This is a more important album than it looks on the surface. The 40 tracks here -- and as the cover says, they were are all massive Top Ten hits -- essentially mark the start of the transition from roots reggae to the dancehall style; a passing of the torch as definitive in Jamaican music as the passage from rocksteady to reggae in the '60s. Yellowman, Barrington Levy,...
Read moreThis is a more important album than it looks on the surface. The 40 tracks here -- and as the cover says, they were are all massive Top Ten hits -- essentially mark the start of the transition from roots reggae to the dancehall style; a passing of the torch as definitive in Jamaican music as the passage from rocksteady to reggae in the '60s. Yellowman, Barrington Levy, and Wailing Souls are all heavily represented, and really, more than any others (such as Dennis Brown), they signaled what was happening. Yellowman was the new style of toasting star, turning the focus to 'slackness' or sexuality that would become the prime subject of dancehall lyrics. Levy was the new signing-star (check "Mary Long Tongue," another piece with slack lyrics), both solo and in duets, such as "Eventide Fire A Disaster," with General Echo. The Wailing Souls, on the other hand, were very much a roots reggae band, giving what was, largely, a final shout-out to the old style on songs like "Who No Waan Come," and "Kingdom Rise Kingdom Fall." This album nods to all aspects of the aural change, such as Hugh Mundell, a huge talent who was killed in 1983 before he'd even fully blossomed. And the music? Well, when you have Levy performing "Shine Eye Gal," one of his biggest cuts, Wailing Souls with the classic "Firehouse Rock," or Johnny Osbourne with "Trying To Turn Me On," you know you're onto a winner.
Brand: GREENSLEEVES
