Album Review – All That Glitters is not Goldie

All that glitters is not gold. Goldie’s reconstructed Gold Reloaded LP reminds us of that. Beneath the shiny surface of her pop contraptions lies the fact that Goldie isn’t much of a singer. To be fair, she has never positioned herself as a vocalist, but more of an entertainer.

On Gold Reloaded, Goldie recruits a solid crew of beat makers, Sarz, OJB, Master Kraft, Tyrone, Oga Jojo, Kas Beats and Legendary Beats. She rides on their pop-based beats with her somewhat feeble voice to create tracks. The result is mixed. Goldie surprises on ‘What’s My Name’ produced by Master Kraft which is a credible dance track. It’s so good that it is quite shocking that Goldie could have come up with such a track. Another surprising track is the Timbaland-influenced ‘Breathe Again’ produced by a veteran of the boards OJB Jezreel. OJB uses Goldie’s limited vocals to great use and comes up with a song that will leave many baffled. Truthfully, Goldie shouldn’t be on a song this good. OJB squeezed water out from the rock with this song, showing that he still has the juice. Rap lovers might even like ‘Hands Up’ featuring Banky W and Magnito, where Mr. W rhymes a verse on the hip-hop joint.

The goodness, however, stops there. Goldie’s shortcomings are glaring on other songs. Her voice is limited. In this pop era where acts like Rihanna and Cassie have record deals because they have learned to use very little of what they have, Goldie hasn’t discovered how to use her voice to great effect.

‘Shoko loko bang oshe’ is a poor song that rambles on and on, ‘Fine’ could have been a better song if a singer with a better voice rendered it. It has the potential to be great but it’s not just for Goldie. ‘Who’s the boss’ feat Baba Kekeis…well, your guess is as good as mine. ‘Point and kill’ featuring Kas just belongs in (if it ever existed) Pop Hell. ‘Lulu’ produced by Kas sounds a whole lot better.

The remaining part of the album is filled with remixes of her hit singles ‘Gboko Lowo E’, ‘Don’t Touch My Body’ and ‘Jawo Jawo’. The original versions of these songs are bonus tracks on the LP.

While this album from Goldie is far from the real precious metal, as it only produces a few shiny moments, these moments are fleeting, and too far apart for you to mine into something more durable and lasting.