The Brand New Heavies - Brand New Heavies (CA)

First Generation Funk Revivalism

By Andre  Apr 28, 2006

Pros: Chunky,Rhytmic And Packed With Songs

Cons: Always Keeps The Songwriting At A Minimum

In 1990 the multi racial band Brand New Heavies emmerged with their debut album.It contains ten nice slices of classic funk ie meaning by and large the same type of music James Brown,Tower Of Power and The Meters specialized in-very succint rhythms,horns mixed up high and a lot of guitar breaks.Writing is never a premium for this band-this is poure groove music.And for that there are plently of great ones to go with-"People Get Ready","Put The Funk Back In It" and "BNH" are perfect examples."Sphynx&quo
t; and "Shake Down" add a little jazziness to the affair and that is nice.The potencial flaw of this CD comes with the vocal tunes "Dream Come True" and "Stay This Way".N'dea Davenport is a very good (if not not always interesting) singer but the songwriting and construction is nothing to write home about.Other modern British funk bands such as Incognito and of course Jamiroquai have a far better command on songcract,harmonies and powerful,distinctive singers such as Jay K and the brilliant Maysa.The Brand New Heavies did indeed get the ball rolling before either of the other acts-this being a 1990 release but the acid jazz funk movement was just getting started.This album grooves and jams but you can't really hum along to it.Great dancing and traveling music but the bands next two CD's were a lot better made.