Lazo And The Radikals - The Time Is Right

Spread Your Wings - 3
Herbman Blues - 3
Congo Natty Dread - 3
So In Love - 3
If You Keep On Doing - 3
Million Miles (um-ba-bay-yah) - 3
Money - 3
Trouble Maker - 3
Mystery - 4
Depend On You - 3
Fight For Your Rights - 3
Dawn Of A New Day (Miss You By My Side) - 3
Evil Deeds - 3
Eyes Is Red - 3
The Time Is Right - 3
Total - 46 stars / 15 tracks = 3.07 stars

To paraphrase someone, who I don't know originally said it: I may not know reggae, but I know what I like. That being said, I didn't particularly love this album. "The Time Is Right" is the 6th or 7th album from Juno-winning Dominican artist Lazo. I don't want to take away from anyone's accomplishments, I just don't particularly see Canada as having a particularly deep reggae talent pool. I would fear retribution, but I'm pretty sure that they'll all be too busy and chill to get upset.

The album itself is certainly listenable, but there aren't really any standouts. It may be a personal preference, but to me, this kind of music's simplicity and laidback attitude creates a musical experience that requires its artists to go above and beyond to actually hook me in.

Props to Lazo for trying to work some serious subject matter into the music, dealing with issues like racism and social inequalities (he is a Political Science major, after all), but his messages didn't light any kind of flame. He states the issues, and suggests that we should "Fight For Our Rights," 'cause not having them is bad.

The one track I particularly enjoyed, "Mystery," breaks out of the mold and introduces a little more lyrical variety. It's still not something I'm going to listen to religiously, but it at least demonstrates some versatility, which is otherwise lacking.