Search - Steel Pulse :: Smash Hits

Craig likes very much

Craig Gatti | Down in the Autoshop of PHS in Poway, CA | 06/15/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Steel Pulse, steel pulse. Just to make it plain and simple. If you want to buy a good reggae CD and don't know what to get, and the only reggae artist you've heard is the one and only Bob Marley... try this one out. I think this is most likely the best single reggae CD that I own. I bought it because I didn't know what CD to get when I was first starting to listen to reggae, and my friend told me that it is a must for any collection. So, just buy this, trust me. You won't stop listening to it. It's got the tradional reggae sound with a good balance of funk tied into it. The steel drums are better than Amanda Brownell wehn she comes to my house every friday night. Great album. Hi Tom."

Remember when we were Kings and Queens?

Nse Ette | Lagos, Nigeria | 03/25/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was on holiday last weekend and had a brief stop-over at Ethiopia, land of Kings and Queens, and the Queen of Sheba. Also the land to which Rastafarians pledge allegiance. What has that got to do with this CD? A whole lot as, much like Bob Marley & the Wailers, the music of Steel Pulse is heavily steeped in biblical imagery and black pride with references to Ethiopia.



Steel Pulse is a UK Grammy winning Roots Reggae band formed in the 1970s. With a sound similar to Bob Marley's, but heavy in synthesizers and keyboards and danceable, their lyrics touched on the same topics Marley did.



"Not King James' version" takes a shot at the omission of black people from the Bible, stating that the Garden of Eden was located in Africa. "Worth his weight in gold (Rally round)" (and its dub-ier remix "Dub' Marcus say") is a eulogy to Marcus Garvey, with lyrics touching on the ills of slavery and colonization, and black pride. "Chant a Psalm" urges listeners to do just that to enable one resist temptation.



Most of my favourite songs are here; "Ravers" (a song about having fun, a break from their serious message), "Rollerskates" (telling us how important music is to life), "Your house" "Earth crisis" (touching on the ills of the world such as war, famine, and super power domination of the third world) and "Blues dance raid" (with lyrics about a police raid), to mention a few.



This CD is a great introduction to the music of Steel Pulse. Also highly recommended, their 1982 classic "True Democracy", which made me a fan.

"

Not the best of STEEL PULSE

R. sigler | Dallas, TX USA | 01/07/2000

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Any compilation that doesn't include SOUND SYSTEM, MACKA SPLAFF or HANDSWORTH REVOLUTION is suspect. The best place to start is REGGAE GREATS, as it contains the early-mid 70's songs, and those are truly classics! If you like your reggae watered down like pop music, buy this!"