This album has such a good first track - it starts with a short melody, and then ploughs straight into the relentless, unforgiving bass that is the backbone of all dub reggae. The start to this album is so heavy and mystical, you’ll be restarting it a few times- trust me. Augustus Pablo was born Horace Swaby in 1954 and was one of the biggest players in the dub game. His music reflects his unique talent. He was the first to use the melodica as a serious instrument but also played keyboard, organ, piano, strings, clavinet and produced his own music.

Cassava Piece is the first and arguably the best track. It is from the ‘Original Rockers’ album and is the best introduction for any listener wondering what is to come. The second track ‘Baby I Love You So’ carries on from the first with the same addictive rhythm but with the voice of Jacob Miller on top singing the song from his 1992 album ‘Who Say Jah No Dread’, a great album itself. The third track ‘555 Crown Street’ is as promised, weighed down with bass and followed by an alternate dub track by King Tubby who engineered the album. If you haven’t heard any August Pablo material before, you’ll probably notice the melodica sounds before long. Its ghostly original tone could not be a better compliment to the sounds that those who are new to dub might find otherwise a bit bare. Track 5, taken from ‘Original Rockers 2’, is the Real Rock rhythm that has over the years been used by a whole heap of artists including Dennis Brown, Anthony B and Turbulence. Its one of those catchy whistle-along tunes that you have heard before but can’t think where and it’s obvious why it’s been so successful. Track 6 is a conscious number dealing with repatriation and the vocals are those of Bongo Pat. ‘Young Generation’ is then followed by its dub counterpart ‘New Style’ where the lyrics have been replaced by familiar experimental dub sounds.

Track 11, ‘Dub Ethiopia’ gets deeper and mystical on the Java riddim before moving onto ‘East Of The River Nile’, a more jumpy number well engineered with some subtle acoustics to help it flow, taken from the album of the same name released in 1977. Track 13 hears the barely known band ‘Tetrack’ singing ‘Lets Get Together’ before being dubbed for track 14 and named after the Kingston street ‘Black Ants Lane’. It is then dubbed again for track 15, ‘Memories Of The Ghetto’.

Personally I really enjoy all the tracks on the album, but perhaps putting the dub version as well as the original version for a few tracks is unnecessary as it takes up the valuable space on this compilation CD.

Perhaps because it is seen as a ‘spin off’ from traditional roots reggae, dub is not as popular as it really should be. The genre is limited possibly by the fact that it sounds far, far better when played on a sound system that no I-Pod or home stereo can ever match (unless you got a lot of money and nice neighbours). 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.

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.