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Rating: Good |
UB40 had to follow up their surprisingly successful covers album, Labour of Love (which had charted in the UK and become their debut in the US charts) with this album of original material. Their own songs were good, but not up to par with what seemed at the time a unique collection.
On the song titled "Geffery Morgan…," UB40 returns to their original songs. After "Labour of Love," the band returned to their working-class roots. "Geffery Morgan (loves white girls)" was a graffiti on a wall the band saw. You could say the band saw this graffiti and thought it would make a good album title. Nothing more.
Nothing more? Can an album title be nothing more than just a name? Yes, it can! But is this title really nothing more than an album title? No! It's a statement. A statement by a white man expressing his racial resentment. Or: a pro-interracial statement by a Black man. For whatever reason. UB40 isn't a band you can call thoughtless. For me, this is a statement from a band that breaks down racial barriers.
Geffery Morgan opens with two lyrically powerful tracks, "Riddle Me" and "As Always You Were Wrong Again." They denounce oppression and white leadership. Unfortunately, the lyrics fail to maintain a high standard. There are too many love songs on Geffery Morgan. Oh well—he likes white girls. This album is about love.
Musically, UB40's fifth studio album is one of the most modern albums from this British reggae band. They play with jazzy trumpets, introduce an oriental saxophone in "The Pillow," and overall, develop reggae music with their percussion. The absolute best track is—nomen est omen—DUB. A perfect dub song played by this British band that released Present Arms in Dub three years earlier. Geffery Morgan isn't UB40's best album, but it is one of the band's most modern.
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