Fan Reviews of Bourgeoisie
Paper Jam
I am currently giving it [the Cecelia's Soul Food album]
a lot of play on my stereo. I appreciate the musicianship displayed
throughout the record. That happens to be my pet peeve with the
R&B industry today, not enough people playing REAL instruments
and not relying on computers or keyboards to synthesize their
sounds.
I personally favor the Hard (electric) and R&B selections
more than the Soft (acoustic) selections, although I do find
"Shade of Your Eyes" funky, and I enjoy "Lolita
(Prejippie Mix)." Speaking of musicianship, I find "Basses
In Motion" to be an unexpected treat.
I must say it is rare to find music of such an ecclectic nature
coming from an African-American artist and it is indeed refreshing.
Outside of The Artist, Lenny Kravitz, and the sorely missed Living
Colour, there are few bands and artists that satisfy my craving
for such music. I am a 34 yr. old, African-American male, and
you can mark me down as enjoying the Bourgeoisie Paper Jam experience
very much. Please let me know of any appearances in the future
in the New York City area.
Thomas McKnight (Bronx, NY)
I've played your CD over ten times, and now I have to give
you some
thoughts on it. I'll do it track-by-track, and then give an overall
impression. I played the CD at a party last weekend, and it was
a hit.
The disk kicks in with a hard strummer called "No Doubt."
From there the album never lets up until an hour later. This
song has a cool acoustic groove that carries on well in its simplicity.
Catchy, basic, and
addictive, it leads nicely into a similar track called "What
the fuck".
Another acoustic track, it has a nice bassline that builds up
with carefree lyrics and a sunny outlook. The lyrics notwithstanding,
this could be a hit in a perfect world. "Shade of Your Eyes"
continues the trend set by the first two songs. It has some interesting
percussion, and the backing vocals are solid and add to track's
appeal. "You Enjoy the Girl" illustrates just how good
a singer Sticky Ricky is. He is at ease with both lead and background
vocals. If Lenny Kravitz had decided to go acoustic, he could
sound like this. "Without You" is THE ballad on the
compact disk. Beautiful harmonies, lush guitar work, and a peacefulness
recall better times. "Don't Ask Me Why" once again
picks up the pace, with doubletracked lead vocals, while the
folky guitar keeps the piece from falling apart.
"Cecelia's Soul Food" shifts gears somewhat, and
BPJ starts getting funky with it. If you've heard of the band
Maggie's Dream, then you know what to expect here. If you haven't,
then expect to hear some Prince acoustic funk with a driving
beat. I challenge you to not dance to this. "Lolita"
throws in some electric guitar for good measure, but is a slight
throwback to the earlier acoustic tracks. Jezebel mixes in some
female background and lead vocals to great effect. "Basses
in Motion" pumps away with jazzy elements, and is a short
little instrumental. "Inside you" begins a trio of
harder-edged material with frantic fuzz guitar and screeching
vocals. "Alright" thumps out of the speaker with inspired
bass and a riff that Collective Soul would be proud of. "When
You Get Lonely" rounds off the harder material with an indie
sound that is mature without losing its innocence. Another catchy
track that has radio potential.
Ray Violette (Tide Head, New Brunswick, CANADA)
THE CD SOUNDS A LOT LIKE LENNY KRAVITZ's EARLY WORK (LET
LOVE RULE) & THE LAST TRACKS OF MAMA SAID.....
ITS COOL & ITS GOOD.
PEACE & B WILD,
PRINCE (Rosemont, PA)
I really like the CD alot.
I like the acoustic/naked side better, but both are great. My
favorite tunes are "No Doubt" and "You Enjoy the
Girl." The songs have a good beat to jam to without being
overly jammed.
Scott Timberlake (Wheeling, WV)
I must say I really like the way you guys sound. My musical
tastes consist of a little of everything, but I'm really into
quillity musicianship and that you guys have. My favorite songs
on the disk were tracks 1, 8, and 11. My favorite band is Phish
and if you guys went to the shows in your area and played, lots
of people would dig it and buy your CD.
Jeff Vinovich (Peoria, IL)
For me the mellower tracks are the high points of this record...."Without
you", "Basses in Motion" and particularly the
last track "Forever."
Neil Bruce (Ardsley, NY)
Some very cool stuff on it. Like the bass playing; fav songs
are "ALRIGHT," "INSIDE YOU," "WHAT THE
FUCK," "BASSES IN MOTION." Find it fresh to listen
to.
Sanin (White Plains, NY)
ALRIGHT! Funk/rock & cool R&B!
I must admit that my first impression was pretty much "good
songs,definite potential, but the arrangements could use some
filling out with some synths, maybe a couple of horns,etc."
(natural, I guess, I'm a keyboard player!). After repeated listenings,
however, I have come to really enjoy the album as a whole. I
really dig the variety. Starting out acoustic, moving into hot
electric, taking a brief detour through reggae and winding up
in R&B! I keep finding something new through repeated listenings.
The bass playing is really the best feature, to me. Really
OUTSTANDING! My favorite track is "Forever." I also
like "Special," "Alright," "No Doubt,"
"Basses In Motion" & "Sun Gon' Shine."
The reggae thing is really cool, too. And I gotta tell 'ya when
I first
heard "What the Fuck," it brought a big smile to my
face. My first impression of that was "catchy chorus, too
bad they won't play it on the radio, it could be a hit."
Then I realized, WHAT THE FUCK? there have been hits before without
radio play, like Clarence Carter's STROKIN'. I don't know about
the rest of the country but that was a huge club hit in the south
(I'm in Atlanta) and my band still gets
requests for it. I hope you don't mind, but that night after
my first listen, I found myself quoting you in a little minor
argument with one of my girlfriends, "What the fuck, I'm
gonna' do as I please." Words to live by, life's too short
to do otherwise!
Thanks for a great album.
MICHAEL MCMILLAN (Kennesaw, GA)
It was fun to explore the variety of music on the disc.
· My favorites are "Shade of Your Eyes,"
"Cecelia's Soul Food," "Basses in Motion,"
and "Alright." I kept finding myself moving to the
beat even when I was listening to the CD as I was doing something
else.
· The electric music rocked with real energy without being
hard so hard that it would turn off all but the headbangers in
the room.
· I don't like the frequent use of the word "fuck."
I can't play the CD when my kids are around.
· The first few songs sound very "tinny" and
(in my opinion) would sound better with more of a deep sound.
Thanks again and good luck!
John Assad (Goffstown, NH)
I have listened to it about 8 or 9 times fully now and a few
songs closer to 20 times. My wife also has listened to it about
3 times. I will have to hide it from her so she doesn't take
it to work to listen to it on me! I enjoyed most of the music
on this CD very much. My favorite songs were "No Doubt"
and "You Enjoy the Girl". I like the biting accoustic
guitar sounds on these and the emotion of the vocals. "What
the Fuck" seems to draw me in every time and I listen more
to the music than the words with this song. "Don't Ask Me
Why" has some great vocals in it. In short, some DAMN good
music.
Thanks!
Dan Phinney (Rochester, NY) |
