Luciano - Zion Awake (JamStyle Records/VPal)

Stylistically 'Zion Awake' is similar to albums like 'One Way Ticket' or 'Where There Is Life', from the early days of Luciano's career, but the track list contains just a little too few highlights to make it an instant Luciano-classic. The fact opener 'Come Alive' already couldn't convince yours truly didn't bode well for the rest of the album ('Melody', a song with lyrics that are a mix of Barry Manilow's 'Mandy' and The Beatles' 'Yesterday', is another stinker), but with 'Slavery' Lucy is back on the right track. Together with Lutan Fyah, Luciano gives the Abysinnians' classic 'Satta-Mass-Gana' a successful update, but The Messenger really hits home with 'Prophecy', an instant-classic as only Luciano can deliver. All in all, 'Zion Awake' remains a more mediocre release in Luciano's discography.