Best Of Reggae Vol.1, The - Various Artists

Advantages: Excellent covers of some old reggae standrads
Disadvantages: Sometimes a bit too slick

...The creation of entire albums of music from other artists is nothing new. It has been done to great effect by David Bowie, Bryan Ferry and many more. When UB40 followed up their first 2 albums which contained their own material with an album drawn from favourite reggae songs from their youth. Having established themselves as the conscience of 80s youth with their socially aware lyrics about unemployment and social injustice it could have been seen a s a commercial sell-out and perhaps ultimately it was. It was also, however, a very fine album. That it must have been a labour of love can be heard in the loving way the songs are crafted and every track reproduces the excellence of the original. As a lover of real reggae I do have to make one minor criticism and that is that the album is too good. There is far more added production... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Just as good as the Other two
Disadvantages: All songs are copied by UB40

.... Songs that are on the the album include: 1. Holly Holy 2. It's My Delight 3. Come Back Darling 4. Never Let You Go 5. Soul Rebel 6. My Best Girl 7. Good Ambition 8. Train Is Coming 9. Blood And Fire 10. Mr Fix It 11. Stay A Little Bit Longer 12. Someone Like You 13. Time Has Come 14. Crying Over You 15. Legalise It A little about UB40: UB40, Britain's #1 Reggae Band, formed over 20yrs ago, consists of 8 band members who all come from the city of Birmingham, England. Influenced by Reggae music, which was very much the music of the day in their environment, UB40 started out on their long career together, not only as musicians, but as friends. Their first 6 months together were spent in a cellar while they learned how to play their instruments as a band, practicing songs from their favorite artists such as Gregory Isaac's. UB40's first... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: great basslines and deep mood music
Disadvantages: a little too political in parts

...I have many different musical tastes and am always happy to try something new.I purchased this cd a few years ago after enjoying various reggae tracks by various artists so thought i would expand my horizons and go for something a little deeper. now dubwise and otherwise may not be to everyones taste of course but nonetheless if your a fan of seriously heavy basslines and mixed with that slow reggae beat we associate more with bob marley then this is a good cd to start with. with 17 songs only totalling a running time of just under 55 minutes most songs are set to an average of three minutes so its pretty easy listening. now i will point out that some of the songs(if not most) have political leanings but this is expected with dub music as a whole.with artists like king tubby and jah stitch,glen brown and tappa zukie to name but a few its... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful