Roots Radics Rockers Reggae

by Rick Anderson The members of the original Wailers all had distinct personas: Bob Marley was the mystic, always looking off into the middle distance and frequently speaking in abstractions; Peter Tosh was the angry young man, with a sharp eye and sharper tongue; and Bunny Wailer was the gentle prophet, perhaps the most religious of the three and possessed of a calm, deliberate demeanor. Maybe it should come as no surprise that he is the only one of the three left alive; the world is a hard place for mystics and uppity cynics. Bunny's solo work has generally followed the same trajectory he established early on. His brand of reggae is thick, hot, and dark, like a more melodic Burning Spear, and his lyrical themes are generally in the mode of gentle admonishment or spiritual invitation. This exceptional album features a celebration of reggae itself (in the title track), a half-speed remake of his rocksteady classic "Let Him Go," and the stirring "Love Fire," among other gems. Though many critics put this album somewhere behind the classic Blackheart Man, it definitely belongs in the first rank of modern reggae recordings.