Best Of Tommy McCook And The Skatalites, The - Tommy Mc Cook

Advantages: A great Rock and Roll materpiece
Disadvantages: Nothing else can come close

...Wow! What an album! This really is truly a rock masterpiece. I never thought I would like an opera even if it is a Rock opera. This blew me away. There is a total of 22 songs on this long album with a mixture of styles,moods and tastes which are reflected in the music. The actual story of Tommy the deaf,dumb and blind kid that plays Pinball is quite far fetched but very good at the same time. The songs on the album are great. I actually think Pinball Wizard is one if the best ever written. A musical masterpiece. If you listen to the Lyrics, it explains what Tommy is really like. "Cant Hear no buzzers or Bells.....Plays by Sense of smell..." He sure does play a mean Pinball! Tommy the theme tune is very good too. I also like "Tommy can you hear me". Its a very powerful song that describes the anguish of his mother trying to get... Read review

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Advantages: Amazing collaboration, so funky
Disadvantages: None

...This album is truly awesome, showing some of the best guitar and drum work in the 70's in one go. Here legendary Panamanian American drummer Billy Cobham who had previously worked with Mile Davis records the album with guitarist Tommy Bolin (Zephyr, Moxy, Deep Purple etc) and keyboard player Jan Hammer who had previously worked with Cobham and McLaughlin in Mahavishnu Orchestra combine to come up with one of the funkiest albums I have ever heard. I'm a big Tommy Bolin fan, so naturally had to check the album out. Supposedly Tommy was informed what he had to do and the album was finished in 2 days, I'd be amazed if this legend was actually true because the work is quite intricate and the album is often considered to be Billy Cobham's best work. I've dug out a link from youtube which might encourage you to buy it, the song is Stratus... Read review

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Advantages: Fantastic bassline. Original sounds. Good chioce of tracks.
Disadvantages: It's music designed for sound systems. Sound quality suffers.

...). There are only really a handful of dub reggae artists from the 70’s, but between them they have produced a lot of material. The 21 tracks here, recorded at Randy’s, Black Ark, Harry J’s, Channel One and King Tubby’s studios are simply a taster of the total. Sadly Augustus Pablo (Horace Swaby) died in 1999 at only 46 from the nerve disorder ‘Myasthenia Gravis’ but left a whole discography behind for us to enjoy. The album features a whole host of bass players and drummers. On lead guitar is Earl ‘Chinna’ Smith and on rhythm guitar are Fazal Predergrass, Tommy McCook, Marquis, Bobby Ellis and Vincent Gordon. The saxophone is played by Richard ‘Dirty Harry’ Hall and Everton DaSilva is on percussions. For a good comparison check out King Tubby, Lee Perry or Scientist. The first two of which have also contributed to this album. I seriously recommend... Read review

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