Gil Scott-Heron - Spirits
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CD Details
Artist: Gil Scott-HeronEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1994-03-29
Music Label: Tvt
Soundtracks:
- Message To The Messengers
- Spirits
- Give Her A Call
- Lady's Song
- Spirits Past
- The Other Side, Part I
- The Other Side, Part II
- The Other Side, Part III
- Work For Peace
- Don't Give Up
Music reviews of Spirits
Music Review: Message from the Messenger.
Rating: 5 Stars
In 1994, Gil Scott-Heron had not released a studio album in over a decade since by dropped by Arista in the 1980s. A lot had happened since then-- Gil Scott-Heron's musical children had gained in popularity and it seemed the so-called godfather of rap felt it was time to reassert himself.
What's remarkable is that his neither his songwriting nor his performing abilities have deteriorated-- embracing his many sounds of hte past (with many of his old cohorts alongside him including Malcolm Cecil, Brian Jackson and Ron Holloway), Scott-Heron opens the album tackling his children-- "Message to the Messengers" is a cautionary message to the rappers, delivered in spoken word over a looped spoken rhythmic figure, thumping bass, and hip hop beat. Quite honestly, it's powerful stuff, and it sets the stage for the rest of the record.
Scott-Heron proves remarkably diverse-- tackling Coltrane (proviing lyrics for "Spirits", which gets a rip roaring performance and a real highlight for Holloway), smokey r&b ("Give Her a Call") and his own jazz infused roots ("Don't Give Up"). Along the way, he brings forth a Christmas prayer as moving as anything I've ever heard ("Spirits Past") and provides a frighteningly relevent spoken word piece concerning the military industrial complex on "Work For Peace", with rhythms provided by Ali Shaheed Muhammed of A Tribe Called Quest.
But with all this, the centerpiece of the album is an extended remake (nearly 20 minutes) of "Home is Where the Hatred Is", retitled "The Other Side". A meditation on drug addiction, it provides a remarkably passionate, powerful, beautiful and horrible presentation of a man gripped by drug addiction. Scott-Heron's vocal is so powerful, given his recent troubles one can't help but wonder how autobiographical it is.
Bottom line-- there's no shortage of brilliance on this record. Comebacks are often embarassing, but this one stands up among the best of his work. It's only a pity Scott-Heron can't seem to get it together enough to release a followup. In today's political climate, "Spirits" proves as relevent as any piece written in the intervening twelve years, and it stands as a critical part of the legacy of a giant. Highly recommended.
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