The first association many people have heard of the name Chuck Prophet is with his first band Green On Red. His solo career has lasted for fifteen years and now the man has deserved to be judged on his own merits. With Soap And Water Prophet delivers its best album in years. His influences, from Bob Dylan and Tom Petty to The Beatles and The Stones, have rarely been so self-evidently incorporated
… into twelve songs. The music sounds familiar but never becomes clichéd. Chuck has a good sense of melody and he also knows what to do with lyrics. For example, in the title track, in which two of the most self-evident things in human life (soap and water) are the stepping stone for a song that is suggestive in several ways. Prophet can be quite sharp (A Woman's Voice, Doubter Out Of Jesus) but is also shamelessly sentimental at times. In perhaps the best song Would You Love Me? those two qualities come together perfectly and he alternates light verses with the unambiguous heart cry of the chorus. (MS)more
