No comments about Works of Jah: The Best of Reggae.

1 comments about The Great Bob Marley.

1. As a "novice" Bob fan, I can tell you that this is the best investment I have made in a long time. The sound quality it studio-quality. Many tracks that you haven't heard if your previous Marley collection consisted of Legend and Natural Mystic. Buy it.

5 comments about The Complete Upsetter Collection.

1. I tend to agree with many Marley fans that his Upsetter recordings have a raw power that gives them an artistic edge over the later Island recordings (which are themselves gems). This package provides the best available overview of these records, with superb sound quality. The music is simply magnificent: for those who think of reggae as a very limited genre, you will be amazed at how many wonderful grooves are possible within the general formula. The rhythmic variations are stunning.
   My caveat is with the sequencing and the notes. I have several other albums in which the dub versions immediately follow the master take, and no matter how sweet the groove it is tiresome to hear six takes in a row of "Small Axe" and "Soul Rebel." I wish that Trojan had put the master vocal takes on one disc, the alternate takes and versions on another, and the dubs on another. The liner notes are also inadequate considering the importance of the music. There are no session notes or discographies.
   For those who hesitate to have ALL this music, I highly recommend purchasing "African Herbsman" and "Rasta Revolution," also from Trojan. If you want everything though you will not regret buying this set.



2. i don't care what anyone else says, all of bob marleys songs are very cool. No matter what he wrote it was all good and the best to listen to!



3. First of all, this is NOT a ska collection. Recorded in the post-ska era from 1970 on, these songs have a slower, more militant, rebel feel than the Wailers previous work. In fact, many musicians and enthusiasts feel that Lee "Scratch" Perry's work with the Wailers helped create the "reggae" beat. Many also feel that Perry helped the band find it's definitive sound...Scratch's house band, the Upsetters would soon leave to work fulltime with Peter, Bunny, and Bob. It is also felt that Perry helped Marley to find his distinctive vocal style. If you listen to Scratch's vocal tracks, there is a remarkable resemblance between his vocalization and Marley's. Although no great vocalist in the traditional sense, Perry has a "feel" for the material he voices...and he helped Marley realize his potential. Listen to Marley's pre-Perry work with Studio One and Coxsone Dodd...the difference is obvious.

   For those only familiar with Marley's Island Records output, the material here will be instantly recognizable...many of the songs Perry produced were later re-recorded by Chris Blackwell for Island.

   Also, don't be afraid of the multiple versions and takes. "Version" and "dub" are vital parts of the Jamaican music scene, and the various takes reveal subtle and important aspects of the songs. Plus, you get to hear great deejays like U-Roy and Big Youth toasting over rock-solid Upsetter rhythm tracks! Also included is the super-rare "Who Colt The Game" and "I know a Place" tracks...songs Marley had Perry record as 4-track demos (they would continue to work together throughout the seventies, even when Marley was signed to Island)...ESSENTIAL.




4. I've listened to Bob Marley for 5 or 6 years now and have decided that the music he made with Lee Perry is the best... I was thrilled when I found this for $23. It has 'everything recorded with the Upsetters', but seems to be missing a good vocal version of Duppy Conqueror, which appears on the Songs of Freedom box set. It does get a bit tiresome to hear the same song 5 times in a row (because of alternate & dub mixes) but is still worth it if you like great reggae music. There are less-expensive compilations with much of the same music that appears here, but if you want everything, this gives it to you. And this has high sound quality and quality packaging too.



5. Sa Good Sa Good! Ska lives on baby, in this incredible box set. Buy it now and enjoy a piece of the beauty of a Marley experience. YaaaaH Ska Good!

3 comments about One Love (At Studio One).

1. This is an excellent collection of pristine early recordings by Bob Marley and the Wailers (then consisting of Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer) from 1963-67 or so.
   
   Technically, the sound in crude by modenr standards, but for me, that's part of the primal appeal of this. The music is raw and the singing occasionally leaves something to be desired, but this is extremely soulful music with some poetically profound lyrics considering that our heroes were in their late teens and early twenties at the time. The Curtis Mayfield influence is evident, but Bob in particular was well on his way to finding his winning formula of folk sayings, local proverbs, Black history, and anthems of liberation and positivie thinking.
   
   We start things off with a lovely accapella version of "This Train," which leads us into the terrific trio's first Jamaican hit, "Simmer Down," an enjoyable anit-violence record. The rare tape of Bob and his future wife Rita doing "Wages of Love" has a really pleasant mid-60s malt shop and drive-in feel to it, unlike most of their work.
   
   "I'm Gonna Put it On" (which has the title of this review in one of the lyrics) is one of those songs that you can dance a storm or sit down and listen to its loveliness (it is said that Bob and Rita played this repeatedly at their 1966 wedding). Later remakes were no comparison. The Bobless "Let Him Go" in which they plead for the release of a youthful criminal, was considered a revolutionary call to arms at the time (and Bob, who was then in the USA, warned Bunny and Peter of the possibility of being shot for such songs). It's quite surprising since it sounds relatively innocent today.
   
   Our heroes do a wonderful remake of Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" with really nice opening all of their own grafted to the proceedings. "Freedom Time" may sound familiar to Bob fans as some of the lyrics would appear in Bob's later (and better known) antiracist tune "Crazy Baldhead."
   
   Overall, technophiles may not dig, but Marley fans will consider this a revelation.



2. I agree that this is not the most consistent CD but it has great hidden treasures. First, right now I am listening to Rude Boy which is excellent. What is surprising is that Bob blends in with the others, and they are singing as a trio.
   
   I really like their cover of "and I love her." Now I am listening to "I'm still waiting" which features an interesting lead by Bob and some almost doo wop backgrounds by the others.
   
   I could go on and on but really you should buy this CD for a totally different sound with some interesting covers of older Soul hits.



3. Bob, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer (and Rita and Marcia, too). Backed by the Skatalites on many cuts. Early Wailers, when they were all together. The early Wailers have a deep, transcendently great catalog of music, and this is just a taste (even stronger material remains in the vaults). This particular set's value lies in its heights, not in its coconsistency. There are some absolute gems, e.g., "This Train," Simmer Down," "I'm Gonna Put It On," "Jailhouse," and early versions of songs such as "Bend Down Low." Other material, including alternate takes, good but not as strong. If you're not familiar with the pre-Island, pre Scratch Perry- era Wailers, this is a good place to start.

5 comments about Honorary Citizen.

1. I would have liked to have something more for the money. The sound quality, overall, is lacking. It seems as if this set was put together just to cash in on Tosh's name. The Honorary Citizen original song is beyond awful.
   
   The live disc is disjointed. The quality here - as we've seen on other releases - should have been much better.
   
   Truthfully, the militant Tosh comes out far too much here and maybe that is why I give the lukewarm review. I like the sound of disc one and despite the militant feel it is ok.
   
   What to like about the first disc: Here Comes the Sun - outstanding, Legalize It Version - cool dub version, Dracula (Vampire Version) - I do love this song.
   
   If you're new to Tosh and want to get the best introduction try Legalize It. That was one of my first Peter Tosh purchases and I loved everything about it.



2. I confer with the review by c~insano. The glue on my boxset became loose also. I give it four stars because the collection starts at 1967, Tosh had been singing lead since 1964. The list of Tosh's complete recordings is a treat. There are so many on the list that hadn't been released when I bought it, like "Crimson Pirate," but that was released on the album Arise Blackman Arise. Many songs weren't on the complete list like "Little Green Apples," or "Blowing in the Wind."



3. My set is defective. The glue that holds the plastic cd holders to the cardboard box came undone a few weeks after I got it. The sound quality on all three cds sounds lousy and the volume has to be turned up to hear it at a regular level. The first Early Singles disc is awesome. I got my set when it first came out like 5 years ago so they may have fixed the quality problems since then. Too expensive for what you get.



4. I am very happy with this box set. I have a ton of Peter Tosh in my vast reggae collection and this box set is a nice little addition. Although it doesn't cover as much as I'd like it to cover (there could be a disc four in my opinion) , it does do well in capturing his authoritative and militant voice through his beautiful music. Peter was a Wailer as in Bob Marley and the Wailers and he, as Peter would say, "decorated Bob's music and made it beautiful". Although he has been over shadowed by Bob Marley's success with reggae, he stands on his own in that world and equally with Bob in my opinion.

   I have heard it stated and have read that Bob Marley is to Martin Luther King Jr. as Peter Tosh is to Malcolm X. Both sent a message to the people, but they sent it in different ways. Peter being the militant voice. His music almost seems too beautiful to be militant, but maintains a hard-edge and a defiant tone which were his intentions. This box set captures that militancy especially with the concert recordings on disc two when he speaks to the crowd.

   I really feel that people should take a good hard listen to Peter's music as it is lively as Bob's music is lively. I am only sad that the man had to die such a brutal death, but as they say...live by the sword and die by the sword. (Fortunately those who opposed him will die out, but Peter will live on stronger than ever through his music). You will be very happy you made the decision to listen to him.




5. If you know you like a few Peter Tosh songs and can't decide on a single album, this is for you. And if you lover Peter, how come it's taken you so long to find this one? The best of the 3 CD's included is the Live collection. While Tosh was good in the studio, his passion comes through in front of an audience. Most of the Live tracks are previously unreleased versions of Tosh Classics like Coming in Hot and the Wailers Classic Get Up Stand Up. Enjoy!

No comments about Reggae Nights, Vol. 1.

No comments about The Best of Reggae.

4 comments about Lost Treasures of the Ark.

1. Mr. Perry has done his home work and he know how to put thing together. What I like most about this CD is Bob Marley's lost songs, never released. I also like his Documentary(DVD) The Unlimited Destruction. You'll get alot of info. from that. So enjoy. Out



2. This 3 cd set makes sense to get as a companion to the far superior "Arkology" set (the only Perry you need to get your collection off the ground), but for me, the collection lacked the power and ferocity of the aforementioned "Arkology."

   Focusing much more on Perry's early, more straight forward recordings than on the mid-late 70's bombs that still have me reeling after almost 4 years of continuous listening, the tracks may be lost, but not nearly the treasues of "Arkology."

   Don't get me wrong, there are wonderful tracks on this collection, and I quite enjoy the collection as a whole, but overall, I'll listen to this a lot less than "Arkology," and with the lack of great liner notes and track history, the collection as a whole suffers from under-production- perhaps the record company was too interested in making a fast buck, dangling the raw Wailers'tracks as bait, to take the time needed to release a more unified, more high quality collection.

   Get "Arkology" and go from there. This collection is good, but not great.




3. If you own the Arkology, which is Lee Perry's best work, you should own this one too. Discs 2 and 3 are reminiscient of the arkology (his early 70's recordings in the black ark), but disc 1 is a special treat with extremely raw and untreated, but pure Bob Marley tracks!



4. Not as consistent and even as Arkology, and the booklet lacks important info (years, musicians, vocalists) but "I MON JUST HERE FOR THE MUSIC!" And man, the music is here. The unreleased Marley tunes are worth it alone. Other gems are "Glory Glory," "Rainy Night in Portland" and "Earth A Go Wheel" among many others. If you've got Arkology and are jonesing for more killer Scratch cuts, buy this! The dubs are as fat as fat can be -- so greasy and swampy it almost makes you sick (in a good way...) Overall: sublime. Again, the order of songs doesn't always flow and I really wish the credits were more thorough and informative, but really, the skankin' grooves are here! SEEN!

No comments about 50th Birthday.

1 comments about The Collection.

1. This CD is very good, because the musics are so roots and the little price is better!