Album Review: Jay Cabassa “All for the Love”

Jay Cabassa “All for the Love”
Released: 2010
Reviewed By: E Pluribus Unum
Committee Rating: 7.7 (of 10)
[xrr rating=7.7/10]

I like strings. So, when I heard good chord progression with strings in the intro, I was very attentive to where “All for the Love” was headed. The intro moved easily into the actual song when the beat hits (I hate those songs that give some dramatic intro and then do something totally different for the rest of the song…ugh!!!). “All For Your Love is a pretty good song from start to finish, but Jay and Marz both seem like they’re either vocally straining or just yelling on certain parts of the vocals. To be honest, I don’t think the song is outside of either of their vocal ranges, but it was just more of a vocal style. I wish they sang a little bit smoother or lighter. But, in the big scheme of things, this is more of a minor gripe because I wouldn’t skip this song at all.

“Lift Him Up” is where Jay Cabassa meets J SkyWalker. The song is “ok”. I didn’t like the effect on Jay Cabassa’s vocals, but this is a personal preference. I’ve heard others do it as well. The song in and of itself is cool. J SkyWalker does his thing on the track. It’s a cool song, just not one of my favorites. “Can’t Stop” has an intriguing feel to it. Sometimes the track seemed a little too busy, because there is a lot going on in the background (and I like complex music). Others may not notice it, though. I’m bad about trying to soak in everything at the same time. With all of that being said, I like this song. In my opinion, “Out of Control” is where the stars align for Jay Cabassa. All of the minor gripes I mentioned above are non-existent in this song. This song is catchy. In other songs I felt like Jay and the track were fighting for supremacy, but “Out of Control” is where I finally felt a good flow. The track and vocals mix perfectly to form a great song that I can put on repeat. Man, this song is tight to me!

Jay slows it back down for the next four songs. “Holding On” and “So Lost” are my two favorites out of this group. Those were the songs that ended up staying in my head even when I’m not listening to the album. “My Prayer” has that jazzy club/open mic kind of feel within the track. If you like that, you’ll like this song.

“Who’s This” is another cool song. Jay Cabassa is just a smooth guy. He really has blended a smooth, harmonic style with beats that still give you a krunk type of feel. It’s a great mixture. “Who’s This” is kind of the epitome of that. The percussion alone would make you think its time to tear the club up or something, but when those vocals hit, it’s just so smooth.

Lastly, I’ll talk about “Price I’ll Pay.” I have a love/hate relationship with this song. This song could easily be considered the best song on this album. If it’s not the best, it’s definitely extremely catchy. The sample in the hook is perfectly placed. This is the type of song to put on repeat in the car and go out for a ride and chill. So why the love/hate relationship? It’s the sample’s fault! The hook has a sample that starts out saying, “I know I’m a fool. What can I say?” It goes on to say more, but here’s my dilemma. I like to sing-a-long with good songs. I especially love to recite God’s truth in the form of a song. But I can’t go around singing, “I know I’m a fool” cause I’m not a fool. But I want to sing the song so bad!!! Ugh!!! Why’d you do this to me Jay? Why?! What did I ever do to you? He almost made up for it with the “We Worship You” part, but almost just isn’t good enough. Alas, I’m torn. The price I paid was too high.

Either way, “All for the Love” would be a smooth addition to anybody’s music library. Don’t miss out. I enjoyed this project and can’t wait to hear more from Jay Cabassa. But, everybody’s a critic. I’m just the one who wrote the review. Peace and much love…

Music: 8 of 10
Flow / Delivery: 8 of 10
Lyricism: 7.5 of 10
Content: 8.5 of 10
Creativity / Originality / Relevancy: 8 of 10
Credibility / Confidence: 8 of 10
Personality / Character: 6 of 10
Presentation Quality: 7.5 of 10
Overall Production Quality: 8 of 10
Potential Impact: 7.5 of 10