Caribbean Allstars - Paths to Greatness (1992)

 This was a reggae band from the Frisco Bay. I like some mellow reggae on occasion but this is a little too "adult contemporary" for my taste. The word "reggae" denotes ragga or rags. Poor folk music. Hearing reggae played with the most high-end instruments in a million dollar studio and over-the-top production takes something away. 

The tunes here are well-written. I like the songs themselves. But the production quality is just overkill. 

So who do we blame? Carlos Santana, that's who. Santana produced this album and he played on half the tracks. I didn't know this when I first listened to the album and I thought "that guitar sounds just like Santana" and sure as hell, it was. 

I grew up in L.A. in the late 70s/early 80s and Santana was not yet a god but he was a prophet and we are to say nothing bad about Santana or we could get la chancla. So I take back everything I said about the production. It's a great album. I love it and you will too. Oye como va... 

1 Paths to greatness

2 Sette Messgana

3 Caught in the Middle

4 Oh What a Situation

5 Ras Clatt Ridd'm

6 Keep a Good Man Down

7 Commercialization 

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