Damian Marley - Halfway Tree

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Music reviews of Halfway Tree

Music Review: Damian -- "Most Improved Marley"
Rating: 3 Stars

For a long time, Damian Marley was the least talented Marley in the music business.

While you could see Ziggy, Stephen, Cedella and Sharon lively-ing it up on stage and growing with each album (side note: word is, that Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers have left the music business, no more albums, no more tours), Damian wallowed in a murky well, releasing his first album, "Mr. Marley," which was so derivative and, worse than the rest of the Marley kids, not only borrowed from his father's songs, but pretty just took their whole melody and arrangements as a backdrop for him to "try" to toast over. (Just take a look at the name of the album and the album cover--a photo of Bob Marley holding Damian when "Jr. Gong" was an infant. He throws all these references to his father in a passive, coat-riding attempt to validate himself, but it fails, since the rhymes are weak, the music unsure and most telling of all, the songs lack the spirit and passion in most Marley offspring music).

Even Julian Marley's album (which was derivative of ZM and the MM's style) at least had some listenable, although repetitive, songs which had replayability.

But listening to Damian's latest, "Halfway Tree," is an eye opener. Right out the gate, Damian delivers a deeper, more mature vocal tone and sounds confident and wiser, unlike the Damian of "Mr. Marley."

After the strong, fiery opener ("Educated Fools"), the album settles into a comfortable mix of rap and reggae dancehall styles. There's nothing else as immediate as the opener, so it's all downhill from there in terms of quality. And style-wise, Damian's music really hasn't changed. He's just more confident vocally. He's still sampling and taking from his father's music catalogue for melodies, lyrics and ideas.

And he also surrounds himself with some top-notch talent (such as Stephen Marley, Capleton, Bounty Killer, Yami Bolo and even rapper Eve) which makes you wonder if he can carry a song or album by himself. That question still remains after hearing the album.

But, if you can forget for a moment of the derivative nature of many of the songs (which isn't too easy if you're a longtime reggae fan), then the album is an entertaining listen. Just know that, again, the album loses steam with each track beginning with the first).

So, in the end, it's a solid album that doesn't disappoint, but it doesn't really inspire one to deeper thoughts and reasoning.

One Love,

Mykal Roze

Description of Halfway Tree

International CDs

• Music > Styles
• Pop
• R&B