners and audiences, if only for an hour or so. Unlike many reggae singers, who wield "rods of correction" as they catalog the many sins committed by everyone else, Luciano occupies higher ground, dealing less in sweeping generalizations on what humankind should or shouldn't be doing than in more powerful universal truths that he draws from the poet's prime turf, the humble details of personal experience. Unfortunately, this third and final set for Jamaica's Xterminator label is nowhere up to the levels set by his debut Where There Is Life and sophomore Messenger sets. The title track initially scored as a hit single, and "Can't Stop Jah Works," the first track, packs the power of the baritone's theatrical recitation, à la Barry White (but praising God, not girls). "Ulterior Motive," another hit single, speaks movingly to the disenchantment suffered by a poor boy from the country after he becomes a reggae superstar and to the need, as always, to rely only on the Most High: "Let me tell you that they've got an ulterior motive ... you work hard seven days a week and they treat you like 'buttu' [a low-class ignoramus]." "Talking 'Bout," featuring the like-minded Morgan Heritage group, is another highlight, but some tracks seem to have been drawn from Xterminator's vaults just to fill out the set after Luciano and the label parted company. --Elena Oumano