The Genius Of Ray Charles
Ray CharlesThe album started stronger than it ended. Love the big band Fran Sinatra-esque sound. “It had to be you” and “Deed I do” potentially first dance of my wedding songs. Rays voice is incredible and so distinct.. Even though the album is not the best produced, his voice and playing takes centre stage.. I actually kind of like the way production is not too crisp, it has a raw feel with some smooth backing vocals, I’m getting some wizard of oz vibes at times. A lot of cute love, love that’s been lost and love lust songs. The album opener “let the good times roll” has a simplistic message of enjoying life regardless of your position in the world, you just got to spend some cash!! Haha 😂 and to be honest all the lyrics on the album seem to have a ‘to the point’ simplicity which is nice to listen to when sometimes music can be so open to interpretation and multiplicity of meaning (which is great, don’t get me wrong) where it’s left to the listener to extract their own meaning, it’s a nice change of beat to what I’m used to. Second half of the album drops to a simpler kind of sound. Which I like but it’s hard for me to describe, I just found it a little less interesting. “Don’t let the sun catch you crying” is a great single though, those “violins” 🤷♂️ answered back by rays keys ❤️ Maybe I just lost a bit of concentration on the second half of the album. (this review is after one and half listens) 6.8/10 maybe 🤷♂️, it’s hard to say on first albums score, I think I need more points to attach my opinion to, a point of focus to relate to. Still would recommend a listen to a friend ✌️