Uprising

by

Bob Marley & The Wailers

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Many Bob Marley fans insist the best or "real" Marley is the rawer, rootsier early stuff like CATCH A FIRE or the early Tuff Gong recordings. While I would agree that you can't go wrong with virtually any Bob Marley album, I personally prefer the more polished and (even more) melodic pop reggae he created towards the end of his career, like KAYA and this fantastic album, UPRISING.

On UPRISING, Marley is at the height of his powers and he's accompanied by a stellar band. All of the musical elements fall perfectly into place on every single track. These tunes demonstrate that Marley had a greater, more sophisticated mastery over his craft at this particular point in his life. He was making the best of every moment he had. It's been a while since I read Tim White's excellent and highly recommended Bob Marley biography CATCH A FIRE, but I'm pretty sure Marley was aware that he had brain cancer during the recording of this album. Sadly, his tragic death was just around the corner.

Without a doubt, this is soulful, spiritual music whether the songs deal with worldly themes such as on "Pimper's Paradise" or overtly religious ones like "Forever Loving Jah." Even an agnostic like me can revel in the warm love and sheer joy in this music, which I feel even when Bob addresses the negative sides of life as he does on "Bad Card," for example. This album is loaded with important, universal themes the whole world should hear. The last track (on the original album release), "Redemption Song," featuring Marley alone on vocal and guitar, is something quite different from the other tracks and it's particularly poignant. On the whole, UPRISING is so fun to listen to and so groove-worthy that I've heard it hundreds of times and I never get tired of it.

The bonus cuts are not essential. The full band version of "Redemption Song" is interesting, driven by piano and a more reserved Marley vocal. The soulful, original album version featuring only Bob on vocal and guitar remains the definitive version. As for the extended 12" mix of "Could You Be Loved?", again, it's not definitive, but you really can't go wrong with more of such a great song.

Bob Marley may not have exactly created raggae but he's the one who made it great and he's still the best raggae musician of all time. He's one of the greatest musicians ever, regardless of the genre.

This album sounds like Exodus rejects. If you like Exodus (I do)and gave it 5 stars, you'll probably find this acceptable, and that's the problem: it's more-of-the-same lite. The first half is great background music, but the second half is where the good songs lie. In fact, just buy Legend. Give it 3&half stars.

If you feel that the REAL Wailers are captured by Catch a Fire, and Burnin', then give this 2&half stars, as the sound is weak but the production is top notch, just what the American pop rock audience wants. The band is on fire, but the writing is lacking, Bob is not singing his best, the I Threes are taking no chances, and the reggae is turned down and the rock is turned up. This probably sold a lot. I like the reggae better when Peter Tosh was around, the music was denser and more mystic, and the beat was more challenging with a real edge.