Major Lazer have been around since 2009 when they released 'Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do,' an album that mixed dancehall with electro to produce an incredible mix of floor-fillers and huge party tunes. Major Lazer was previously a collaboration of UK house DJ Switch and US producer Diplo, Switch has since then left and Diplo recruited the DJ Jillionaire and hype man Walshy Fire.
Free the Universe continues to mashup westen electro and Jamaican sounds to great effect, the single 'Jah No Partial' samples the reggae legend Johnny Osbourne's 'Mr Marshall,' using it's lyrics to build up to the biggest drop on the album, provided by the 'Bass Cannon' boys Flux Pavilion. The song is great if you're pumped up and about too hit a wall, but apart from that not brilliant and certainly doesn't do justice to Osbourne's original. The debut single from Free the Universe, thankfully, is a different story; 'Get Free) features Amber Coffman from Dirty Projectors and is a stunning piece of music, Diplo and co create a subtle backing to Ambers gentle voice and the song really bounces the listener along. It looks like every Major Lazer album has to start with a guest appearance from Santigold, which is no bad thing, she adds her jaunty style and mystic voice to 'You're No Good,' up the same street as that is 'Watch Out For This (Bumaye)' which highlights how good Major Lazer mashup musical genres, it has a stereotypical Jamaican lead backed by a horn section, punchy bass and a head bobbing synth making for a great track and with 1.3 million YouTube views in it's first month of release it is getting the attention it deserves. 'Keep It Cool' features the worlds worst liar (we all know it was him) Shaggy, adding to the list of guest stars from Jamaica, it also has vocals from Wynter Gordon who provides a stunning performance as is faultless throughout the song. The two vocalists and Diplo's massive sound behind this track creates one of the highlights of the album. Unfortunately someone decided that Bruno Mars could enhance a Major Lazer song; they were wrong, it is not a good song and adds to the album as much as 3.47 of silence would have. Thankfully 'Mashup the Dance' is back to Major Lazer's usual standards, an addicting vocal sample is used and the guest features enhance the songs further to produce a piece that will be huge when played live.
The album as a whole is really very good and continues the Major Lazer vibe. This said I do have a number of criticisms, the first being what I have entitled 'Diplo Drums' which feature on almost every song and are a tiresome beat that just gets us through the track, we could have had a bit of variation here. My second criticism is how we are reminded that it's a Major Lazer song throughout almost all songs, with their being a 'Major Lazer' shout out in well over half of the tracks, I get it is supposed to add to the hype and is based around Major Lazer's invented character 'Major Lazer', but not all the time as there is just no need: please don't sink to Jason Derulo's level. The album is full of hit and misses, you will either love it or hate it, for fans of the first album Free the Universe is certainly up your street, and for people who enjoy music there is something for you hidden amongst it all as it really does branch over most genres.
The album is has a number of phenomenal tracks, and a number of not so brilliant tunes. I am quite a fan of Vampire Weekend and Major Lazer separately, but please keep them that way as 'Jessica' isn't good. Free the Universe has 14 29 featured artist, for an album of 14 songs this seems rather a lot, so the album is more 'Diplo and friends' rather than an individual artist's project. This said it keeps the album fresh and like I said, it covers an incredible number of genres. The album has glimpses of genius, yet this is ruined by a number of songs that should never have been released (much to my disappointment this isn't just Bruno Mars' track) which do take away from how good the album could have been.
Tracklist:
01 You're No Good [ft. Santigold, Vybz Kartel, Danielle Haim & Yasmin]
02 Jet Blue Jet [ft. Leftside, GTA, Razz & Biggy]
03 Get Free [ft. Amber of Dirty Projectors]
04 Jah No Partial [ft. Flux Pavilion]
05 Wind Up [ft. Elephant Man & Opal]
06 Scare Me [ft. Peaches & Timberlee]
07 Jessica [ft. Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend]
08 Watch Out for This (Bumaye) [ft. Busy Signal & Flexican]
09 Keep Cool [ft. Shaggy & Wynter Gordon]
10 Sweat [ft. Laidback Luke & Ms. Dynamite]
11 Reach for the Stars [ft. Wyclef Jean]
12 Bubble Butt [ft. Bruno Mars, Tyga & Mystic]
13 Mashup the Dance [ft. the Partysquad & Ward 21]
14 Playground [ft. Bugle & Arama]
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