''Spirit of Love'' is an album by the Nigerian musician

Majek Fashek Majekodunmi Fasheke, popularly known as Majek Fashek (March 1963 – 1 June 2020) was a Nigerian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His 1988 album ''Prisoner of Conscience'' included the single "Send Down the Rain", which won six PMAN Music Awards ...

. It was released in 1991. Fashek was credited with the Prisoners of Conscience. "Send Down the Rain" had been a major hit in Nigeria. Fashek supported the album by touring with

Tracy Chapman Tracy Chapman (born March 30, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. Chapman is best known for her hit singles "Fast Car" and "Give Me One Reason". Chapman was signed to Elektra Records by Bob Krasnow in 1987. The following year she released ...

Production

The album was produced by

Little Steven Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin ...

, who also played guitar; Little Steven became interested after seeing Fashek perform at the

Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater is a music hall at 253 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue) and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (Eighth Avenue) in the Harlem neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is a not ...

. It was recorded in Los Angeles and New York, with the Prisoners of Conscience numbering 12 members. ''Spirit of Love'' mixed reggae styles with

jùjú music Jùjú is a style of Yoruba popular music, derived from traditional Yoruba percussion. The name juju from the Yoruba word "juju" or "jiju" meaning "throwing" or "something being thrown". Juju music did not derive its name from juju, which is a ...

, employing

talking drums The talking drum is an Hourglass drum, hourglass-shaped drum from West Africa, whose pitch can be regulated to mimic the tone (linguistics), tone and Prosody (linguistics), prosody of human speech. It has two drumheads connected by leather t ...

on many tracks. "Majek Fashek in a New York" incorporated elements of

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

Critical reception

The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' called the album "reggae with a more lively and sophisticated rhythmic sensibility." The ''

Milwaukee Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently ...

'' noted that Fashek "often resembles the young Bob Marley sometimes too closely," but praised his "charisma and spiritual fervor, supported by his band's African/reggae sound"; it listed the album as one of the 10 best of 1991. The ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

'' also listed it as one of the best albums of 1991. ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' deemed the album "a joyous compilation of talking drums, maracas, horns and guitars." The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' concluded that Fahek "writes with character, depth and fire, but fails to stake out his own territory." ''

The Virginian-Pilot ''The Virginian-Pilot'' is the daily newspaper for Norfolk, Virginia. Commonly known as ''The Pilot'', it is Virginia's largest daily. It serves the five cities of South Hampton Roads as well as several smaller towns across southeast Virginia ...

'' stated that he "mixes tunes about suffering and politics with ones about longing and love, all the while blending reggae with rock, soul and the rhythms of Africa."

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 databas ...

wrote: "Seamlessly blending elements of juju with reggae, Fashek turns from imitator to innovator in a disc with so much clear-eyed enthusiasm and vision you'd think reggae was his personal invention."

Track listing

References

{{reflist 1991 albums Interscope Records albums Albums produced by Steven Van Zandt Albums by Nigerian artists