Easy Star All-Stars

Apparently, the Easy Star crew aren't scoring a hat trick. The reggae re-visioning of Sgt. Pepper starts off promising, live session-style, but quickly turns to little more than cover rock for the title track. Even the mighty Frankie Paul and Luciano can't save "Lucy in the Sky" and "Help from my Friends" from rather lifeless arrangements, and "Getting Better" should take its advice. Thankfully, midway through the album seems to find its groove. The sleepy dub of "Fixing a Hole" with Max Romeo is almost inspiring and "Within You Without You" finds a sweet spot between sitar-delic and rub-a-dub, but Matisyahu sounds like he's either half asleep or bored. Sugar Minott turns in one of the best performances on the hook-laden "When I'm Sixty-Four" and U Roy proves he's the real fifth Beatle on "Lovely Rita."