features in: Album Chart of 1979 ● Album Chart of the Decade: 1970s |
His second album on the very welcome Rolling Stones platform continued to give him good exposure and he used it well. For me, it was a cohesive and meaningful improvement on last years “Bush Doctor”. “Mystic Man” lays out the manifesto. He don't drink no champagne, don't sniff them cocaine. It choke brain, ye know? Frankfurters are out too. Garbage. What he's doing is “Recruiting Soldiers” for Jah army, “Can't You See”? There are some nice ideas, for example on the well-executed on “Jah Seh No”: “He's coming to tear down the walls of downpression, Drive away transgression, Clean up corruption, Rule equality”. Echoing Marley's “Survival” message of '79, Tosh urges his African brothers to “Fight On”: “Africa has got to be free by 1983”. Specific. This guy is focused. Side two opens with a big surprise on “Buk-In-Hamm Palace” built on a pucker Hamilton-Bohannon-esque disco groove. On the premise that music and herb is the healing of the nation, we're going to chase away all the vampires and smoke it all the way from the House of Congress to Buckingham Palace; he's got a vivid imagination! Taking Rastafari to it's logical conclusion, “The Day The Dollar Die” espouses the communist dream, empathising with Johnny and his eternal struggle against the cost of living. Album highlight “Crystal Ball” continues along the same theme. What does culture man see in that crystal ball? “I see youths rising, Blood running, Fire burning… In The City, In The Shitty”. Fair enough, but no need for the language I thought. In all seriousness, this has been a beautifully constructed set, and the album's closer, “Rumors Of War”, takes the message full circle: “And I see war in a Beirut, War in a-Lebanon, Syria, yeah, Pakistan, Namibia, Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, Make sure your hands and heart are clean, So you can rally around the red, gold and green”. Well played Peter Tosh.
The Jukebox Rebel
12–Nov–2008
Tracklist |
A1 | [05:56] Peter Tosh - Mystic Man (Winston McIntosh) Reggae |
A2 | [04:28] Peter Tosh - Recruiting Soldiers (Winston McIntosh) Reggae |
A3 | [03:43] Peter Tosh - Can’t You See [1979 version] (Winston McIntosh) Reggae |
A4 | [04:40] Peter Tosh - Jah Seh No (Winston McIntosh) Reggae |
A5 | [03:21] Peter Tosh - Fight On (Winston McIntosh) Reggae |
B1 | [08:49] Peter Tosh - Buk-In-Hamm Palace (Winston McIntosh) Disco / Funk |
B2 | [04:50] Peter Tosh - The Day The Dollar Die (Winston McIntosh) Reggae |
B3 | [05:12] Peter Tosh - Crystal Ball (Winston McIntosh) Reggae |
B4 | [03:29] Peter Tosh - Rumors Of War (Winston McIntosh) Reggae |