Lively Up Yourself
"I don't stand for the black man's side. I don't stand for the white man's side. I stand for God's side." -Bob Marley
Bob Marley is mythical, iconic, polarizing. He’s also one of my favorite musicians. The Wailers, his legendary group, will be performing at the Variety Playhouse in Five Points on March 25th. I will hopefully be attending. When I heard the news, I started listening to one of my favorite albums I have, Gold, which is a compilation of tracks from the legendary group Bob Marley and The Wailers. I thought I’d write a review and share my opinion of the album. If anyone is interested in the album, please let me know.
Review:
Upon its release in 1984, the Bob Marley compilation, Legend, served as an ideal introductory course to one of the most iconic figures of the 20th century. Having sold over 10 million copies to date, it is the best selling reggae album of all time. However, over the course of twenty-four years since its release, interest in the music of a man as mythical as Marley has increased with a new generation of listeners. Since the time of Legend‘s release, there have been many reincarnations of Bob Marley’s greatest hits in compilation after compilation. In 2005, Gold was released in what would have been Marley’s 60th birthday year. Not since Legend had work from the Marley library been compiled so successfully as a glimpse, almost a tease, of the man’s music. While Legend successfully introduces the iconic Marley, Gold may be the updated compilation that supplants itself as the essential collection for any reggae or Marley neophyte.
Gold is a two-disc set encompassing thirty-four gems from Marley’s extensive recordings. Among the album are thirteen of the fourteen tracks from Legend, including classics such as “Jamming,” “I Shot the Sheriff,” and “Buffalo Soldier”. As “No Woman, No Cry” eloquently states, “In this bright future, you can’t forget your past,” not one of Marley’s major album releases are left out of the Gold collection. Where Gold builds on Legend‘s success is in the variety of songs on the album. Gold contains many songs not nearly as famous as the likes of “One Love/People Get Ready” or “Get Up, Stand Up”. Such unknown highlights include “Sun is Shining” and the politically charged “Natural Mystic”. The chronological order of songs based on their release is also very important in showing how Marley changed over the course of his brilliant career, starting with the classic feel good tune “Stir it Up” on disc one and closing with the self reflective acoustic version of “Redemption Song” and the posthumously released “Iron Lion Zion” on disc two. The inclusion of live tracks from Marley’s career also helps Gold set itself apart from other compilations. Having the four live tracks allows a glimpse of what a Marley concert experience was like without dragging down the album for those that do not care for live music. One of the live tracks distances itself from the others. The live performance of “Trenchtown Rock,” an ode to Marley’s home in Jamaica, opens with the line, “One good thing about music, when it hits you feel you no pain,” and establishes Marley’s view of music as an escape from the effects of someone’s impoverished surroundings. As these words echo from the rustic sound equipment, they filter through the loud screams of approval from the crowd. The emotion seeps through Marley’s voice in his live performances of “No Woman, No Cry” and the lesser known, but equally memorable “Kinky Reggae” from the album Babylon by Bus. While every song on Gold is important in creating the legend that is Bob Marley, the apex comes with a track from his album Kaya. “Is This Love” has the aspects that make not only a great reggae record, but an amazing song for any genre. The rhythm notes from Marley’s Gibson Les Paul flow beautifully throughout and mesh well with the percussion and lead guitar. Marley explains throughout the song many times, “I wanna love you and treat you right.” The song chronicles the courting of presumably a woman and he makes several cries to allow him to take care of her. However, it remains unclear whom the woman is. “Is This Love” includes Marley at his finest.
Gold in no way achieves the unattainable perfection of the art of a compilation album; it does however come very close. The exclusion of Marley’s classic “Three Little Birds” creates the only obvious flaw in Gold. Nevertheless, the other tracks overshadow this omission. The numerous allusions to politics, religion, love, and Jamaica in Gold successfully builds Marley up from the poor child of Trenchtown, to the Legend at the time of his death, to the mythical status he holds posthumously. Gold is now the quintessential introductory course for anyone with the slightest interest in the icon that is Bob Marley
