Lettuce

Rage! (Velour Recordings 2008)

The seven-person all-star collective known as Lettuce has been around since 1992, with its members branching off into successful standalone projects (Soulive, Rustic Overtones, et al), but never straying far from the project that started it all. "Rage", the band's third album, sees the collective reaching back to pay homage to the funk gods (EWF, James Brown, Tower of Power, the Meters, P-Funk, etc), while retaining the band's meticulous hip-hop tinged phrasing, melody and progressions. The compositions all follow a similar formula: riffs and breakbeats setting up the solos, bridges and/or hooks, and though there are times when the songs traverse the borders of funk-by-numbers monotony, the band's chemistry shines through time and again as a saving grace. One can tell the boys are having fun and this is proved true every time a glimmer of their monstrous theory knowledge and improv talent surfaces. But, this project is not meant to clone those aspects so strongly established in Lettuce's first two albums. "Rage" was made to groove in the pocket, and it does. Fiercely.

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Tracklist:

01.) Blast Off
02.) Sam Huffs Flying Raging Machine
03.) Move On Up feat. Dwele
04.) King Of The Burgs
05.) Need To Understand
06.) The Last Suppit
07.) Dizzer
08.) Makin My Way Back Home
09.) Salute
10.) Speake E.Z.
11.) Express Yourself
12.) Relax
13.) By Any Shmeeans Necessary
14.) Mr. Yance


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