ALBUM DESCRIPTION

.Out of the Bahamas comes yet another amazing talent brought to you by Creative Soul Entertainment. "We Need Peace" by Landlord (AKA Orlando Francis), is an album stuffed with contemporary reggae cuts and plenty of today's popular church songs reggaefied for the Caribbean contingency. This strong album stands head and shoulders above Landlord's freshmen effort and reveals a much more developed singer and songwriter.

Landlord busts through the gates on the first track with "We Need Peace," a tune that is quite possibly the biggest collaboration in the history of Gospel Reggae. This song features Alkatraz, Solo and the legendary Luciano. This is THE stand-out track on this CD as Landlord unites with his friends and reggae's original "Messenger" to discuss an issue that we all can agree on; "We Need Peace." This track works well as Luciano's sweet voice graces an unforgettable rhythm. A remixed version of this cut is also found later the album (Track 12).

Following this, Landlord "Shows us the way" to vibe to some sweet roots reggae adorned with soothing female vocals. "Teach Me" is a humble plea to the Lord to show us how to "Love our Enemies"--a daunting task to say the least.

Next up is one more roots bubbler and another one of my favorite tracks on this album. "My God is Real" is a song written for all of the doubters out there. On this tune, Landlord once again shows us that his greatest strength is in his clever rhythms and his inventive collaborations. This song (along with track one) brought Orlando to Jamaica to record with another talented Yardee vocalist. This time he teamed up with the Radical Prodigal Son (AKA Bless), one of the top Gospel Reggae DJs. This is another massive tune.

The mood shifts to soothing reggae worship on Landlord's timid rendition of the modern day classic "This is the Air I Breathe." He continues this theme a few tracks later when he covers the popular "This is My Desire". There is nothing like singing "Lord I give you my heart, I give you my soul," over legitimate reggae. Track 11 is Landlord's last worship cut as he sings a mellow reggae interpretation of the popular "Draw Me Close." I sure wish that my church worshipped like this on a regular basis!

"It Was Only You Lord" lifts this light album up even higher with an organ-bubbling sax laced rhythm featuring a VERY SPECIAL guest appearance by Dr. Myles Monroe. And surprisingly enough, this guy can sing with some soul! I first saw these two ministering together in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, back in 2002. Landlord warmed up the crowd with some singing and Myles was the main speaker. Hopefully next time Myles will do more than just speak, as I love his heartfelt vocals! The album also includes other contemporary reggae cuts like "Lord I Can't Live Without You," "Look at My God," "Eve or Adam," and a cliche radio interview used to set up his final track entitled "Daddy", featuring the deejay flow of newcomer Alkatraz.

The strengths of this album lie in Landlord's, timid, yet spirited delivery, sound doctrine, and his renditions of three of today's popular worship hits. Hopefully these cuts will encourage more churches to venture away from the norm in their weekly worship services. The programming and digital production on this recording is clean, but sometimes perhaps a bit too sterile for my personal taste. While Landlord may not be the most dynamic vocalist in the Caribbean, he wisely chooses to contrast his subtle tone with the boisterous sounds of veteran vocalists such as Luciano, Myles Monroe and Prodigal. The title track alone is a good enough reason to pick up a copy of this sophomore effort. But beyond that, there are many more reasons to grab a copy of this dazzling CD. In addition to the great audio, there is also a video of the hit single featuring Luciano in the enhanced portion of the CD (both PC and Mac OSX compatible). This is a quality gospel reggae release. Simply take a listen to the Real Audio clips and be the judge for yourself. Enjoy!

Review by Mark Mohr