By Chuck Prophet,

No Other Love is the fifth album in a solo career that began when Californian native Chuck Prophet split from Green and Red in 1990. Green and Red lead the way for the insurgent country of the 1990s, but out on his own Prophet has grown beyond the category. His previous album, The Hurting Business , was a striking breakthrough--hip hop scratching and samples added to his bedrock country/ R B influences.

No Other Love is maverick genre-bending in the Beck / Jim White class, and the stylistic variety suits Prophet's compositions, peopled by crazed desperadoes and beautiful losers. The songs cover the waterfront from the raunchy horn driven swagger of "That's How Much I Need Your Love" to the stinging, pleading "Elouise", where his ever-inventive guitar vies with Farfisa organ. Prophet enjoys spicing songs with pop culture references, but his wry humour is counterbalanced by a strong moral undertow in "I Bow Down and Pray to Every Woman I See" and the beautiful "Summer Time Thing".

This is a Prophet with plenty of honour. --Gavin Martin

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