| | T O K Unknown Language CD - Import T O K Discography of CDs
This version of T.O.K.'s UNKNOWN LANGUAGE includes the extra cut "This Is How We Roll."
T.O.K. enjoyed a lot of breakout success in 2001 with their My Crew, My Dawgs album, which was exceptionally popular in the U.S. for a dancehall album, perhaps because it was so poppy. This was prior to Sean Paul's truly massive breakout in 2003, remember, so T.O.K.'s success is all the more remarkable in retrospect. By the time the group returned in 2005 with Unknown Language, however, the dancehall craze ignited by Sean Paul's "Get Busy" and its Diwali riddim had subsided quite a bit, supplanted by the reggaeton craze led by Daddy Yankee and his breakout "Gasolina" single. Not that T.O.K. cared either way, though (even if fans might have, given the long four-year wait). Trend or no trend, wait or no wait, their second album picks up right where their first one left off, with another large serving of catchy dancehall-pop well engineered for both dancing and singing along to. Highlights are plentiful here on Unknown Language, much as they had been on My Crew, My Dawgs. The album-opener, "Hey Ladies," gets the party started right from the get-go. And T.O.K. don't relent from there on, with numerous other standout songs sequenced early, most notably "Fire Fire" (a real barnburner with an appropriate title), "She's Hotter" (a Pitbull feature that seems to address the concurrent reggaeton craze), "Tell Me If You Still Care" (a fun, lively cover of an old S.O.S. Band favorite from 1983), and "Footprints" (a touching anti-violence plea with a sugary-sweet beat). The album fans out a bit from there, though there are still some gems sequenced late, like "Gal You Ah Lead" in particular. With 16 songs in total, there's a lot of music on Unknown Language. Not all of it is first-rate, and it does begin to sound a bit rote toward the end, but that tends to be the case with most any dancehall or reggaeton album. And when you do hold up Unknown Language against any of those other dancehall albums out there in 2005 -- or any reggaeton albums, for that matter -- it shines, especially the phenomenal first half. So even if four years for a sophomore album is a long time to wait (and yes, it was), Unknown Language was undoubtedly worth that wait. ~ Jason Birchmeier
Japanese pressing features 18 tracks including 2 bonus tracks. Victor. 2005.
CD contains 2 bonus tracks. Unknown Language Review
GuidelinesRemember to focus your comments on T O K Unknown Language CD - Import. Check our review guidelines for specific details regarding customer review policy. To submit your review, please fill out the above form and click "Submit Review." A staff member will then verify your review meets our guidelines. Upon approval, your review will be published within a few days. Please do not use this form to comment on web site errors or for order related questions. If you have concerns of this nature, please contact customer service by filling out this form.
Purchase Unknown Language CD To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Bob Marley Live!: Live At The Lyceum CD (1975) Bonus Tracks; Remastered
Unknown Language
 $11.05   
Additional personnel includes: Rita Marley, Judy Mowatt, Marcia Griffiths (background vocals).
Nobody who likes music could fail to be emotionally moved by this album, and not just because Marley is no longer with us. It was a special live treat before he died. The great thing about this record is the feeling that this is what it was like every night, unlike other live recordings which capture one or two gigs of a tour. Marley was extra special and a giant of popular music. Wallow in this vital record and listen to a man who had something to say and yet had fun while he said it. Most of the tracks you would want to be on the record are here, including the definitive version of 'No Woman No Cry' and a funky 'Lively Up Yourself'.
As the title implies, this is indeed Bob Marley & the Wailers captured in performance at the Lyceum Ballroom in London during the final U.K. leg of the Natty Dread tour. Passionate and symbiotic energies constantly cycle between the band and audience, the net result of which is one of the most memorable concert recordings of the pop music era. With the addition of lead guitarist Al Anderson during the recording sessions for their previous long-player, Natty Dread, the Wailers took increasing strides toward a seamless transition into the consciousness of the rock music audience. Anderson's bluesy guitar ...
| | Ub40 Labour Of Love I/II/III: Platinum Collection CDs (2003) Remastered
Unknown Language
$16.49
For those UB40 fans who have to have everything, this triple-disc box replaces the Labour of Love albums individually -- or at least it is meant to. Virtually every single is here, and there's a load of B-sides, ...
| | Rebelution Bright Side Of Life CD (2009) Digipak
Unknown Language
$11.39
| | Toots & The Maytals Funky Kingston/In The Dark CD (2003) Remastered
Unknown Language
$10.85 
This release collects two of Toots & the Maytals' finest releases of the mid-'70s: Funky Kingston, generally ...
| | English Beat Special Beat Service CD (1982)
Unknown Language
$8.39 
SPECIAL BEAT SERVICE was the English Beat's third and final album. Unlike the high-spirited ska-pop of the band's debut, or its reggae- and dub-flavored second album, SPECIAL BEAT SERVICE is a catch-all effort, featuring a wide variety of styles that range from the samba-flavored pop of "I Confess" to the raw toasting of "Spar Wid Me."
SPECIAL BEAT SERVICE features many of the English Beat's finest performances. The album's centerpiece is the infectious "Save It for Later," a simple three-chord pop song that floats on a bed of chiming rhythm guitars, churning cellos, and a buoyant sax solo from the band's 60 year-old sax player, Saxa. Other highlights include the pulsating ska-pop of "Sole Salvation" (which recalls the sound that band members David Steele and Andy Cox would explore in their next band, the Fine Young Cannibals) and "End of the Party," a gorgeous ballad that gives the group a chance to show off its ability to craft delicate, emotionally charged pop. ...
| | Damian Marley Halfway Tree CD (2001)
Unknown Language
$11.99 
Davey Pluck (organ); Christopher Meredith, Robbie Shakespeare (bass);
Harry "T" (percussion); Sly Dunbar (programming); DJ Khaled (vinyl sratches).
HALFWAY TREE won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.
In Kingston, Jamaica, the neighborhood of Halfway Tree is seen as a meeting place, a junction between the rich and poor parts of town. Damian Marley, the youngest son of reggae icon Bob Marley, wants his music to do the same thing, to be a bridge between the rich and the poor, the new and the old. For the most part, he succeeds as his North American debut offers enough social consciousness to keep his father's fans happy while still dabbling in newer forms of dancehall and hip-hop. North Americans may be familiar with Marley's work from his cameo appearance on Eve's album Scorpion. On Halfway Tree, Eve returns the favor as she appears on "Where Is the Love?," one of the funkiest tracks on the album. Another highlight is "Stand a Chance," which features some funky harmonica as well as the rhymes of Treach of Naughty By Nature as well as the sweet vocals of dancehall legend Yami Bolo. Tracks like "More Justice" and "Give Dem ...
| | Ford Blues Band Fords & Friends CD (1996)
Unknown Language
$13.85
| | Burning Up CD (1995)
Unknown Language
$9.95
Spanning a period from the late '60s to the early '80s, this Trojan compilation makes for a fine introduction to reggae's golden years. It's also filled with enough obscure material to appeal to even the most involved fan. The emphasis in the mix is not so much on dense, Rasta-themed cuts as it's on buoyant, dancehall-flavored material. Bubbly standouts include Delroy Wilson's "We're Gonna Work It Out" and Janet Kay's very agreeable cover of the Minnie Ripperton hit "Lovin' You." More secular nuggets come from a star-studded cast comprised of Don Carlos, Gregory Isaacs, Barrington Levy, Alton Ellis, the Heptones, and ...
| | Warsaw CD (1994) (Import) Holland; Netherlands
Unknown Language
$12.45
Upon adding drummer Steve Brotherdale and singer Ian Curtis, the members of post-punk frontrunners Joy Division originally annointed the quartet Warsaw, supposedly after David Bowie's song "Warszawa." WARSAW displays the startling urgency of Joy Division's sound with tracks like "Transmission," and is a definite must for Joy Division fans.
What was planned to be Joy Division's first LP (unreleased until 1994, except ...
| | Horace Heidt Anything Goes CD (2001)
Unknown Language
$8.85
| | Greensleeves Rhythm Album Vol. 14: Drop-Top/Di Nipples. CD (2001) (Import) United Kingdom
Unknown Language
$15.89
| | Eddy Grant Greatest Hits CD (1997)
Unknown Language
$9.29
London's Greatest Hits opens up with a 2001 remix of "Electric Avenue," which signals that it is targeted at a younger, newer audience. The rest of the record simply serves up a first-rate, albeit non-chronological, overview of Grant's peak years of the late '70s and early '80s, containing many of his British and American hits. Perhaps it would have been better if it had been more logically assembled, but this has the hits and is quite entertaining, thereby serving the needs of most listeners. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Prior to his 1983 breakthrough with "Electric Avenue," Eddy Grant's only brush with success in the U.S. had been in the late '60s as a member of the Equals. Therefore, little of the material on this 1996 compilation will be known to listeners only familiar with the irresistible "Electric Avenue" or the breezy "Romancing the Stone" (both are included). However, most of the songs were hits in the U.K. and Greatest Hits is an interesting ...
| | Bobby Darin Essential CDs (2003) Import
Unknown Language
$11.65
Anyone looking for a truly essential Bobby Darin single-disc set will have a tough go of it, as there isn't one on the market that covers both his stays at Atlantic and his brief tenure with Capitol. This disc collects Darin's work ...
| | Dodsferd F**King Your Creation CD (2007) Bonus Track
Unknown Language
$13.19
|
|
|
Email a Friend
