When I first heard Peter Tosh’s solo stuff, it was a revelation. I couldn’t believe how much more I liked it than the Wailers. And I sort of stupidly assumed that it was specifically Tosh I liked and the Wailers I didn’t like so much. I already knew I liked Tosh’s Wailers songs more than …
Tag: Reggae
Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places (1981) by Kid Creole and the Coconuts
Coincidentally, I am listening to the first Dr. Buzzard record. (If you don’t know Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band was led by Kid and some of the same people.) Listening to this record, it’s clear that a lot has been learned since that previous band. Nearly everything is better here than on the Dr. Buzzard …
Legalize It (1976) by Peter Tosh
Peter Tosh is the best reggae songwriter I’ve heard. I understand this is a bit of a hot take, but I think it’s defensible. Or, maybe, what’s defensible is that Peter Tosh is my favourite reggae songwriter. But I’d rather the former be true.
The Electric Spanking of War Babies (7/10) by Funkadelic
This feels to me a little bit like Funkadelic re-imagined for the ’80s – many of the tropes of ’70s Funkadelic are here in full, but there are signs that musical technology is slowly changing.
Rastaman Vibration (1976) by Bob Marley and the Wailers
Hot take alert: Is this the best Wailers studio album after the departure of Tosh and Bunny? I think it might be.
Hail H.I.M. (1980) by Burning Spear
This is my second Burning Spear album in as many weeks (and second ever) and so I can’t help but compare the two, even if they were released five years apart and even if he put out a bunch of albums in between.
Marcus Garvey (1975) by Burning Spear
Though I’m a little familiar with ’70s Reggae most of the stuff I’m familiar with pre ’75 centres around the Wailers – I’ve heard very little that wasn’t by someone associated with them. And so I can’t say I know much about the history of the genre outside of what they were doing. (I have …
Uprising (1980) by Bob Marley and the Wailers
I am on record as stating that I think Peter Tosh’s departure from the Wailers was not good for the Wailers. Tosh is, to me, the better songwriter. (Shock! Horror!) Not melodically, necessarily. (Really, I should say “of course”. Who has more hits, Marley or Tosh?)
Natty Dread (1974) by Bob Marley and the Wailers
I am on record as saying the best songwriter in the Wailers was Peter Tosh and, a few Marley solo albums later, I’m not sure I have changed my mind. But this record, the first without Tosh I believe, is definitely doing more than some of his later records to convince me I might have …
Cut (1979) by The Slits
I am having a hard time thinking of this band as something more than “not the Raincoats” or “lesser Raincoats”. And that’s utterly ridiculous. A quick google will demonstrate that this album came out two months before the Raincoats’ debut album. And it’s not either band’s fault that I have listened to multiple Raincoats albums …
Outlandos d’Amour (1978) by The Police
The Police’s debut album is a bouncy energetic thing, with way better than you’d expect musicianship for their music scene and the kind of performances you would require from that same scene. Much of what initially captivated people about this band, present on this album, would disappear by the end of their career.
Infidels (1983) by Bob Dylan
The conventional wisdom is that this is the first Dylan album after his weird trip to the Christian Music wilderness to really be worth listening to. I have deliberately avoided his late ’70s work because of its reputation, so I have no idea if this is his best album since Desire (1976) or not.
Burnin’ (1973) by The Wailers
If I had to put money on it without listening to their entire catalogue, I would probably wager than Burnin‘ is the best original Wailers album; it has two of their most iconic songs on it, and the quality of the rest of them feels higher than some of the other albums I’ve heard. Regardless …
Mama Africa (1983) by Peter Tosh
Tosh has apparently switched up his guitar for a clavinet (though I guess this happened a while ago) and there seems to me a corresponding change in sound from his late ’70s record, but maybe just haven’t listened to enough.
Catch a Fire [Jamaican Version] (1973) by Bob Marley and the Wailers
I generally rag on Marley for his lyrics. I find most reggae lyricist to be not that great, but I find Marley in particular to have been over-hyped. Once you listen to Peter Tosh (who only wrote two of the songs here) it’s hard to take Marley this seriously as a lyricist. So I thought. …
Two Sevens Clash (1977) by Culture
Though I find myself with some vestige of my childhood superstitions – I still knock on wood, unfortunately – I have fought my whole adult life to rid myself and my life of superstitions as much as possible. So I found the Mayan apocalypse stuff to be utterly ridiculous and I find every single fringe …
Police and Thieves (1977) by Junior Murvin
The thing I like more about Junior Murvin’s debut album, Police and Thieves, compared to some other Lee Perry-produced reggae albums from this period (1977 in particular) is that Murvin is more of a songwriter than some of his contemporaries. The songs are more memorable to me, not just because of the hooks – as …
Herat of the Congos (1977)
On account of my podcast, I am finding myself immersed in 1977 reggae right now more than I could ever have imagined. And so I’m learning more about reggae than I have wanted to for some time. (I imagined myself becoming a reggae/dub fan in my early ’20s – what white male young adult doesn’t? …
Equal Rights (1977) by Peter Tosh
Here’s my hot take: Peter Tosh is a way better lyricist than his former band-mate, and much more famous person, Bob Marley. I’ll make a possibly more preposterous claim, based on my ignorance of reggae in general: Tosh is one of the best lyricists in the history of reggae and, to my ears, the only …
Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival featuring Refugee Allstars (1997)
I have literally no idea what to do with this.