ALBUM DESCRIPTION

On "Along Life's Road," Monty G takes us on a sophisticated musical journey with splendid results. It has been a privilege to monitor Ramont's growth as an artist and producer throughout the years. True to form, he somehow manages to take things up a notch with this new LP. It is a mature release from a well-established artist.

This time around Monty has traded in his drum machine for an acoustic guitar and swapped much of his aggressive deejay flow for singing and his signature raspy singjay style. You can here this on songs like the melodic "Live In Love" (Acoustic Mix), "Love of Mine" and "You are There".

There are elements of Raggamuffin Hip Hop on tunes like "One Day at a Time" and "One Day To Live," but there is not as much of these urban sounds as his previous efforts. While you may have heard a few of these songs before (just listen to tracks like "End Will Come" and "Live In Love"), you have never heard them done this way. Most have been stripped down to their essential elements and then augmented with an acoustic musical bed similar to select tracks on Gentleman's latest offering "Another Intensity".

Culture also abounds on this album with songs like "Times" and the Rootsy civil rights anthem "When Will We Be Free?" Just listen to these lyrics; "Politicians, run 'way yourself, 'cause the people a work and you still get the wealth!"

Some of my favorite tunes include the infectious "Do Good" and cuts with special guest appearances such as Monty's cousin Mr. Lynx (Then Come The Days) and Positive (I Want To Know). This amazing album ends with "One Day To Live", a touching tribute to Monty's brother Rashad who passed away earlier this year. This song and Monty's heartfelt dedication really put life into perspective.

Monty G should be up for "Artist of The Year" here at GospelReggae.com simply based on sheer volume of releases that he has put out this year. Things were fairly quiet for a while from his camp as Monty and his crew put most of their energy towards touring and promoting their existing releases. Then out of nowhere, Monty and his partner DJ Frost came forward with a one-two punch combination that still has many of us spinning.

It all started with Monty G and Reubin Heights' Live CD and DVD; "In The Holy Land". Then, one week later this was followed by Lion's Pride's "Soundcheck," (which was produced, co-written, and heavily features the magnificent voice of Monty G). Now just one week later, Monty drops the bomb of all bombs; his highly anticipated studio release "Along Life's Road".

It's hard to believe that this is only Monty's third Studio album (following "Revolution" and "Until Life"). Sure he has made a grip of mixtapes and been featured on more albums than any other gospel reggae artist that I can think of (with well over 30 available at this store alone), but only three full-length albums?

While some may be astonished at his extensive catalog of songs and his significant accomplishments as a key architect in the Gospel Reggae genre, this is simply the fruit of an extremely prolific songwriter. Yet one would think that with all of these releases that Monty was potentially over saturating the market and cannibalizing his own sale--however, it is quite the contrary! With each of these releases, he is giving us something different to represent the many moods of Monty. While His live CD/DVD set showed us his charismatic stage presence and Lion's Pride revealed his chops at bombastic unadulterated dancehall, this new CD offers something very different--Maturity.

This is no flash-in-the-pan dancehall album; it's mature, melodic reggae that can be appreciated by lovers of all styles within the genre. While some of these songs may not slam in the dancehall as hard as some of his previous releases, they also won't fade into obscurity or become outdated. With Monty's use of catchy hooks, acoustic instruments and down-tempo tracks, the end result is a timeless offering that is sure to remain relevant for decades to come. Monty G is in his prime and this sophisticated new release is just what the genre of Gospel Reggae needs. Buy this CD today--you'll love it!