The Reggae Box

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It's hard not to think that Hip-O's The Reggae Box will be the definitive word on the genre, not just because it spans four discs, but because Hip-O has open access to the Island vaults, and Island is to reggae as Sun is to rockabilly, meaning it's the defining force and leading light. With that as a base and with cross-licensing as a secret weapon, this could have been a stunner, but instead it just is a very good history that tends to lean toward the contemporary instead of the classic. At first, this doesn't seem to be a problem, particularly because the first disc runs through pre-reggae and early-reggae classics at an engaging clip, something that continues through the second disc. Then, things begin to bog down with good, but not classic songs, and it becomes easy to notice that some big, big songs by the likes of Bob Marley, Black Uhuru, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Peter Tosh are missing, among many others. What here is hardly bad -- and as a rough history, it's pretty terrific -- but it's hard not to be slightly disappointed that it isn't definitive, given its ambitions and possibilities, especially when compared to the tremendous 1992 set The Story of Jamaican Music: Tougher Than Tough. Still, this is a good, even educational listen, and few sets come as close as this to being truly comprehensive. Still, it's not as comprehensive as it could have been, and it's hard not to wish that it was more sweeping than it is. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Artist	Various Artists
Format	CD
Genre	Reggae
Label Name	Hip-O
Producer	Jimmy Cliff, Third World, Soothsayer, Glen Brown, Jah Screw, Jah Thomas, Prince Jammy, King Tubby, Duke Reid, Tony Rebel, Chris Blackwell, Stuart Brown, Philip "Fatis" Burrell, Prince Buster, Lloyd Charmers, Augustus "Gussie" Clarke, Sly Dunbar, Lynford "Fatta" Marshall, Donovan Germain, Joel Gibson, Lloyd James, Leslie Kong, Bunny Lee, Sugar Minott, Augustus Pablo, Lee "Scratch" Perry, George Phang, Alvin Ranglin, Robbie Shakespeare, Karl Toppin, Collin "Bulbie" York, Mikey Bennett, Clifton Dillon, Henry "Junjo" Lawes, Bernard Collins, Winston Riley, Bob Marley & the Wailers, Dr. Israel, Claude Evans, Harry Johnson, Bobby "Digital" Dixon, Harry Mudie, Dub Organiser, Winston Blake, Janet Enwright, Justin Yap, Richard "Bello" Bell, Lawrence "Jack Ruby" Lindo
Release Date	2001 11 13
Song List	1: Forward March (2:51) 2: My Boy Lollipop (2:01) 3: Bank to Bank, Pt. 1 (2:07) 4: Count Ossie Special (2:43) 5: Broadway Jungle (2:49) 6: Carry Go Bring Come (2:50) 7: Eastern Standard Time (3:13) 8: Hard Man Fe Dead (3:22) 9: Confucius (2:54) 10: Tide Is High (2:44) 11: Take It Easy (2:49) 12: Ba Ba Boom (3:19) 13: Tougher Than Tough (2:26) 14: Queen Majesty (3:31) 15: Long Shot (2:45) 16: Israelites (2:35) 17: 54-46 Was My Number (3:12) 18: Reggae Hit the Town (2:24) 19: My Conversation (2:38) 20: Rivers of Babylon (4:16) 21: Double Barrel (2:50) 22: Everything I Own (3:44) 23: The Harder They Come (3:07) 24: Stalag 17 (2:58) 25: Satta Massagana (3:39) 26: Trench Town Rock (3:27) 27: Blood and Fire (3:06) 28: Cherry Oh Baby (3:01) 29: Better Must Come (2:44) 30: Book of Rules (3:27) 31: Westbound Train (3:01) 32: Baby I Love You So (2:30) 33: No. 1 in the World (2:40) 34: King Tubby Meets the Rockers Uptown (2:31) 35: All Nations Bow (2:52) 36: Marcus Garvey (3:25) 37: Don't Trouble Trouble (3:43) 38: War and Friction (3:21) 39: Ballistic Affair (3:08) 40: War Ina Babylon (4:50) 41: Roots, Rock, Reggae (3:38) 42: 1865 (96° in the Shade) (4:06) 43: At the Feast (3:40) 44: My Number One (3:44) 45: Police and Thieves (4:12) 46: Black Roots (2:31) 47: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (6:01) 48: One Love Jam Down (4:00) 49: Entertainment (3:26) 50: Sitting and Watching (3:18) 51: Ganja Smuggling (3:51) 52: Pass the Kouchie (3:34) 53: Night Nurse (4:02) 54: Zungguzungguguzungguzeng (4:09) 55: Water Pumping (3:07) 56: Pass the Tu-Sheng-Peng (3:30) 57: Here I Come (3:46) 58: Under Me Sleng Teng (4:09) 59: Ring the Alarm (3:13) 60: Tempo (3:30) 61: Greetings (3:35) 62: Boops (3:59) 63: Punanny (3:23) 64: Hol' a Fresh (3:54) 65: Rumours (3:20) 66: Telephone Love (3:28) 67: Bandolero (3:31) 68: Strive (4:13) 69: Murder She Wrote (4:04) 70: Mr. Loveman (5:40) 71: Flex (4:01) 72: Dancehall Queen [Delano Renaissance Mix] (4:34) 73: Down in the Ghetto (3:30) 74: Tour (3:59) 75: It's Me Again Jah (3:59) 76: Untold Stories (4:34) 77: Fire Pon Rome (3:52) 78: I and I Saw Them Coming (4:10) 79: Rough Inna Town (3:56) 80: Armagideon Time (4:04) 81: Warning (3:37) 82: Set Yourself Free (3:45) 83: Ghetto People Song (3:47) 84: Party in Session [Main Mix] (3:46) 85: What's the Matter With the World (3:50) 86: I Love Jah (3:47) 87: Taking Over (4:04)
Style.Categories	Smooth Reggae, Political Reggae, Bluebeat, Contemporary Reggae, Roots Reggae, Reggae-Pop, Ragga, Dub, Dancehall, Rocksteady, Lovers Rock, Ska, Soul

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