Here's a fan review of The Captive from Paul Benton, a recent high school grad.

It has been over two and a half years since Braddigan last released an independent studio album. The end result, however, is well worth the wait. The Captive releases on Thursday, following Braddigan's debut solo project Watchfires and a live album recorded at Goucher College.

The Captive is the first studio record with the band's newest member, Tiago Machado of Brazil. Although he plays several instruments on the record, Machado is an absolute virtuoso of bass. Originally from Brazil, Tiago has traveled all over South and Central America and has lived in Hawaii until recently. Reinaldo DeJesus, the band's incredibly talented percussionist, is from Puerto Rico and has traveled Europe, Japan, and many other nations playing alongside many great musicians. Even the band's American leader, guitarist and singer, Brad Corrigan, has traveled extensively throughout Central America, to Africa several times, and even to Japan since Watchfires was released.

Every song on The Captive is infused with influences from all over the world. These influences are evident in every song. The album even includes songs in Portuguese, Spanish, and Ketchwa. Although not included on The Captive, the band has re-recorded a new song, “De El” in Japanese. The overall feeling of the album continues the laid-back acoustic style from Watchfires, but also incorporates a reggae undertone throughout the record.

Two songs on The Captive, “Ileana” and “Mercedita” were inspired by a journey to Nicaragua. While outside Managua, Corrigan was invited into a garbage dump called “La Chureca” by a 13 year-old girl who resided there with her family. Corrigan was so deeply impacted by Ileana's family and the estimated 1,500 others who lived inside the dump that he wrote these songs, and started a non-profit organization called Love, Light, and Melody dedicated to the bettering of the lives of those living in La Chureca (www.lovelightandmelody.org).

Some songs, like the opening track “Valeu, Valeu,” “Customs,” and the previously unheard “Five For Rose” are incredibly upbeat and really display the reggae influences of the band. With driving percussion and swift bass-lines, these songs are catchy and stick with the listener throughout the day. Other songs, such as “Fare Thee Well” and the closing track “On The Mend” show a softer more contemplative side of the band. With mellow guitars and vocals, the lyrics to these songs are clearly meaningful to the band members and the songs seamlessly incorporate new instruments like harmonica and piano.

Some fans will recognize some of the songs on The Captive from Braddigan's Live at Goucher College CD, as well as Corrigan's days reunited with Dispatch for the Zimbabwe charity concerts at Madison Square Garden. The album as a whole is more of what Braddigan's fans have come to expect – incredible, meaningful music inspired by the band members' real life situations and experiences. Fans new and old will be sure to enjoy The Captive.

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Here's a fan review of The Captive from Mike Hilger, an undergrad from College of Dupage.

Finally the wait is over and The Captive is in most of our hands. We, the chosen few who were able to recieve it early, to which I owe a massive amount of thank yous, that I had the privilege of hearing the amazing new album. If this is too indepth, that is because this is an indepth band that put a deeper meaning into each song.

Being able to sit down with the ablum and hear it out right, from the first track to the last track and back again, this first album from the full band definitely allows for many great albums to follow . From Valeu Value to On The Mend this album is definitely different than what we, as Braddigan fans, are use to, but as it is said, "with time comes change." And this change is a great one.

With the newer songs like Valeu Valeu, Ketchwa Song, De El, and Ileana (not to say there aren't other new songs), the album has this feeling of what the band really is, a diverse unification of three people who all have the same feelings behind them. The fact that several of these songs are not in English does not bother me. It actually suprises me but I fall in love with Ketchwa song everytime I hear it, being that Ketchwa is a language that is rarely spoken that was begun by the Incan Empire.

Our favorites return and a few live tunes that we've longed to hear on an album are on The Captive as well, "Customs", "Fare The Well" (a newer tune), "Solace", and a great new piece between Braddigan and Josh Garrels called "Walk On" which is a great bluesy tune along with "Fist in the Ocean" which is a great regge/surf rock song that anyone can listen to and picture themselves on the beach watching a group of surfers catch some great waves.

All in all this album is a fantastic new direction for the crew of Braddigan and the message behind it all is even better. The strong cultural stylings of the three: Brad Corrigan, Reinaldo DeJesus, and Tiago Machado definitely bring about this first album perfectly and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for these three!

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Here's a fan review of The Captive from Joe Conway, an undergrad from University of North Carolina.

Braddigan’s new album, The Captive, is an eclectic mix of many different genres. Electric and acoustic guitar, cavaquinho (a Brazilian instrument), piano, harmonica, and percussion/drums come together to create a spread of reggae, folk, Latin rhythms, and ballad tunes. With the addition of bass player Tiago Machado, this album sounds radically different from Braddigan’s previous album, Watchfires, released in 2005.

Braddigan is an international band with members hailing from Puerto Rico, Brazil, and the US and this album definitely reflects that. The Captive blends a variety of songs in different languages including Portuguese in the album’s opening track (Valeu Valeu), Spanish (De Él), and the indigenous Central American language of Ketchwa (Ketchwa). Even if you don’t understand the language and the lyrics of the song, you are still drawn into the music and can see the world through Braddigan’s eyes. The album tells stories about Braddigan’s travels in even talks about Braddigan’s new non-profit organization, Love, Light and Melody (Ileana). Braddigan crafts songs about living in a trash dump (Ileana) to leaving your past behind and looking towards the future (Fare Thee Well). Josh Garrels also joins Braddigan for a track (Walk On). This album can’t be classified into one genre or specific sound because it is full of many and combines a lot in each song.

The Captive shows Braddigan’s evolution from a duo band with percussionist Reinaldo De Jesús to the current trio with Tiago Machado on bass and other string instruments. Braddigan’s song writing style also evolved to the point where you feel as though you were on his most recent trip, whether it be to Nicaragua or Japan. Braddigan also brings his family and friends into this album to have a sing-a-long ending to one of the albums more reggae tunes (Fist in the Ocean). Overall this is one of the fall’s must have albums and one of the best albums of 2007. If you’re a fan of Braddigan or “acoustic folk” you have to pick up this album. Overall rating: 5 Stars

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