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A 12-LP VINYL version of "The Complete Island Recordings" by Bob Marley & The Wailers in a limited edition hinge-top silver metal box of 3000 copies was released 25 September 2015 on Tuff Gong/Island/UMC 5360252 (Barcode 600753602522). This 11CD variant is essentially a digital reissue of that.
I got my CD copy this morning, day of release, Friday, 4 December 2020, and I have to say that "The Complete Island Recordings" is a tad underwhelming presentation wise (hence the four stars) – even if it does boast awesome Remastered Audio. So what's inside?
The albums date from the April 1973 Island Records debut "Catch A Fire" through to the posthumous May 1983 LP "Confrontation". The same dull-looking generic CD-label is used across all eleven albums (no Island or Tuff Gong repros then) and a 24-page booklet that seems chunky at first turns out to be the front and rear of the album sleeves repeated across all the pages and nothing else. What is the point of repeating the album artwork front and rear when it's already on the card sleeves?
There are no new liner notes, no catalogue numbers, release dates, no history, no chart info - there isn't even a mastering or reissue credit (not 2015 nor 2020 to indicate what Remasters were used). But one listen to all of them and they are the much-praised remasters Universal has used all along with Marley product. Soundwise the first Wailers LP "Catch A Fire" is hissy on most tracks throughout (even if the music is good), but from "Burnin'" onwards, the audio is pretty much amazing - full of life, drums bashes and pumping bass. There is a warm clarity to these transfers and I suspect having shifted some 75-million records worldwide – someone was smart enough to keep the Island tapes in good nick. The final two "Uprising" and "Confrontation" may blow your speakers out – they are that good. Plus stripped of bonuses and remixes – it is nice to hear each album again sans padding ("Exodus" – what a stunning album all on its owneo).
Disappointingly, "Catch A Fire" uses the spliff reissue sleeve and not the magical Zippo Lighter version that came with original highly sought-after 1972 Island Records LPs (they did this on the 2015 LP Box too) - the "Babylon By Bus" live double from 1978 had a die-cut sleeve for the windscreen, two inners and a poster (all AWOL) - "Exodus" had that gorgeous gold artwork with embossed lettering and an inner, "Live! At The Lyceum" a poster – all not here and so on. As for the 'complete' title, there are single versions, 12" remixes etc that could have been put on Disc 12 but again, not here. Anyway, let's get to what is present...
UK/Europe released Friday, 4 December 2020 - "The Complete Island Recordings" by BOB MARLEY And THE WAILERS on Tuff Gong/Island/UMC 00602435081243 (Barcode 602435081243) is an 11-CD Clamshell Box Set of Remasters with Singular Mini LP Card Sleeve Repros that play out as follows:
CD1 and 2 as The Wailers, all others credited to Bob Marley And The Wailers
LP release-date and original UK catalogue number beneath each CD entry
CD1 "Catch A Fire" (36:16 minutes, 9 Tracks)
April 1973 UK LP on Island ILPS 9241 as The Wailers
CD2 "Burnin'" (38:59 minutes, 10 tracks)
November 1973 UK LP on Island ILPS 9256 as The Wailers
CD3 "Natty Dread" (38:52 minutes, 9 tracks)
May 1975 UK LP on Island ILPS 9281
CD4 "Live!" aka "Live! At The Lyceum" (37:31 minutes, 7 tracks)
December 1975 UK LP on Island ILPS 9376
CD5 "Rastaman Vibration" (35:20 minutes, 10 tracks)
April 1976 UK LP on Island ILPS 9383
CD6 "Exodus" (37:24 minutes, 10 tracks)
May 1977 UK LP on Island ILPS 9498
CD7 "Kaya" (37:14 minutes, 10 tracks)
March 1978 UK LP on Island ILPS 9517
CD8 "Babylon By Bus" (73:41 minutes, 13 tracks)
December 1978 UK LIVE Double-Album on Island ISLD 11 (2LPs onto 1CD)
CD9 "Survival" (38:09 minutes, 10 tracks)
October 1979 UK LP on Island ILPS 9542
CD10 "Uprising" (36:15 minutes, 10 tracks)
June 1980 UK LP on Island ILPS 9596
CD11 "Confrontation" (37:53 minutes, 10 tracks)
May 1983 UK posthumous LP on Island ILPS 9760
When the 14-Track Greatest Hits set "Legend: The Best Of Bob Marley & The Wailers" was released in May 1984 – it quickly became and has become the biggest-selling Reggae LP of all time. But in order to fit into the restricted playing time of a Vinyl LP - eight of its fourteen cuts were either seven-inch single edits or remixes. The 1984 CD (with its extra playing time) allowed for "No Woman, No Cry" and "Exodus" to be their full album versions at 7:08 minutes and 7:40 minutes. Here in 2020, all fourteen of its tracks are available in their full and original album-form and you can sequence an Extended Version of that legendary "Legend" as follows:
Side 1: Is This Love (CD7), No Woman No Cry (Live) (CD4), Could You Be Loved (CD10), Three Little Birds (CD6), Buffalo Soldier (CD11), Get Up Stand Up (CD2) and Stir It Up (CD1)
Side 2: One Love/People Get Ready (CD6), I Shot The Sheriff (CD2), Waiting In Vain (CD6), Redemption Song (CD10), Satisfy My Soul (CD7), Exodus (CD6) and Jamming (CD6).
The "Live! At The Lyceum" in London set still thrills on sheer atmosphere alone and the opening track "Trenchtown Rock" (new to Island Records) was from his brief tenure at Trojan Records in 1971 and 1972. Album discoveries include the overlooked "Burnin'" LP from November 1973 with the stunning positivity of "Get Up Stand Up", the socially aware "Burnin' and Lootin'" – a highlight on the Lyceum set and "I Shot The Sheriff" which Eric Clapton covered of course on his 1974 mega-hit "461 Ocean Boulevard" album – making everyone ask – who is Bob Marley? By the end of 1975, everyone n the world would know.
"Natty Dread" and "Kaya" get forgotten about too, the politically charged "Survival" (with "Zimbabwe") whilst the entirety of 1977's "Exodus" is probably his most accomplished work with Reggae, Funk and Love songs all nestled beside each other. And there is prettiness too in "...turn your lights down low and pull your window curtains...let Jah moon shine in". And on it goes...
I just wish Island and Universal/UMC had gone that little extra mile with the overall visual impact. How hard for instance would it have been to provide a separate foldout sheet/insert with the poster for "Live! At The Lyceum" reproduced on one side and the "Babylon By Bus" one on the other? Just how cool would that have looked – even beautiful? Bob Marley & The Wailers was/is a truly legendary artist - and both he and his ace band deserved it.
Still, despite the lack of extras or even unreleased - at a smidgen under thirty-one quid new from Amazon and delivered to your door shrink-wrapped and ready to make your Hi-Fi Get Up, Stand Up - I suppose you can't really complain in terms of sheer value for money. And it sounds awesome too - I played each and there isn't a duffer except for maybe that slightly hissy first.
Otherwise, i-Three and i-and-i say – if you want to lively up your Dad Rock self in 2020 and be no Covid-drag, then this little sweetie is a fabulous inoculation that won't wither your arm off...
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