The Boombastic Collection - Best of Shaggy

Album Review

Released the same year as Virgin's The Best of Shaggy, Universal's The Boombastic Collection contains all the hits missing from its competition including the big one-two punch of "It Wasn't Me" and "Church Heathen." The earlier singles "Boombastic" and "Oh Carolina," plus the electronically pumped cover of "In the Summertime" have carried over from the Virgin set, meaning that when it comes to massively important Shaggy numbers, this one is only missing "That Girl." The great sequencing of this compilation almost makes up for it and while this disc is packed at 18 tracks long, this is high caliber dancehall the whole way through and varied enough to keep things interesting. Following the singer from the '80s electro dancehall sound to the R&B-injected reggae of 2008 with all the flavors in between, The Boombastic Collection is a near perfect representation of Shaggy's career and a great argument that he's reggae's most popular crossover artist since Bob Marley. [The bonus track edition of The Boombastic Collection came with a 19th track, "Me Julie," Shaggy's collaboration with comedian Ali G.]