| Too Wicked | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Aswad |
| Cover: | Too Wicked.jpg |
| Released: | 17 September 1990[1] |
| Studio: | Music Works |
| Genre: | Reggae, dancehall |
| Label: | Mango |
| Producer: | Gussie Clarke, Aswad |
| Prev Title: | Crucial Tracks (Best of Aswad) |
| Prev Year: | 1989 |
| Next Title: | Firesticks |
| Next Year: | 1993 |
Too Wicked is an album by the British band Aswad, released in 1990.[2] [3]
The album peaked at No. 51 on the UK Albums Chart.[4] "Next to You" was a minor radio hit in the United States.[5]
The album was recorded in Kingston, Jamaica, at producer Gussie Clarke's studio; Steely & Clevie also worked on Too Wicked.[6] [7] It contains a cover of the Eagles' "Best of My Love". Shabba Ranks contributed vocals to "Fire".[8]
Trouser Press wrote that Too Wicked pushes "towards funk, pop, soul and even dancehall, with beatbox drumming, hi-tech samples and house grooves all reeking of commercial aspirations."[9] The Los Angeles Times deemed it "a large helping of smooth, homogenized, PG-rated reggae originals."[10] The Province stated that "the record continues Aswad's courtship of smooth, '70s, soul-influenced reggae."[11]
The Washington Post called the album "cluttered with redundant programmable drum loops and tacky, short, sampled sound bites, perhaps revealing the group's unsuccessful attempts to use current musical trends to 'update' its sound."[12] The Austin American-Statesman thought that "Aswad's upscale version of reggae attempts to wed sophisticated love songs with the basic beat and generally succeeds."[13]
The Independent considered Too Wicked an "ill-judged attempt at dancehall crossover."[14]