★★★★★
Maxi Priest was virtually unknown here until heconquered the U.S. pop charts in 1990 with "Close to You" (norelation to the Carpenters' classic), though his mellow, reggae-basedlove songs had been rising in Jamaica and his native England sincethe early '80s. This past year, his collaborations with Jamaicanhip-hop star Shabba Ranks and '70s soul singer Roberta Flack reachedthe top 10 on the R&B; and pop charts...
- ew.com
2010-08-27
★★★★★
The Fat Boys have had a reggae hit. So have the Bellamy Brothers. So why not a pop-funk hit for a black Brit liteweight? Catchy on jezebels and dull on world peace, he tries to shore up the formula with subtle touches rather than simple conviction, and back in Kingston, oldtime bizzers from Byron Lee to Edwin Seaga are smiling. They knew it all along--though Jah did give them a scare.
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
★★★★★
Maxi Priest's knack for fusing pop, reggae, and R&B; into a melodic rum punch is what has made him the most successful solo reggae artist since Bob Marley. CombiNation finds him applying his signature slow groove to such classic hits as Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway's ''Back Together Again.'' Unfortunately, other cuts don't quite rise to what we expect from this master.
- ew.com
2009-06-12
★★★★★
On his first American album, British reggae star Maxi Priest presents himself as the Luther Vandross of reggae. Extravagantly produced and brimming with velvety vocals, this album is unabashedly urbane.Priest makes up for his lack of rebel ardor with the sheer mellifluousness of his singing. His covers of "Some Guys Have All the Luck" and Cat Stevens's "Wild World" are executed with such earnest and yearning soulfulness that it's easy to forgive the slightly hokey choice of material...
- www.rollingstone.com
2009-06-08
★★★★★
This bends the reggae/pop equation back toward the crossover side.
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28
★★★★★
Priest scored a #1 pop hit with "I Just Want to Be Close to You" from this album, which is more pop/R&B; with a reggae touch than it is real reggae.
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28
★★★★★
Showcasing Maxi Priest's talent for shaping reggae, dancehall, and soul into a distinctly pop-oriented and commercial amalgam, Man with the Fun happens to be one of Priest's better efforts, simply because the quality of the production and songwriting is uniformly first-rate throughout the record...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28