Luciano is one of the most prolific artists on the roots and conscious dancehall scene.
He's been cranking out several albums per year over the last decade, but what's really impressive is the consistently high quality of his work despite its quantity.
This is partly due to the high regard in which he is held by many of Jamaica's top producers, who seem to hold their finest rhythms in reserve for him.
On Serious Times, Luciano is working with veterans Joel Chin and Dean Fraser, who help him build powerful dancehall and modern roots grooves over which to sing his anthems of praise and admonition.
The program consists largely of original songs, among which the title track and the Marley-esque "Alpha & Omega" are particular highlights.
But there are some excellent cover versions as well, and a couple of them are rather surprising: Luciano's version of the José Feliciano classic "Come Down Father" sounds perfectly suited to its neo-roots setting here, and he also delivers a solid, if less distinctive, cover of Sangie Davis' "This Feeling." His rendition of Harry Nilsson's "Echoes of My Mind" (which baby boomers will remember from the Midnight Cowboy soundtrack) is given a solidly skanking rocksteady treatment that works surprisingly well.
Highly recommended.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Give PraiseJepther McClymont | Luciano | Play | 04:16 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Come Down Father | Luciano | Play | 04:17 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | The World Is TroubledDennis Brown | Luciano | Play | 04:16 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Stay AwayJepther McClymont | Luciano | Play | 04:10 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | Just Talk to GodJepther McClymont | Luciano | Play | 05:11 | 11 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | Satisfy Your Self | Luciano | Play | 04:37 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | Free Up the WeedJepther McClymont, M. Taylor | Luciano | Play | 04:31 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | Alpha & OmegaBobby Dixon, Jepther McClymont | Luciano | Play | 04:08 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | Serious Times Serious MeasuresJepther McClymont | Luciano | Play | 05:15 | 12 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | We Need a MiracleJepther McClymont | Luciano | Play | 03:34 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 11 | This FeelingS. Davis | Luciano | Play | 04:31 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 12 | Jah Is My KeeperJepther McClymont | Luciano | Play | 04:26 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 13 | The Ras She Wants | Luciano | Play | 04:07 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 14 | Only LoveJ. Ford, I. James, Lloyd James | Luciano | Play | 03:49 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 15 | Love Will Make It (feat. Morgan Heritage) | Luciano, Morgan Heritage | Play | 04:18 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 16 | Echoes Of My Mind | Luciano | Play | 03:55 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 17 | No Where To Go | Luciano | Play | 03:09 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 72 mins | 166 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alberto | Engineer |
| 2 | David Anglin | Percussion |
| 3 | Pierre Baigorry | Audio Production, Producer |
| 4 | Christopher Birch | Keyboards |
| 5 | Rochell Bradshaw | Harmony |
| 6 | Dennis Brown | Composer |
| 7 | Shane Brown | Mixing Engineer |
| 8 | Dalton Browne | Guitar, Harmony |
| 9 | Glen Browne | Bass, Guitar (Bass), Main Personnel |
| 10 | Nicky Burt | Harmony |
| 11 | Connie Campbell | Harmony |
| 12 | Joel Chin | Editing, Executive Producer, Mastering |
| 13 | Junior Chin | Trumpet |
| 14 | Mitchum Chin | Guitar |
| 15 | Mikey Chung | Guitar |
| 16 | Mark Clarke | Drums |
| 17 | Willburn "Squidley" Cole | Drums |
| 18 | Paul Crossdale | Keyboards |
| 19 | S. Davis | Composer |
| 20 | Dwight Dawes | Keyboards |
| 21 | Donald "Danny Bassie" Dennis | Bass |
| 22 | Carol Dexter | Harmony |
| 23 | Bobby Digital | Audio Production |
| 24 | Bobby Dixon | Composer |
| 25 | Bobby "Digital" Dixon | Engineer, Mixing, Producer |
| 26 | Clement "Coxsone" Dodd | Composer |
| 27 | Sly Dunbar | Drums, Main Personnel |
| 28 | Rohan Dwyer | Engineer, Mixing, Mixing Engineer |
| 29 | Michael Fletcher | Bass |
| 30 | J. Ford | Composer |
| 31 | Dean Fraser | Audio Production |
| 32 | Althea Layne Hamilton | Harmony |
| 33 | Alvin Haughton | Percussion |
| 34 | I. James | Composer |
| 35 | Lloyd James | Audio Production, Composer |
| 36 | Luciano | Main Personnel, Primary Artist |
| 37 | Robert Lyn | Harmony, Keyboards, Main Personnel, Overdubs, Synthesizer |
| 38 | Jepther McClymont | Composer |
| 39 | Chris Meridith | Bass |
| 40 | Chris Miller | Engineer |
| 41 | Morgan Heritage | Featured Artist |
| 42 | Greg Morris | Engineer |
| 43 | Leebert Morrison | Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic) |
| 44 | Sharon Myles | Harmony |
| 45 | Julius Papp | Composer |
| 46 | Rebel Chris | Engineer |
| 47 | Dwight Richards | Flugelhorn, Trumpet |
| 48 | Lenford Richards | Guitar |
| 49 | William Richards | Art Direction, Photography |
| 50 | Ronald "Nambo" Robinson | Trombone |
| 51 | Paul Shields | Editing, Mastering |
| 52 | Arthur Simms | Engineer |
| 53 | Chris Frazer Smith | Harmony |
| 54 | Paul "Scooby" Smith | Keyboards |
| 55 | Stephen Stanley | Mixing Engineer |
| 56 | M. Taylor | Composer |
| 57 | Nick Tucker | Harmony |
| 58 | Ryan Webb | Keyboards |
| 59 | Collin "Bulbie" York | Engineer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |