What I like about Africa Speaks is how raw it is. It's a stripped down lineup. Although some engineering and sound polishing was done to the vocal parts, Carlos' guitar is raw. The guitar parts on this record are like a live concert. Play it once and you can't go back and fix it in the mix after seven re-takes. Carlos said they recorded this in a short amount of time and it sounds like it. I go "WTF?" every time I hear the last 17 seconds of Batonga. The dueling guitar solos on Blue Skies is a mess - it should have been just Carlos, in my opinion. But I like the fact that they left it the way *they* liked it and didn't make it more consumer friendly. I can't recommend Africa Speaks to my Top 40 hits loving friends but it's good, adult music for me.
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