This came out in 2005 — or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
The trick to comebacks is knowing when to go away again. Of course, that’s easier said than done.
Given the rave reviews that greeted their 2003 reunion album I Can’t Stop, it’s no surprise that soul icon Al Green and legendary Hi Records / Royal Studio producer Willie Mitchell decided to (ahem) stay together for an encore. But as it is so often with movies, this sequel doesn’t quite measure up to the original. The dozen-track Everything’s OK has all the Memphis soul grooves, strings and horns you’d expect from Mitchell (though, for some reason, less organ than you’d figure), along with all the creamy, seductive vocals and possessed screams you know you’re gonna get from the ever-incredible Al. But smooth and soulful as these cuts may be, they just don’t have the same spark of creative rebirth as I Can’t Stop. Ultimately, Everything’s OK lives up to its underwhelming shrug of a title — but at the same time, it would have been no great loss if Mitchell and Green had decided they could stop at one reunion disc after all.
