Love Is My Religion [Collector's Edition Orange Vinyl] in Bloomington, MN

More than two decades into his successful career -- yes, he has now been recording for more years than his dad
Bob
did --
Ziggy Marley
should not have to fend off comparisons to his iconic father. But like his also-performing younger brothers
Damian
,
Julian
, and
Stephen
, one supposes he always will, and one has to wonder just what
Bob Marley
would have made of an album as disappointing and insignificant as
Love Is My Religion
's second album outside of his group
the Melody Makers
. With
-- comprised largely of other
Marley
offspring --
Ziggy
proved that he possessed a voice of his own (even if its physical qualities were eerily similar to those of
's). On albums such as 1988's
Conscious Party
broke far enough away from the familiar
style to demonstrate that
was developing into a formidable songwriter and vocalist, without losing sight of his legacy. Fast-forward nearly two decades, and
has not grown much -- if anything, he has seemingly run out of forward-looking ideas. With his familial genre-defining roots -- and more contemporary
reggae
variations -- still underpinning his songs,
is never afraid to step out of bounds. But as he did on his first solo album, 2003's
Dragonfly
again takes the safest routes, watering down the arrangements and the playing until the tracks veer close to
lounge
-
territory. More appalling is that
's lyrics have become sophomoric at best, cliche-ridden faux anthems that one might have expected from him as a teenager but certainly not as a seasoned adult artist. With
Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley
, in particular, having reached the top of the charts with his monumental, cutting-edge
Welcome to Jamrock
album in 2005, it would seem that
, once the great hope for the next generation of Marleys, has been surpassed ~ Jeff Tamarkin