The first thing that the (beautiful, multi-page, color, with cool pix and all the lyrics) liner notes of "Diversity" tells us is that this is the 5th album by Basix, "the first Basix album containing solely original songs straight from the minds and hearts of all the members of the group. Enjoy!" Easy for us, since these 6 talented Danish men first formed Basix in 1995 we have been watching this group get more amazing with every excellent CD, until we hold "Diversity" in our hot little hands, a tour-de-force 2 CD set that is world-class on every level. There's a total of 19 original tunes here, all sung in English, each one a gem. The fresh, clean sound, the confident, light background vocals and vocal percussion, the surprising, poetic lyrics, the sweet leads-what's not to enjoy? OK, I guess we'll have to pick some favorites at this point. "Super Natural Conversation" on disk 2, a wonderful reggae tune with an early Beatles flavor, "Tease" on disk 1 is a sexy, rhythmic romp, the title tune on disc 1 is a juicy foot-tapping suggestion against racism, and "So Much Better" is a marvelously arranged hit with the eye-opening opening line "I'm sorry, but I think you suck." "Change" on disk 1 simply needs to be listened to, as do "Let's Move On" and "Think Twice." On disk 2 "A Thousand Years," "It Won't Matter To Me," "High On Life (In The Slow Lane)," "Honesty" and "Without You" are all stone winners. There are certain groups (The Real Group, for instance) that push the a cappella envelope with every recording, every performance, and Basix is such a group. Don't miss this one! |
