This is a smooth neo-soul/R&B CD that has a great groove throughout; the work of someone who knows his '70s soul music. Shand wrote all 11 songs, performed all the instruments, and recorded this CD in his Winnipeg bedroom at the age of 23. Shand has a soulful falsetto that overdubs itself nicely. The CD was well-received, particularly in Canada. It reportedly sold a respectable 500K copies in the US and was nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Album. I don't know what's been going since then, but something has kept Shand from releasing a follow-up album. That's a shame, because I'd like to hear some more from him and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that way.
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| Billboard, March 23, 2002, p. 24 |
Album chart peaks:
- US Billboard Top 200: #39
- Billboard R&B: #15
Tracks: It's all good. I especially like the title track and The Second One. Probably the weakest cut is Liberate, but every song is enjoyable. Take a Message was nominated for Grammys for both Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song, while Rocksteady was nominated for a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I can't remember how I discovered this artist and CD. However, I listened to this CD practically non-stop after I purchased it. I was working in a small, rural school at the time and would play this whenever students weren't around. Most of them were listening to Korn and Hoobastank at the time, so they wouldn't have appreciated soul music.
Is it greedy of us to expect more? Maybe some artists just have one album in them?
ReplyDeleteNot being an artist, I have no idea how they are but I'd like to think if I was as talented as Mr. Shand proved to be on his debut, I would have no problem creating more.
Have read that he has since gotten divorced and lost his mother to the Big C. I haven;t experienced either of those events either but I am sure they are devastating, life changing in the worst possible way.
Found this though:
"Springtime"
My "accidental racist" story:
Had a friend pack her minivan up for a family vacation the night before they left. For whatever reason, they then parked the fully-loaded van in street in front of house instead of in driveway. Woke up next morning happy to go on vacay only to find van empty. Took a week to regroup and during that time she reached out to me to help "replenish" their CD collection - they had kept a binder of a couple hundred discs in van.
She gave me a list of CDs and there were no surprises. They are an African-American couple and we have similar tastes. Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Sade, Stevie Wonder, Isley Brothers, Rick James, EWF, James Brown, Miles Davis, Sly Stone, Lil Wayne, D'Angelo, Prince, etc. I got near end of list and texted her: "Remy Shand really stands out here."
To which she replied "I know, he's really good. Hope he comes out with new stuff soon."
Me: "I meant he stands out for another reason."
Her: "What? Canadian?"
Me: "No. He's white and every other artist on your list is not."
Her: "Remy ain't white. Are we talking about same dude?"
Me:
Her: "Holy crap! What's he doing on Motown?"
Turns out they bought disc without artwork and didn't have a clue.
The blank space after ME: there is supposed to say
ReplyDeletesent pic of album cover
I put it in <> which apparently makes things invisible.