Jah Cure - The Cure (VP Records)

With this renewed working relationship Jah Cure finds himself on familiar terrain, but that doesn't mean he's once again turning out a full-fledged reggae album. 'The Cure' opens with the Rihanna-esque 'No Friend Of Mine' and sadly the track list contains a few more tunes with a similar vibe. Does that mean these are bad tracks? Not necessarily, but it's a (commercial) genre that yours truly isn't too fond of. Fortunately 'The Cure' also contains a number of songs that are spot on. 'Corruption', for example, a solid roots tune with lyrics like: "Boom shaka lak, I say boom shaka lak, shaka lak rock…" at least a nod to Junior Reid's 'Boom-Shack-A-Lack', or 'All Of Me', Jah Cure's successful reggae version of John Legend's r&b hit of the same name. 'Rasta' sounds good, but with a lyric like: "I say one, two rasta is passing through…" gives the song a rather simplistic subtext. 'Life We Live', a tune over the Beg For It riddim, also shows a Jah Cure in top form. To purists' taste 'The Cure' is definitely not, but for those among you not averse to a little eclecticism this is a very sound album.