Dreadzone is an amazing band. Her first album in 1993 marked a turning point for me Dub The sound was absolutely unique and groundbreaking. It was followed by More Rockers / Rockers HiFi, Groove Armada, Zion Train (with the album "Siren") and many others, a fusion of Dub and electronic club sounds. From my point of view at that time the absolute spearhead of the development. It is all the more strange today, around 25 years later, with "Dread Times“(DMF) to get a new album by Dreadzone on the table that has barely developed stylistically. It's still the “revolutionary” sound from two decades ago. Strange. On the positive side, one could say: Dreadzone has found and perfected its own style - and the style does not consist in being avant-garde, which I had obviously mistakenly assumed. Look at it that way, “Dread Times” is quite a successful album. Compared to others Dub- and reggae albums are still very independent. Melodic up-tempo breakbeats, Earl 16 on the microphone, lush production and of course, as before, the crossover of Dub and club committed. Since almost every track comes with a vocal track, one could argue about whether we are dealing with our favorite genre at all. Dub-Purists would probably shake their head so hard that there would be a risk of concussion. On the other hand, I am of the opinion that experimental, progressive sounds with (even a distant reggae beat) are always contenders for the honorable award "Dub" are. Too bad that we are dealing with retro-progressivity here.
One reply to "Dreadzone: Dread Times"
Oh man, I don't really know either ......
I am not a Dub-Purist just a fan but I can understand when they shake their heads. Especially because of the soft chants, the whole thing turns into easy listening rather than "progressive" Dub. Dreadzone's radio compatibility never bothered me. For example, I found Little Britain really awesome, although in England it was probably going up and down on the radio too. Personally, I think the “SOUND” by Dreadzone is by far the best, although I have always found the discs before that great. You can certainly get extremely puzzled again if, for example, “Believe In It” as Dub want to denote. In addition, there are many people who are neither with reggae nor with Dub what on hat have found or find this tune completely cool. Therefore it cannot Dub But it doesn't matter, I think “Believe In It” is a world hit in a positive sense.
So it has come to that. Dreadzone only gets three stars from one of their biggest fans from the very beginning. And I wouldn't even give half a star anymore.
Still, I can't quite get out of my skin. The disc can be bought from Irie Records and maybe also from Karstadt. The vinyl costs over 10 euros more at Irie Records. Is the sound that much better? No, I take the CD and then at home I would rather let it play in the background when I have to do something. That I drive home from work and look forward to this record on the way home is unlikely to happen.
Peace be with you / Salam alaikum / Love and Peace / Life, Love and Unity ……… .. lemmi