Good album, but no real progression, 20 Oct 2007
After the stunning artistic and commercial success of "Sinsemillia", going back into the studio with the same band a few months later was hardly going to produce poor results. Unfortunately, having torn up the rule book with their last LP, they presented us with more of the same. "Youth of Eglington", "Utterance" and "Sponji Reggae" can still bring a smile the faces of all but the most terminally miserable, and there are some wonderful backing tracks on here, with Sly and Robbie stretching themselves due to having freedom to experiment, but it really is little more than "Sinsemillia Part 2", so only four stars, sorry

Top of the (Sensi) tree!, 25 Feb 2006
Arguably their best work,with classics such as "Sponji Reggae", "Carbine", "Puff She Puff".Music to chill with a spliff to!!! Buy this record if you can, you will not be disappointed.

Good album, but no real progression, 20 Oct 2007
After the stunning artistic and commercial success of "Sinsemillia", going back into the studio with the same band a few months later was hardly going to produce poor results. Unfortunately, having torn up the rule book with their last LP, they presented us with more of the same. "Youth of Eglington", "Utterance" and "Sponji Reggae" can still bring a smile the faces of all but the most terminally miserable, and there are some wonderful backing tracks on here, with Sly and Robbie stretching themselves due to having freedom to experiment, but it really is little more than "Sinsemillia Part 2", so only four stars, sorry

Top of the (Sensi) tree!, 25 Feb 2006
Arguably their best work,with classics such as "Sponji Reggae", "Carbine", "Puff She Puff".Music to chill with a spliff to!!! Buy this record if you can, you will not be disappointed.

Dazed and Daring, 19 Jun 2008
I remember the first time I met someone else who also knew this album. That was about 20 years ago in France, and the bloke was a Punk bloke with the most extreme look and a pronounced taste for very hardcore music. For some reason he was at my place for a party and at some point I played this album. That certainly got his attention as he already knew and loved this album and we struck a lasting immediate friendship there and then.

I think this is the moct important thing about this album. It transcends the closed up Dub world to a larger experimental world of open minded people. The production is impeccable, and it certainly will twist your mind when you have smoked a few too many spliffs, but even now that I have not been smoking for so long I still love this album for how dazed and daring it is.

Blow Those Speakers, 09 Oct 2006
This is speaker shredding dub. This is dub taken into the 21st century, 17 years before the end of the 20th one. If you love dub, you'll already have this. If you're curious to find out what dub is all about, this is a good place to start. There's real imagination, real vision and real bass heavy frequencies here.

Nuclear meltdown - inna dub plate style!, 01 Jan 2001
The Dub Factor is one of the hardest most astonishing dub albums ever to be released. Almost 2 decades ago Paul "Groucho" Smykle captured some of Uhurus's ruffest tracks from the early 80s, smuggled them into the top secret laboratories of The Fallout Shelter in London and remixed the hell out of them to create a powerful and disturbing apocalyptic journey into the deepest and darkest realms of heavyweight drum and bass. Along the way you will hear echoing into infinity the sharp, piercing, tribal tones of Michael Rose, fused with the amorphous, spectral harmonies of Puma Jones and Duckie Simpson, all of which interweaving ten ballistically turbo-charged riddims blasted onto your soundscape with uncompromising power by Sly Drum-bar and Robbie Bass-spear. Smykle went on to perfect his unusual mixing techniques on a later project entitled "A Dub Experience" for Sly & Robbie, an album which could be considered The Dub Factor Volume II since it continues in much the same futuristic vein - albeit without the stunning vocal dexterities of Uhuru which make this album so unique. An absolute MUST.

Good album, but no real progression, 20 Oct 2007
After the stunning artistic and commercial success of "Sinsemillia", going back into the studio with the same band a few months later was hardly going to produce poor results. Unfortunately, having torn up the rule book with their last LP, they presented us with more of the same. "Youth of Eglington", "Utterance" and "Sponji Reggae" can still bring a smile the faces of all but the most terminally miserable, and there are some wonderful backing tracks on here, with Sly and Robbie stretching themselves due to having freedom to experiment, but it really is little more than "Sinsemillia Part 2", so only four stars, sorry

Top of the (Sensi) tree!, 25 Feb 2006
Arguably their best work,with classics such as "Sponji Reggae", "Carbine", "Puff She Puff".Music to chill with a spliff to!!! Buy this record if you can, you will not be disappointed.

Dazed and Daring, 19 Jun 2008
I remember the first time I met someone else who also knew this album. That was about 20 years ago in France, and the bloke was a Punk bloke with the most extreme look and a pronounced taste for very hardcore music. For some reason he was at my place for a party and at some point I played this album. That certainly got his attention as he already knew and loved this album and we struck a lasting immediate friendship there and then.

I think this is the moct important thing about this album. It transcends the closed up Dub world to a larger experimental world of open minded people. The production is impeccable, and it certainly will twist your mind when you have smoked a few too many spliffs, but even now that I have not been smoking for so long I still love this album for how dazed and daring it is.

Blow Those Speakers, 09 Oct 2006
This is speaker shredding dub. This is dub taken into the 21st century, 17 years before the end of the 20th one. If you love dub, you'll already have this. If you're curious to find out what dub is all about, this is a good place to start. There's real imagination, real vision and real bass heavy frequencies here.

Nuclear meltdown - inna dub plate style!, 01 Jan 2001
The Dub Factor is one of the hardest most astonishing dub albums ever to be released. Almost 2 decades ago Paul "Groucho" Smykle captured some of Uhurus's ruffest tracks from the early 80s, smuggled them into the top secret laboratories of The Fallout Shelter in London and remixed the hell out of them to create a powerful and disturbing apocalyptic journey into the deepest and darkest realms of heavyweight drum and bass. Along the way you will hear echoing into infinity the sharp, piercing, tribal tones of Michael Rose, fused with the amorphous, spectral harmonies of Puma Jones and Duckie Simpson, all of which interweaving ten ballistically turbo-charged riddims blasted onto your soundscape with uncompromising power by Sly Drum-bar and Robbie Bass-spear. Smykle went on to perfect his unusual mixing techniques on a later project entitled "A Dub Experience" for Sly & Robbie, an album which could be considered The Dub Factor Volume II since it continues in much the same futuristic vein - albeit without the stunning vocal dexterities of Uhuru which make this album so unique. An absolute MUST.

Groundbreaking album, 16 Oct 2007
Having cut numerous massive selling 12" singles with Sly and Robbie ("Leaving To Zion", "General Penitentiary", "Shine Eye Gal") for a variety of labels, Black Uhuru were snapped up by Island and given a contract that allowed them enough studio time to make albums, and sent to work with their favourite ryhthm section.

The result was an album that was far ahead of most reggae of its time, and pointed the way towards the emerging digital dancehall sounds, without resorting to the cheap sexism of the "slackness" that so disfigured that music's early years. Working at Channel One with a few former Revolutionaries (Radcliffe Bryan, Ranchie McLean and Ansel Collins) on hand to beef up the sound, with ernest Hoo Kim at the controls, and with tunes as strong as "World Is Africa" and "Push Push", plus the powerful title track and the blasting opener "Happiness", this album is a joy from start to finish

good vibes, 03 Oct 2005
the first two tracks on this CD r now amongst my favourites. the other tracks r also very easy to listen.
i bought this CD after it came up as a recommendation.
all in all a very good purchase to add to my growing collection of reggae music.

Awesome, 27 May 2004
This CD really captures the Sensi smoking vibe. Get it and you won't regret it.

Good album, but no real progression, 20 Oct 2007
After the stunning artistic and commercial success of "Sinsemillia", going back into the studio with the same band a few months later was hardly going to produce poor results. Unfortunately, having torn up the rule book with their last LP, they presented us with more of the same. "Youth of Eglington", "Utterance" and "Sponji Reggae" can still bring a smile the faces of all but the most terminally miserable, and there are some wonderful backing tracks on here, with Sly and Robbie stretching themselves due to having freedom to experiment, but it really is little more than "Sinsemillia Part 2", so only four stars, sorry

Top of the (Sensi) tree!, 25 Feb 2006
Arguably their best work,with classics such as "Sponji Reggae", "Carbine", "Puff She Puff".Music to chill with a spliff to!!! Buy this record if you can, you will not be disappointed.

Dazed and Daring, 19 Jun 2008
I remember the first time I met someone else who also knew this album. That was about 20 years ago in France, and the bloke was a Punk bloke with the most extreme look and a pronounced taste for very hardcore music. For some reason he was at my place for a party and at some point I played this album. That certainly got his attention as he already knew and loved this album and we struck a lasting immediate friendship there and then.

I think this is the moct important thing about this album. It transcends the closed up Dub world to a larger experimental world of open minded people. The production is impeccable, and it certainly will twist your mind when you have smoked a few too many spliffs, but even now that I have not been smoking for so long I still love this album for how dazed and daring it is.

Blow Those Speakers, 09 Oct 2006
This is speaker shredding dub. This is dub taken into the 21st century, 17 years before the end of the 20th one. If you love dub, you'll already have this. If you're curious to find out what dub is all about, this is a good place to start. There's real imagination, real vision and real bass heavy frequencies here.

Nuclear meltdown - inna dub plate style!, 01 Jan 2001
The Dub Factor is one of the hardest most astonishing dub albums ever to be released. Almost 2 decades ago Paul "Groucho" Smykle captured some of Uhurus's ruffest tracks from the early 80s, smuggled them into the top secret laboratories of The Fallout Shelter in London and remixed the hell out of them to create a powerful and disturbing apocalyptic journey into the deepest and darkest realms of heavyweight drum and bass. Along the way you will hear echoing into infinity the sharp, piercing, tribal tones of Michael Rose, fused with the amorphous, spectral harmonies of Puma Jones and Duckie Simpson, all of which interweaving ten ballistically turbo-charged riddims blasted onto your soundscape with uncompromising power by Sly Drum-bar and Robbie Bass-spear. Smykle went on to perfect his unusual mixing techniques on a later project entitled "A Dub Experience" for Sly & Robbie, an album which could be considered The Dub Factor Volume II since it continues in much the same futuristic vein - albeit without the stunning vocal dexterities of Uhuru which make this album so unique. An absolute MUST.

Groundbreaking album, 16 Oct 2007
Having cut numerous massive selling 12" singles with Sly and Robbie ("Leaving To Zion", "General Penitentiary", "Shine Eye Gal") for a variety of labels, Black Uhuru were snapped up by Island and given a contract that allowed them enough studio time to make albums, and sent to work with their favourite ryhthm section.

The result was an album that was far ahead of most reggae of its time, and pointed the way towards the emerging digital dancehall sounds, without resorting to the cheap sexism of the "slackness" that so disfigured that music's early years. Working at Channel One with a few former Revolutionaries (Radcliffe Bryan, Ranchie McLean and Ansel Collins) on hand to beef up the sound, with ernest Hoo Kim at the controls, and with tunes as strong as "World Is Africa" and "Push Push", plus the powerful title track and the blasting opener "Happiness", this album is a joy from start to finish

good vibes, 03 Oct 2005
the first two tracks on this CD r now amongst my favourites. the other tracks r also very easy to listen.
i bought this CD after it came up as a recommendation.
all in all a very good purchase to add to my growing collection of reggae music.

Awesome, 27 May 2004
This CD really captures the Sensi smoking vibe. Get it and you won't regret it.

Vital showcase of a group at their peak, 27 Dec 2007
Double CD with 28 tracks not in chronological order. The 1980 -1985 line up of Michael Rose, Duckie Simpson, and Puma from the Island Records albums. Of course the vital rhythm section of Sly Dunbar on drums and Robbie Shakespeare helped to make Black Uhuru so important in reggae music, their hard-hitting beats combined so well with superb expressive vocals of Michael Rose, complimented by the haunting harmonies of Puma and Duckie. `The World is Africa', `Sinsimelia', Bull in the Pen', `What is Life?' ,Happiness`, 'Guess who's Coming to Dinner', are still crucial cuts some twenty five years. The live version of ` Shine Eye Gal' is not so chilling as the original studio version , but is still excellent. `Chill Out' is superb, reggae veering towards funk, mainly show casing Sly and Robbie's vital talents. The dub remixes `Youth' `Slaughter' and `Ion Storm' , are fair but not exactly cutting edge. The best Black Uhuru dub work was to appear slightly later. Overall a great introduction to a very talented band at their peak which has aged well.

Black Uhuru Island Anthology, 14 Jun 2003
This 2 cd album is an absolute diamond in Black Uhuru's album's, just about covering the very best of all their album's. To own this is a pure treat in dub and reggae experience.

The beginning of Dub Reggae!, 01 Jun 2001
First of all it's 'Natty Dread' not Matty Dread.

This is a superb collection of Uhuru's best cuts for Island records, full of spritual, political and revolutionary beats. Backed up by the outstanding rhythem section of Sly & Robbie.

For me the standout tunes are Sinsemillia, Utterance and Puff She Puff.

Michael Rose's voice leads the exodus back to the spritual homeland of Babylon and for anyone who just likes the beats and not the message contained in the lyrics, takes you to a Caribbean beach, palm trees, blue sea and cocktails and the ultimate feeling of nirvana!!

Guess Who's Comin' To Dinner..., 28 Aug 2000
A great liberation. It's like a mountain...Impassible,Impossible! All you have to do is guess who's comin to dinner! Matty Dreadlocks! Thats Right And If You do not like it Get out and party on anuder boat Brudda! I mean, his hair will tangle you up in blue (listen if your out there bob dylan!) and dazzle you in his hypnotic musical power! This Is A Must-Buy!

Good album, but no real progression, 20 Oct 2007
After the stunning artistic and commercial success of "Sinsemillia", going back into the studio with the same band a few months later was hardly going to produce poor results. Unfortunately, having torn up the rule book with their last LP, they presented us with more of the same. "Youth of Eglington", "Utterance" and "Sponji Reggae" can still bring a smile the faces of all but the most terminally miserable, and there are some wonderful backing tracks on here, with Sly and Robbie stretching themselves due to having freedom to experiment, but it really is little more than "Sinsemillia Part 2", so only four stars, sorry

Top of the (Sensi) tree!, 25 Feb 2006
Arguably their best work,with classics such as "Sponji Reggae", "Carbine", "Puff She Puff".Music to chill with a spliff to!!! Buy this record if you can, you will not be disappointed.

Dazed and Daring, 19 Jun 2008
I remember the first time I met someone else who also knew this album. That was about 20 years ago in France, and the bloke was a Punk bloke with the most extreme look and a pronounced taste for very hardcore music. For some reason he was at my place for a party and at some point I played this album. That certainly got his attention as he already knew and loved this album and we struck a lasting immediate friendship there and then.

I think this is the moct important thing about this album. It transcends the closed up Dub world to a larger experimental world of open minded people. The production is impeccable, and it certainly will twist your mind when you have smoked a few too many spliffs, but even now that I have not been smoking for so long I still love this album for how dazed and daring it is.

Blow Those Speakers, 09 Oct 2006
This is speaker shredding dub. This is dub taken into the 21st century, 17 years before the end of the 20th one. If you love dub, you'll already have this. If you're curious to find out what dub is all about, this is a good place to start. There's real imagination, real vision and real bass heavy frequencies here.

Nuclear meltdown - inna dub plate style!, 01 Jan 2001
The Dub Factor is one of the hardest most astonishing dub albums ever to be released. Almost 2 decades ago Paul "Groucho" Smykle captured some of Uhurus's ruffest tracks from the early 80s, smuggled them into the top secret laboratories of The Fallout Shelter in London and remixed the hell out of them to create a powerful and disturbing apocalyptic journey into the deepest and darkest realms of heavyweight drum and bass. Along the way you will hear echoing into infinity the sharp, piercing, tribal tones of Michael Rose, fused with the amorphous, spectral harmonies of Puma Jones and Duckie Simpson, all of which interweaving ten ballistically turbo-charged riddims blasted onto your soundscape with uncompromising power by Sly Drum-bar and Robbie Bass-spear. Smykle went on to perfect his unusual mixing techniques on a later project entitled "A Dub Experience" for Sly & Robbie, an album which could be considered The Dub Factor Volume II since it continues in much the same futuristic vein - albeit without the stunning vocal dexterities of Uhuru which make this album so unique. An absolute MUST.

Groundbreaking album, 16 Oct 2007
Having cut numerous massive selling 12" singles with Sly and Robbie ("Leaving To Zion", "General Penitentiary", "Shine Eye Gal") for a variety of labels, Black Uhuru were snapped up by Island and given a contract that allowed them enough studio time to make albums, and sent to work with their favourite ryhthm section.

The result was an album that was far ahead of most reggae of its time, and pointed the way towards the emerging digital dancehall sounds, without resorting to the cheap sexism of the "slackness" that so disfigured that music's early years. Working at Channel One with a few former Revolutionaries (Radcliffe Bryan, Ranchie McLean and Ansel Collins) on hand to beef up the sound, with ernest Hoo Kim at the controls, and with tunes as strong as "World Is Africa" and "Push Push", plus the powerful title track and the blasting opener "Happiness", this album is a joy from start to finish

good vibes, 03 Oct 2005
the first two tracks on this CD r now amongst my favourites. the other tracks r also very easy to listen.
i bought this CD after it came up as a recommendation.
all in all a very good purchase to add to my growing collection of reggae music.

Awesome, 27 May 2004
This CD really captures the Sensi smoking vibe. Get it and you won't regret it.

Vital showcase of a group at their peak, 27 Dec 2007
Double CD with 28 tracks not in chronological order. The 1980 -1985 line up of Michael Rose, Duckie Simpson, and Puma from the Island Records albums. Of course the vital rhythm section of Sly Dunbar on drums and Robbie Shakespeare helped to make Black Uhuru so important in reggae music, their hard-hitting beats combined so well with superb expressive vocals of Michael Rose, complimented by the haunting harmonies of Puma and Duckie. `The World is Africa', `Sinsimelia', Bull in the Pen', `What is Life?' ,Happiness`, 'Guess who's Coming to Dinner', are still crucial cuts some twenty five years. The live version of ` Shine Eye Gal' is not so chilling as the original studio version , but is still excellent. `Chill Out' is superb, reggae veering towards funk, mainly show casing Sly and Robbie's vital talents. The dub remixes `Youth' `Slaughter' and `Ion Storm' , are fair but not exactly cutting edge. The best Black Uhuru dub work was to appear slightly later. Overall a great introduction to a very talented band at their peak which has aged well.

Black Uhuru Island Anthology, 14 Jun 2003
This 2 cd album is an absolute diamond in Black Uhuru's album's, just about covering the very best of all their album's. To own this is a pure treat in dub and reggae experience.

The beginning of Dub Reggae!, 01 Jun 2001
First of all it's 'Natty Dread' not Matty Dread.

This is a superb collection of Uhuru's best cuts for Island records, full of spritual, political and revolutionary beats. Backed up by the outstanding rhythem section of Sly & Robbie.

For me the standout tunes are Sinsemillia, Utterance and Puff She Puff.

Michael Rose's voice leads the exodus back to the spritual homeland of Babylon and for anyone who just likes the beats and not the message contained in the lyrics, takes you to a Caribbean beach, palm trees, blue sea and cocktails and the ultimate feeling of nirvana!!

Guess Who's Comin' To Dinner..., 28 Aug 2000
A great liberation. It's like a mountain...Impassible,Impossible! All you have to do is guess who's comin to dinner! Matty Dreadlocks! Thats Right And If You do not like it Get out and party on anuder boat Brudda! I mean, his hair will tangle you up in blue (listen if your out there bob dylan!) and dazzle you in his hypnotic musical power! This Is A Must-Buy!

Sly, Robbie and The Stones, 08 Jul 2007
"Black Uhuru" by Black Uhuru has been released many times, under various titles such as "Showcase" and "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner". I first came across it as a vinyl LP on Virgin UK, VX1004 being the catalogue number. At that point in my life, I thought that reggae began and ended with the (then) ubiquitous UB40. From the opening, mournful Hammond organ chords of "Shine Eye Gal" to the dub playout of "Plastic Smile", this album transformed my life and led me down the righteous path of roots reggae.

I had heard nothing like it before. Stripped-down rhythms, often just the drum/bass interplay of Sly and Robbie, with minimal input from guitar or keyboards, this was the message of Africa written large through my inadequate speakers. Seven killer bass lines, three voices wreathed together in smoky harmony, penetrating visionary lyrics and a dub-based production which led each track into a meltdown before giving way to the next Biblical chapter.

I was lucky enough many years later to meet Lee Perry at Heathrow Airport. Once he had got over his amazement at a white guy recognising him, and also being able to talk his subject in detail, he agreed that this was the ultimate late-1970s roots album. "This album was JA through and through" he told me, that heady fusion of street violence, personal discovery and deep-seated Rasta that pervaded the life of all on the island during the last months of Marley's mission on earth.

Whatever you may be thinking right now, buy this CD and tune into a time now gone. And check out the guitar on the first track, "Shine Eye Gal" - duties undertaken by one Keith Richards, who was at his JA home during the recording and taken to the studio by Peter Tosh to add his chops to the mix.

Good album, but no real progression, 20 Oct 2007
After the stunning artistic and commercial success of "Sinsemillia", going back into the studio with the same band a few months later was hardly going to produce poor results. Unfortunately, having torn up the rule book with their last LP, they presented us with more of the same. "Youth of Eglington", "Utterance" and "Sponji Reggae" can still bring a smile the faces of all but the most terminally miserable, and there are some wonderful backing tracks on here, with Sly and Robbie stretching themselves due to having freedom to experiment, but it really is little more than "Sinsemillia Part 2", so only four stars, sorry

Top of the (Sensi) tree!, 25 Feb 2006
Arguably their best work,with classics such as "Sponji Reggae", "Carbine", "Puff She Puff".Music to chill with a spliff to!!! Buy this record if you can, you will not be disappointed.

Dazed and Daring, 19 Jun 2008
I remember the first time I met someone else who also knew this album. That was about 20 years ago in France, and the bloke was a Punk bloke with the most extreme look and a pronounced taste for very hardcore music. For some reason he was at my place for a party and at some point I played this album. That certainly got his attention as he already knew and loved this album and we struck a lasting immediate friendship there and then.

I think this is the moct important thing about this album. It transcends the closed up Dub world to a larger experimental world of open minded people. The production is impeccable, and it certainly will twist your mind when you have smoked a few too many spliffs, but even now that I have not been smoking for so long I still love this album for how dazed and daring it is.

Blow Those Speakers, 09 Oct 2006
This is speaker shredding dub. This is dub taken into the 21st century, 17 years before the end of the 20th one. If you love dub, you'll already have this. If you're curious to find out what dub is all about, this is a good place to start. There's real imagination, real vision and real bass heavy frequencies here.

Nuclear meltdown - inna dub plate style!, 01 Jan 2001
The Dub Factor is one of the hardest most astonishing dub albums ever to be released. Almost 2 decades ago Paul "Groucho" Smykle captured some of Uhurus's ruffest tracks from the early 80s, smuggled them into the top secret laboratories of The Fallout Shelter in London and remixed the hell out of them to create a powerful and disturbing apocalyptic journey into the deepest and darkest realms of heavyweight drum and bass. Along the way you will hear echoing into infinity the sharp, piercing, tribal tones of Michael Rose, fused with the amorphous, spectral harmonies of Puma Jones and Duckie Simpson, all of which interweaving ten ballistically turbo-charged riddims blasted onto your soundscape with uncompromising power by Sly Drum-bar and Robbie Bass-spear. Smykle went on to perfect his unusual mixing techniques on a later project entitled "A Dub Experience" for Sly & Robbie, an album which could be considered The Dub Factor Volume II since it continues in much the same futuristic vein - albeit without the stunning vocal dexterities of Uhuru which make this album so unique. An absolute MUST.

Groundbreaking album, 16 Oct 2007
Having cut numerous massive selling 12" singles with Sly and Robbie ("Leaving To Zion", "General Penitentiary", "Shine Eye Gal") for a variety of labels, Black Uhuru were snapped up by Island and given a contract that allowed them enough studio time to make albums, and sent to work with their favourite ryhthm section.

The result was an album that was far ahead of most reggae of its time, and pointed the way towards the emerging digital dancehall sounds, without resorting to the cheap sexism of the "slackness" that so disfigured that music's early years. Working at Channel One with a few former Revolutionaries (Radcliffe Bryan, Ranchie McLean and Ansel Collins) on hand to beef up the sound, with ernest Hoo Kim at the controls, and with tunes as strong as "World Is Africa" and "Push Push", plus the powerful title track and the blasting opener "Happiness", this album is a joy from start to finish

good vibes, 03 Oct 2005
the first two tracks on this CD r now amongst my favourites. the other tracks r also very easy to listen.
i bought this CD after it came up as a recommendation.
all in all a very good purchase to add to my growing collection of reggae music.

Awesome, 27 May 2004
This CD really captures the Sensi smoking vibe. Get it and you won't regret it.

Vital showcase of a group at their peak, 27 Dec 2007
Double CD with 28 tracks not in chronological order. The 1980 -1985 line up of Michael Rose, Duckie Simpson, and Puma from the Island Records albums. Of course the vital rhythm section of Sly Dunbar on drums and Robbie Shakespeare helped to make Black Uhuru so important in reggae music, their hard-hitting beats combined so well with superb expressive vocals of Michael Rose, complimented by the haunting harmonies of Puma and Duckie. `The World is Africa', `Sinsimelia', Bull in the Pen', `What is Life?' ,Happiness`, 'Guess who's Coming to Dinner', are still crucial cuts some twenty five years. The live version of ` Shine Eye Gal' is not so chilling as the original studio version , but is still excellent. `Chill Out' is superb, reggae veering towards funk, mainly show casing Sly and Robbie's vital talents. The dub remixes `Youth' `Slaughter' and `Ion Storm' , are fair but not exactly cutting edge. The best Black Uhuru dub work was to appear slightly later. Overall a great introduction to a very talented band at their peak which has aged well.

Black Uhuru Island Anthology, 14 Jun 2003
This 2 cd album is an absolute diamond in Black Uhuru's album's, just about covering the very best of all their album's. To own this is a pure treat in dub and reggae experience.

The beginning of Dub Reggae!, 01 Jun 2001
First of all it's 'Natty Dread' not Matty Dread.

This is a superb collection of Uhuru's best cuts for Island records, full of spritual, political and revolutionary beats. Backed up by the outstanding rhythem section of Sly & Robbie.

For me the standout tunes are Sinsemillia, Utterance and Puff She Puff.

Michael Rose's voice leads the exodus back to the spritual homeland of Babylon and for anyone who just likes the beats and not the message contained in the lyrics, takes you to a Caribbean beach, palm trees, blue sea and cocktails and the ultimate feeling of nirvana!!

Guess Who's Comin' To Dinner..., 28 Aug 2000
A great liberation. It's like a mountain...Impassible,Impossible! All you have to do is guess who's comin to dinner! Matty Dreadlocks! Thats Right And If You do not like it Get out and party on anuder boat Brudda! I mean, his hair will tangle you up in blue (listen if your out there bob dylan!) and dazzle you in his hypnotic musical power! This Is A Must-Buy!

Sly, Robbie and The Stones, 08 Jul 2007
"Black Uhuru" by Black Uhuru has been released many times, under various titles such as "Showcase" and "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner". I first came across it as a vinyl LP on Virgin UK, VX1004 being the catalogue number. At that point in my life, I thought that reggae began and ended with the (then) ubiquitous UB40. From the opening, mournful Hammond organ chords of "Shine Eye Gal" to the dub playout of "Plastic Smile", this album transformed my life and led me down the righteous path of roots reggae.

I had heard nothing like it before. Stripped-down rhythms, often just the drum/bass interplay of Sly and Robbie, with minimal input from guitar or keyboards, this was the message of Africa written large through my inadequate speakers. Seven killer bass lines, three voices wreathed together in smoky harmony, penetrating visionary lyrics and a dub-based production which led each track into a meltdown before giving way to the next Biblical chapter.

I was lucky enough many years later to meet Lee Perry at Heathrow Airport. Once he had got over his amazement at a white guy recognising him, and also being able to talk his subject in detail, he agreed that this was the ultimate late-1970s roots album. "This album was JA through and through" he told me, that heady fusion of street violence, personal discovery and deep-seated Rasta that pervaded the life of all on the island during the last months of Marley's mission on earth.

Whatever you may be thinking right now, buy this CD and tune into a time now gone. And check out the guitar on the first track, "Shine Eye Gal" - duties undertaken by one Keith Richards, who was at his JA home during the recording and taken to the studio by Peter Tosh to add his chops to the mix.

Black Uhuru and their dub sides, 09 Jan 2008
Unavoidabily this new twofer of Black Uhuru has to be compared to the Liberation compilation. This Party in session has 4 tracks more and, crucially, has 5 dub sides from their 1983 Dub factor album (on cd 2)not featured on Liberation.
This gives us the chance to hear both the vocal hits and some of their dub counterparts, which feature more than usually the high voices of Puma Jones and Michael Rose. Sly and Robbie hit a top in their career with these dub sides. The absence of Push push has to be regretted (as on Liberation). Black Uhuru hereby has a second testimony to their 1980-83 heyday and confirms itself as one the absolute top-5 artists in reggae.

Nice compy!, 16 Jul 2007
Where this scores over the 'Liberation: Anthology' collection is in having most of the tracks arranged in chronological order, so Uhuru's change in style with each album release is all the more obvious. Pretty much all the classic Island Records stuff is here, not sure why 'Push Push' & 'Carbine' got passed over tho'. As with the earlier 'Liberation', all the tracks from 'Anthem' are from the original album release rather than the brilliant 'Groucho' Smykle remix, with the exception of 'Solidarity'.