Sean Paul Album: “Stage One”

Sean Paul has become an international star and a sought-after guest vocalist courtesy of his mega-selling "Dutty Rock" album. As a reslt, many listeners are picking up "Stage One" as well to see if there are lots of undiscovered gems in his back catalogue.

Simply put, "Stage One" is not an undiscovered gem. It is, however, a good listen.

The two absolute standout tracks here are "Deport Dem" and "Infiltrate". "Deport Dem" is famous partly as a result of its own quality, but also for being an example of the successful "Bookshelf" riddim (so named for Beenie Man's hit single on it). Both tracks of course appear in the introduction to "Dutty Rock" as examples of a sound which a rock band just can't create. Beyond these two tracks, there are moments of brilliance on the rest of the album, but not in song-length form. A lyric here, a phrase there is really the longest the rest of the album sustains top quality for.

By no means is this a slight on Paul's work. As in the case of many debut albums, he just didn't let his full talent shine through enough. Dancehall reggae being a singles-based genre, he had already earned a reasonable following before releasing the album and didn't lose much of it as a result of this performance. As we all know, unless we've somehow been living on Mars in the past few years, by the time the next album came round, it was quite a different story.

Overall, this is a decent album, but not a must-have or anything like that. The dancehall fan will find more than enough to keep them entertained - predominantly on the riddim side of the ledger. The casual Sean Paul fan, however, will probably lose interest here.

While this album is NOT the best Dancehall Reggae has to offer, Sean Paul's debut album makes for a good intro to those who are seriously looking for a true Dancehall Reggae album. Hardcore Dancehall Reggae enthusiasts will enjoy this album- and they will definitely enjoy it a lot better than "Dutty Rock". I know I did- no guest rappers or rap beats, just straight Dancehall riddims. The people who never even knew what Dancehall Reggae was until "Gimme the Light" came out on MTV (y'all know who you are) would probably like Dutty Rock better than this album. Don't get me wrong, Dutty Rock has got some really hot tracks (maybe even more than this album actually), but it's been watered down big time for American audiences.

I would give this album 5 stars, but I agree with those reviewers who noticed- there are too many skits (6 total). It's unnecessary-especially Track 10- it did NOT need to be included on this album!

Reggae DJ's better keep this album on hand in their milk crates!

The product came really fast, way before the due date. It was in good top notch shape. Almost like new!

I recently moved into a mostly white neighborhood where the only hip hop or reggae music is on the top 40 radio stations. I was forced to buy my favourite music because it was not played on the radio (I was spoiled!). When I bought `Stage One,' I came to realize that many of the tunes I liked were actually done by Sean Paul. I honestly didn't know that he had created `Infiltrate,' `Deport Them' (my favourite cut), Haffiget de Gal Ya,' `She Want it,' `Check it Deeply,' and `Next Generation.' I'm glad I bought it. Nuff said!!

IF I COULD I WOULD GIVE THIS CD A 10. Go and get it if u dont have it.