As far as accoustics are concerned, Piwawa is one of the best sounding generique Koffi has produced for the entire album. Felly Tyson's lead guitar really begins thirty seconds into the song with simple and sweet licks and slowly transition into an orgasmic rock solo to wrap the track. The melodic canvas is courtesy of a hypnotic bassline from Binda Bass and rhythm section by Fofo Collegien that keeps the groove going. The icing on cake is Titina's thunderingly sophisticated drum passage throughout which makes the audio fit for speakers and on a large stadium. Furthermore, the lyrics that preceed the sebene promotes having a good work ethic and genuine love among our people to make Congo (and to be honest any society) a better place to live in. If only the rest of the album had a diversity of thought given to the texts other than love and excessive donor dedication, perhaps I would rank this album a bit higher on the list of my favorite Quartier Latin group albums.
My second favorite sebene is Code Pin; I love the interplay between Fofo Collegien's rhythm guitar and the percussion section in response to Bebe Kerozene's cries at the 3:15 to 4:05 and then Brigade gives it try 5:08 to 5:32! This one is straight banger; a must have for parties.
Titina's thundering Danao ranks as my third favorite and it's tied with Juif Noir, depending on what day you ask me it'll switch between the two for third place. Both feature the classic chorus structure we've come to love the group for, as they break in between with each singer getting to flaunt their unique voice. As of writing this review, I'll go with Juif Noir for third place because Rama's solo partition to Bebe Kero's "musala yo, yo, yo" goes a long way in keeping the dance floor busy @ 6:40! The animation was so catchy, he used it for Wanted by Pipiyus.
My only gripe about Danao is that niether Paparazzi Toto nor Michaux Chamberton really meshed well in the band. Granted they are respectable singers in their own right, but the team of Effrakata was more cohesive. I would have even prefered Jordan Kusa's participation over Chamberton and Paparazzi, because he had more charisma as a singer and live performer than those two regardless of people's doubts in his vocal ability. You'll feel his absence especially in the clips, because he was close behind Fally and Bouro when it came to dancing skills.
As for the remaining sebenes, they were good. However, I believe Felly Tyson is at his best as a soloist when he adopts an aggressive style. Take for example Je T'en Prie, his partition is played with much determination during their concert of Brixton in 2002 to much better effect. Just observe the part when Fally dances and the drum passage prior to Bouro's dance solo.
The album version is played slower and the drums are played with less dynamic compared to the concert footage. Also the guitar tones used for this album feature less variation used on Effrakata and even Force de Frappe, which can effect the amount of times this album will be relistened to since the sebenes will begin to sound the same unlike prior albums that benefit from the soloist adjusting their sound to give each lead partition a distinct flavor while revisiting the themes of the main generique.
Lastly before I touch on the rhumbas, I had more expectations for the animations to be as engaging as the last group album Force de Frappe. In my opinion, Brigade and Bebe Kerozene were handicapped by the general avoidance of interplotating popular cries at the time of the album's recording. Perhaps Koffi could have encouraged the duo to spent more time around shegues to achieve inspiration for a new dance like Wemba did for Somo Trop with "Kila Mogrosso" if they wanted to avoid copying Masion Mere's ko-yimbiko. In Tous Pepele, Brigade had a frenetic rap that I enjoyed quite a lot but aside from the instrument break at "ya Fofo" and the "quadra kora" cry, there's no quotables like previous albums.
Stay tuned for the second half...
