''Songs from the Crystal Cave'' is the debut album from actor, musician, and martial artist

Steven Seagal Steven Frederic Seagal (; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-l ...

, released in 2005 on Nonsolo Blues and

Warner Strategic Marketing Warner Strategic Marketing is a record label that is part of the Warner Music Group. It specializes in compilation albums, much like sister division Rhino Entertainment Company. Unlike Rhino, it does not reissue classic albums in the WMG catalog ...

. Seagal is credited with "Lead Vocals, Rhythm and Lead Guitar" and appears on the cover and throughout the liner notes emotively playing and posing with a guitar. The style can be described as "outsider

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

-meets- world music-meets-

Aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a modern Japanese martial art that is split into many different styles, including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practiced in aroun ...

." Many of the songs reflect Seagal's

esoteric Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas ...

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

and spiritualist stance while also incorporating standard song tropes about relationships and other themes. The album features a mix of musical genres, including

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

, and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

. Musicians collaborating on this album include Stevie Wonder and

Lady Saw Marion Hall (born 12 July 1969; formerly known by the stage name Lady Saw) is a Jamaican singer and songwriter whose career has spanned over two decades. Formerly known as the Queen of Dancehall, she is the first female deejay to be certified ...

. Seagal has sometimes provided soundtrack music for some of his movies. The track "Don't You Cry", among others was featured in the film '' Into the Sun''.

Reviews and responses

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

published a mixed review, highlighting the album's mixture of styles and emotional tones from song to song for criticism as being slipshod and haphazard. However, the review also credited the album for being "endearing in its own way" and presenting the listener with a "good-vibes experience".

Track listing

# "Girl It's Alright" - 3:52 (Steven Seagal, Greg Barnhill) # "Don't You Cry" - 4:59 (Seagal, Barnhill) # "Music" - 4:15 (Seagal, Patrick George Barrett) # "Better Man" - 4:29 (Seagal, Barnhill) # "Route 23" - 4:32 (Seagal) # "My God" - 3:59 (Seagal) # "Lollipop" - 4:36 (Cover of "

My Boy Lollipop "My Boy Lollipop" (originally "My Girl Lollypop") is a song written in the mid-1950s by Robert Spencer of the doo-wop group The Cadillacs, and usually credited to Spencer, Morris Levy, and Johnny Roberts. It was first recorded in 1956 by American ...

." Writing credited to Seagal & Shaun Fisher) # "Not for Sale" - 4:58 (Seagal, Fisher) # "Dance" - 3:34 (Seagal, Fisher) # "Jealousy" - 4:22 (Seagal, Marion Hall) # "War" - 3:47 (Seagal, Cleve Laing) # "Strut" - 3:06 (Seagal, Hall, Saw) # "Goree" - 6:00 (Seagal) # "The Light" - 4:55 (Seagal)

Personnel

* Steven Seagal: Vocals,

Rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular re ...

Lead Guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featu ...

, Drums,

Percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

, Clay Pot * Greg Barnhill: Acoustic Guitars * Al Anderson: Rhythm Guitar * Tommy K.: Acoustic, Rhythm & Wah-Wah Guitars *

Russ DeSalvo Russ DeSalvo is an American producer, arranger, songwriter, and guitarist. DeSalvo works with Celine Dion, Lionel Richie (DeSalvo played guitar and synthesizer on the ''Definitive Collection'' CD), Laura Pausini, and Kyle Archer (guitar o ...

: Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Synthesizers * Stevie Wonder: Harmonica * Marty Grebb:

Keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, Organ * Veit Renn: Keyboards * Patrick Carroll: Bass, Drum & Percussion Programming * Habib Faye: Bass, Keyboards, Drum & Percussion Programming * Shaun Fisher: Keyboards, Bass, Drums, Percussion * Rhonda Smith: Bass * Frank Valardi: Drums * Babakar:

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n Drums * T.H. Subash Chandran: Ethnic Percussion, Bowls,

Tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

, Jew's Harp * Remi Kabaka:

Talking Drum The talking drum is an hourglass-shaped drum from West Africa, whose pitch can be regulated to mimic the tone and prosody of human speech. It has two drumheads connected by leather tension cords, which allow the player to change the pitc ...

* Mani Subramaniam:

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

, "Lieutenant Stitchie": DJ * Tony Rebel:

Rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

* Rose Banks, Sharon Bryant, Dana Calitri, Ripley Fairchild, Lisa Frazier, Curtis King, Michael Okri, Janice Brocking-Renn: Vocal Backing

References

{{Authority control 2005 debut albums Steven Seagal albums Albums recorded at Metalworks Studios