Review Summary: Midnight Landing is the reggae album that will take you away to that beach you've always dreamed of visiting, without you ever leaving your room.
There are some albums that just make you want to sit down and chill all day doing nothing. When you listen to these albums you can just picture yourself laying back, enjoying the tropical beach your mind has forced you to travel to. When you listen to the rolling horns, quiet little drums beats, and carefully placed piano pieces of 10 Ft. Ganja Plant's Midnight Landing, there is nothing you will want more than to lay back, watch the waves of the ocean, and fall asleep knowing that everything is alright.
10 Ft. Ganja Plant is known for their mystery and, obviously, their clever band name. They rarely play live shows, and when they do, they are usually spur of the moment sort of deals. The band has very few pictures available, and the band members' names are unknown. This may seem really strange, but it just proves that you don't have to know everything, or in this case anything, about a band to enjoy their tunes. Of course, with a name like 10 Ft. Ganja Plant, you can guess that many of the songs are drug-inspired. Luckily, the entire album is not dragged down with the same constant drug references you would find in say, a Cypress Hill album. Only one or two tracks actually talk about anything drug-related. This really helps to clear the songs and give each song an individual feel.
One thing about Midnight Landing is that the album is not breathtaking. This album will not blow your mind with its excellence, only calm it. This album is not going to change the world with its sheer awesomeness, but it doesn't have to. It does perfectly what it intends to do, and that's make the listener feel relaxed. Vocals are a rare thing on Midnight Landing. But when they do come, they provide a breath of fresh air. The vocals on Let the Music Hit reiterate the song's happiness, with the upbeat rhythm and bopping horns. However, the very next track contains lyrics which add to the slow tempo and make the song a little darker. Clearly, the vocals are only used to accentuate the feeling already achieved by the instruments.
The only cases when the music really strays away from the usual horns and drums are in the tracks Chanting Nyabinghi, in which a violin makes it presence, and the shorter song Wide Open where the guitar is the standout instrument of the song. Although these songs provide some new layers, the music leading these instruments is the same bumbling reggae we hear on the rest of the album. This may drive away some listeners, as the album is nothing but some interesting reggae gems. However, each song really contains its own feeling and mood, and no two tracks sound anything alike if you really listen to the music. 10 Ft. Ganja Plant really does a great job communicating their feelings with very little use of words. Each song will take you away to that beach in Hawaii you have always dreamed of visiting. The laid-back moods and catchy beats are the perfect ingredients in creating an excellent reggae album. In the end there is only one word that can fully describe this entire album: euphoria.
This Message Edited On 06.29.07
