Tubby Love – Love Is Alive
Track Listing:
1.) The Awakening (feat. Spiritual Rez)
2.) Signs (feat. Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Emily Elbert and Eric Robertson)
3.) Get Up and Move Your Body (feat. Dub Apocalypse)
4.) Love Yourself (feat. Rachel Orke & Matt O’Brian of Thunderbody)
5.) The Universe (feat. Passafire)
6.) The World Begins Again (feat. Dopapod)
7.) Love is Alive
The Pier Album Rating:
Release Date: July 4th, 2013
Website: Tubby Love’s Website
Group Background:
East coast product and Boston boy, Tubby Love, is back with his newest release, a seven song album entitled Love Is Alive. Always adapting a universal message of faith and love, Tubby Love has gone on to write, produce and play on his albums and his talent is becoming wildly recognized. He has shared the stage with John Brown’s Body, Giant Guerilla Panda Dub Squad, Passafire, The Aggrolites and many more. Tubby Love holds true to being an independent artist as he has recorded in studios allover the northeast and his unique approach to new sounds really comes through on his newest project.
Album Review:
Love Is Alive is short and sweet. It’s exciting, but not over-produced. The creativity and simplicity of Tubby Love is prominent on the album with his vocals, guitar, and production skills.
With only seven songs and a packed set of features including Spiritual Rez, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Emily Elbert, Eric Robertson, Dub Apocalypse, Passafire, Dopapod, and Rachel Orke & Matt O’Brian (from Thunderbody), this album represents a modern reggae anthem.
“Awakening” feat. Spiritual Rez, welcomes the listener into a rock influenced reggae jam infused with features from singer/guitarist Toft Willingham, bassist Jesse Shatternick, drummer Ian Meat Miller, and Mohamad Araki on keys. This track peaks a ton of energy from Tubby through his reggae/rap stylized lyrics.
“Signs” features the likes of Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Emily Elbert and Eric Robertson. With such a lineup this song falls a little short, with a simplicity that doesn’t speak too much emotion. On the third track Tubs comes back with “Get Up and Move Your Body” feat. Dub Apocalypse, which contains a little funky twist that brings you back to life.
One of the best tracks & one of the best features on the whole album is track 5 with “Universe” featuring Passafire. The song kicks in and gives the listener a full bodied record, representing the spiritual driven lyrics of Tubby Love along with complimentary guitar melodies, courtesy of Ted Browne (Passafire).
As Love is Alive comes to an end, Tubby decides to give his fans a deep acoustic song (with bird calls as the background) on the song “Love is Alive.” Here he displays his full vocal range, acoustic skills, and caps off this seven song release with something to remember.
With a great start, a fantastic finish, and a few gems in between, Love Is Alive delivered an anthem, that turned me into a big Tubby Love fan. Where he lacked on this album (“Signs”) Tubby made up for in the songs to follow. He delivered a solid album throughout, and gave me more than few new songs to thrown on rotation.
Written & Reviewed By: Andrew McClatchy
[Editor’s Note: All reviews are reflective of the album in it’s entirety, from start to finish. These reviews are the honest opinion of each writer/reviewer, expressing their feedback as a genuine fan of the music. Each star rating reflects their review of the album, not the band. Music is subjective. Regardless of the review or star rating, we encourage you to listen to the music yourself & form your own opinion. Spread the awareness of all music in its art & contribution]
