Todd Does It Again (Full On Vol.3 - Todd Edwards)

Member Name: danball

Product:	Full On Vol.3 - Todd Edwards
Date:	19/02/09 (79 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Songs

Disadvantages: The Track'Counting'

Todd Edwards continues the Full On series with this, Full On Volume Three. It is a mixed cd (tracks blended together) was released in limited quantities in September 2007 on i! recordings. At the time of writing this review, there has been no further updates to the series and so far, there has been no rumours of Volume 4 being produced.

Tracklist:

1 Odyssey (Dub Version # 2)
2 Rescue Me (Main Mix)
3 Next To You (Edwards Recut Remix)
4 On Your Own (Main Mix)
5 The Prayer (Instrumental Mix)
6 Run It By Me
7 Love Machine (Main Mix)
8 No Scrubs (06 Dub Mix)
9 15 Minutes
10 Never Far From You (Compound Remix)
11 When Angels Sing (Main Mix)
12 Winter Behavior (04 Dub Version)
13 Crazy In Dub (Main Mix)
14 Mystery (Stripped Up Dub)
15 Stop The Fighting
16 Counting (Main Mix)

As always, Todd lays down his usual chunky 4/4 beat patterns with some really insane vocal samples employed to make the melodies of his songs.

Long term collaborator Damon Trueitt provides the vocals on two of the albums standout tracks ' Run It By Me' and '15 Minutes'. 'Run It By Me' was also released as a double vinyl single with remixes by Pierre RS and Joey Youngman. In fact, Odyssey, No Scrubs, Crazy In Dub, Never Far From You, Winter Behaviour, Mystery, The Prayer and Stop The Fighting have all been released on vinyl.

Todd himself sings on a few of these tracks (On Your Own and Stop The Fighting) with some success, especially considering he is not known for his singing voice.

There are three tracks here that rely heavily on sampling songs that are already famous; 'No Scrubs' uses the vocals from TLC's hit song of the same name. 'Crazy In Dub' is a dubbed version of Todd's unofficial remix of Beyonce and Jay-Z's hit 'Crazy In Love' which was released on a cheeky white label. 'Love Machine' uses some vocals which have obviously been taken from The Miracles' 'Love Machine'. All three of these tracks are very good but are by no means the best on the album.

For me, the best tracks would be 'Odyssey', 'Next To You', 'Run It By Me', '15 Minutes', 'Never Far From You' and 'Stop The Fighting'....

'Odyssey' is a nice bumpy garage track which has quite an upbeat feel to it. The key arrangement on this track is great, it gives me goosebumps everytime I hear it.

'Next To You' also has some great keyboard work. This is complimented with an intimidating bassline and some good vocals courtesy of Arianna Umit. This track has a religious nature which is communicated quite subtly. You are never sure if the lyrics are talking about a friend or God. Knowing Todd's background, I am certain it refers to being close to God.

'Run It By Me' has an excellent bassline and Damon Trueitt's vocals on this track are sublime. The subject matter is basically one of dependability in a world of unreliability.

'15 Minutes' is a dig at those people who yearn for fifteen minutes of fame and will do anything to get it. The beat and bassline are great on this track but the melody is what makes this an excellent song.

'Never Far From You' is a song that was originally released by Todd Edwards in 1998. This updated version is not quite as great as the original but is still a good track all the same. It takes it in a slightly different direction with some deeper bass and choppier beats.

'Stop The Fighting' is, to put it simply, a song that emplores us to do just that. Todd sings this one himself and it has a really catchy tune. There are some excellent musical elements to this and would have been a fitting final song on the album if it wasn't for the inclusion of the far from great 'Counting'.

Summary: Yet another excellent Todd Edwards release.