After he'd been a fixture of the British new wave/punk/underground/alternative scene since the late '70s, 1994's Take Me to God marked Jah Wobble's first major commercial success as a solo artist, reaching number 13 in the U.K. The use of numerous guest musicians (including Can drummer Jaki Leibezeit) gives this a feel of a rotating collective, ...

After he'd been a fixture of the British new wave/punk/underground/alternative scene since the late '70s, 1994's Take Me to God marked Jah Wobble's first major commercial success as a solo artist, reaching number 13 in the U.K. The use of numerous guest musicians (including Can drummer Jaki Leibezeit) gives this a feel of a rotating collective, with Wobble (who plays several instruments here in addition to the one he's most known for, bass) the constant. Quite a few singers contribute, giving this more of a song-oriented feel than some of his other work, some of the more celebrated including Gavin Friday, Dolores O'Riordan of the Cranberries, Senegalese vocalist Baaba Maal, and top world music artist Najma Akhtar. The 66-minute length of these sprawling excursions almost inevitably means the program will drag at times, according to your musical inclinations. Lyrically, too, it's so varied as to make it difficult to connect with a pronounced attitude or viewpoint, the concerns ranging from the almost indecipherably frivolous ("Yoga of the Nightclub") to the numerous references to God that pepper the song titles. But it's an interesting assortment of tracks combining currents flowing through mid-'90s alternative rock, world music, reggae, club beats, dub, and African pop, adding up to an extremely heterogeneous whole. [The 2011 reissue on Cherry Red expands it into a two-CD affair, the second disc leading off with eight non-album tracks that appeared on singles of songs taken from the record (including three variations of a tune that did make it onto Take Me to God in another form, "Amor"). These generally have a more dance-oriented feel, sometimes making the dub and rhythmic elements more prominent than they are on Take Me to God itself. The eight bonus tracks on the second half of the extra disc have the feel of being tacked on to fill out the CD to maximum 79-minute length, as these were taken not from the Take Me to God era, but from previously available Wobble albums issued in 1997, 2006, and 2008, respectively. The expanded reissue's hardly a poor value, however, on account of the other bonus tracks and the accompanying 20-page booklet, which features extensive liner notes by Wobble himself, including detailed comments on individual tracks.] ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi