Mikey Dread - Profile (1991)

Producer, singer and DJ Mikey Dread is one of the major figures on the British reggae scene and has worked with artists as diverse as the Clash (with whom he cast the mold for punky reggae in the late 1970s) and Adrian Sherwood's On-U Sound crew. His production style is distinctively echoey and bass-heavy, and his singing voice is, shall we say, just plain distinctive. His high-pitched, reedy singing is, frankly, something of an acquired taste, but he writes nice songs and always elicits top-flight performances from his studio bands. Profile consists primarily of lovers-rock tunes backed by the formidable Roots Radics Band, and though the lyrics are mostly banal it's impossible to resist the power of the rhythms served up by the Radics. From the charmingly titled "Fatten Frogs for Snakes" to the repetitive but attractive "I Need Your Loving" and "Cater for Your Loving," Dread whines and wheedles his case with charming self-deprecation and good humor. Recommended.~Profile Review by Rick Anderson