Much More Than Much Love

1	Something to Say 3:35
2	Beautiful Nature 3:26
3	Dice 4:15
4	Waiting for You 4:15
5	Lovers Return 2:47
6	Face to Face 3:05
7	Overriding Volunteer 4:30
8	Living Without You 3:45
9	Now and Forever 3:56
10	This Is How I Feel 3:23
11	Pearls of Wisdom 3:25
12	Adorable 4:00
13	Overcome 4:03
14	Your Love Gets Sweeter Bonus Track 3:12

Barnes & Noble

Much More than Much Love shows that someone is looking out for Finley Quaye. After a more than promising debut, Maverick a Strike -- a huge British hit -- which introduced his remarkable, Al Green-by-way-of-Kingston voice atop inventive, addictive rock 'n' reggae grooves, Quaye went into a tailspin. Somewhere along the downward spiral was Vanguard, an addled, lazy affair that would get most artists banished from the industry for life (one song was literally a recipe for bean soup). At some point, Quaye hit bottom, cut his hair, got a stylist, and is now reintroduced to a public that, his label seems to wish, has completely forgotten that he existed. That's the kind of fresh start Much Love is. The reggae underpinnings of Maverick are largely stripped away, leaving a mix of jangling guitars and light dance tracks such as "Dice," cowritten by William Orbit and featuring Beth Orton. It's more than a little new-agey. One of Quaye's best qualities was the offhand rhymes he worked into his songs, sounding like DJ patter from the dancehall days. While his lyrics feel more forced this time out, Quaye still manages to bring a smile with anachronisms such as "sock it to me," in the chorus of the rootsy "Pearls of Wisdom." Much Love ultimately smacks of a repackaging by forces beyond the artist's control, and given Quaye's apparent lack of discipline, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Someone up there likes Finley Quaye, and they're really, really hoping that you will, too. Mark Schwartz

All Music Guide

Finley Quaye, an artist with an exceptional voice, might not ever be able to live down the fact that he titled one of his albums Vanguard. Much More Than Much Love shows all the signs of a valiant attempt to "bring real music with real soul and real honesty back" -- Memphis soul, delicately plucked country ballads, throwbacks to the adult alternative class of 1995, and nods to Quaye's reggae roots all included -- and it's safe to the point of making an argument in the opposite direction. Quaye's unique vocals, as have always been the case, remain the greatest draw. Andy Kellman