Marley Still Shines
Clara Reilly | Florida | 10/01/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This record contains some of Marley's most famous songs such as Jamming, Waiting In Vain and of course Exodus. Beautiful writing and performances throughout the record and People Get Ready is steller. This is one of the best recvords ever recorded and stands up decades later. You really cannot go wrong with any Marley recoord, but this record and Legend (a compilation) are two good ones. Exodus is wonderful, but Legen has many of the hits from Exodus plus some other great tracks such as No Woman No Cry, Buffalo Solider and Redemption Song (probably my favorite Marley song of all of them.)"
Excellent
Wyote | Seoul | 05/16/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I grew up in a non-musical household: no one played anything, and the only music we heard was in church and my mother's occasional white southern gospel music (the Oak Ridge Boys and so on). Rock was Satanic, and no one had heard of classical music. I've spent the nearly two decades of my adult life compensating for this tragedy!
Of course reggae wasn't on the map either. (Had it been, it would've been forbidden due to its association with Rastafarianism.)
Well, no matter what your religious views, this is an album that you really should hear, and I should've heard sooner. I got it a few weeks ago, have heard it a few times, and it is unquestionably excellent in every way: musically, lyrically, technically, spiritually. (This is not to endorse Rastafarianism, about which I know almost nothing, but the lyrics of the song "Guiltiness," for instance, are solidly in the great prophetic tradition stretching back to Amos and Isaiah.)
What I mean to say: this album is an essential moment in the history of 20th century popular music. If you've educated yourself about classic rock, jazz, the blues, it's time you got some reggae, and you won't want to miss this.
Let me toss in some other "Latin" albums (a category that doesn't really please me, but it's out there anyway and I'll use it this time) I'd consider important for anyone aspiring to cultural literacy: Calypso stands at the beginning of this tradition; I Can See Clearly Now is probably the most famous example of it; Mambo Diablo seems to have been unfairly neglected in recent decades; Getz/Gilberto may be the all-time single greatest album in this category; but Wave should not be overlooked. Many hours of great pleasure await us!
"Don't worry about a thing, cuz every little thing is gonna be alright.""