I love Reggae but thankfully for you I am not as obsessive about it as I am about other forms of music, ok maybe I am but then I am more subdued about it. I spied this collection in my local HMV for £5-99 and it somehow slipped into my pocket, good thing too cause it has got two of my all time ... Read review
Advantages: Pressure Drop Disadvantages: 3 Songs with ghastly 80's production
I love Reggae but thankfully for you I am not as obsessive about it as I am about other forms of music, ok maybe I am but then I am more subdued about it. I spied this collection in my local HMV for £5-99 and it somehow slipped into my pocket, good thing too cause it has got two of my all time favorite songs on it "Reggae Got Soul" and Pressure Drop. This CD is part of Islands Reggae Greats series rather obviously from the Title isn’t it ... ...into a nice steady relaxed reggae grove and I am happily skanking away on my seat here. "Monkey Man" ups the tempo and I am chanting "Aye Aye Aye" hey I'm Scottish and we are infamously bad at doing Jamaican accents. However three classics to start of the disk makes it worthwhile already. The question being are we going to get more classics and the answer is yes the soulful "Just Like That" comes on next definitely snuggling ... more
I love Reggae but thankfully for you I am not as obsessive about it as I am about other forms of music, ok maybe I am but then I am more subdued about it. I spied this collection in my local HMV for £5-99 and it somehow slipped into my pocket, good thing too cause it has got two of my all time favorite songs on it "Reggae Got Soul" and Pressure Drop. This CD is part of Islands Reggae Greats series rather obviously from the Title isn’t it and has 12 chunks of chilled out Reggae by Toots and the Maytals on it.
Kicking off with "54-46 That’s My Number" a rocksteady number for 1968 based upon Toots time in prison, then moving onto "Reggae Got Soul" it moves into a nice steady relaxed reggae grove and I am happily skanking away on my seat here. "Monkey Man" ups the tempo and I am chanting "Aye Aye Aye" hey I'm Scottish and we are infamously bad at doing Jamaican accents. However three classics to start of the disk makes it worthwhile already. The question being are we going to get more classics and the answer is yes the soulful "Just Like That" comes on next definitely snuggling music this time.
"Funky Kingston" comes in with an unsurprisingly funky groove, and the vocal is delivered with some urgency as stunning bit of funky reggae. "Sweet & Dandy" sadly does nothing for me as it lacks some of the grove of the earlier tracks on this collection, not happy about this one it is spoiling my mood. It is soon elevated by the cover of "Take Me Home Country Roads" their is a definite grove here and I am happy again....... but for how long?
Well the next song "Time Tough" keeps me in a happy grove and I almost feel like I could muster a Jamaican accent but dignity prevents me from doing so, but jet another slice of cool laid back reggae.......... "Spiritual Healing" then spoiled things that nasty 80's drum sound comes in and ruins a perfectly bad slice of 80's mush bah I am unhappy................
This unhappiness is stopped by the next and possibly the greatest song on the album "PRESSURE DROP" 2 minutes and 55 seconds of reggae greatness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"I said a pressure drop, Oh pressure, oh yeah Pressure's gonna drop on you I said pressure drop Oh pressure, oh yeah Pressure's gonna drop on you"
and sorry I am now speaking in broad Jamaican but "Peace Perfect Peace" with that horrible 80's drum sound kills that desire. "Bam Bam" restores my good mood but it is too late as the CD has ended and I have slapped Pressure Drop onto repeat.............
"I said when it drops Oh you gonna feel it Oh that you were doin' it wrong, wrong, wrong Now when it drops Oh you gonna feel it That you were doin' it wrong and how................... Oh you gonna feel it That you were doin' it wrong and how"
Advantages: Yet another fantastic offering from the Kings of Ska music Disadvantages: Only ten tracks long, I wish there were more!
to Jamaica, and Barrett adjusts his vocals accordingly to take on a comical yet impressive Jamaican accent. It's quite laid back and tropical as you might imagine a reggae track to be, and by the sounds of it there are possibly only around three chords played in the guitar part for the entirety of the song!
This song fades out fairly early compared to the others, so I couldn't help feeling a little short changed at the end! But what I did get pleased my ears greatly.
Track Nine: Monkey Man - 7/10
Length: 2'30"
Reggae band Toots and the Maytals released Monkey Man in 1969. It has been covered by many bands including No Doubt and The Specials, but Reel Big Fish have covered it twice!
The band take on the Jamaican accent this time, and their version really reminds me of The Specials. Again, there don't seem to be many different ...
Product Information for "Reggae Greats - Toots & The Maytals" »
Product details
Title
Reggae Greats
Performer
Toots & The Maytals
Genre
Reggae
Sub Genre
Roots Reggae
Release Date
07/1997
Recomended Retail Price
4.99 GBP
Original Release Year
1989
Label / Distributor
Spectrum / Universal Music
Producer
Various
Pieces in Set
1
Studio / Live
Studio
Stereo
Stereo
Format
Performer
EAN
731455258424
Catalogue Number
5525842
Additional notes
Album Notes
Don't let this fossil from the dawn of the CD era fool you. Though it weighs in at a lightweight 35 minutes, this volume of the Island label series REGGAE GREATS features the distinctive pop reggae rhythm of Toots' first major UK hit, "Reggae Got Soul" as well as the exuberant "Sweet and Dandy." The latter combines a gospel feel with lyrics that concern hangovers after a pre-wedding celebration. This song and the glorious, skittering "Pressure Drop" (which was covered by the Clash) were featured in the seminal Jamaican reggae movie THE HARDER THEY COME. Also included here are the later, less successful Toots efforts "Spiritual Healing" and "Peace Perfect Peace," recorded in the mid-'80s after he had parted company with Maytals Nathaniel "Jerry" Mathias and Henry "Raleigh" Gordon. The take of "54-46 Was My Number," though not without interest, is an earlier, inferior version of the '60s Maytals hit about Toots' stay in a Kingston jail for possession of marijuana. But the band's cover of John Denver's "Take Me Home Country Roads" ("Almost heaven, west Jamaica...") remains a delight and even decades later, there's still no denying the mighty rock-steady rhythm of the group's first international hit, "Monkey Man."
Titles on disc 1
1.
54-46 Was My Number
2.
Reggae Got Soul
3.
Monkey Man
4.
Just Like That
5.
Funky Kingston
6.
Sweet And Dandy
7.
Take Me Home Country Roads
8.
Time Tough
9.
Spititual Healing
10.
Pressure Drop
11.
Peace Perfect Peace
12.
Bam Bam
Ciao
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18/03/2005
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