Honorary Citizen

Album Review

The Columbia label finally answers Peter Tosh fans' prayers with this seminal three-CD box set. Working backwards, disc three succinctly sums up Tosh's post-Wailers career, honing in on the Legalize It, Equal Rights, and Bush Doctor sets, tossing in a couple of numbers from Wanted Dread & Alive and the title track from the Grammy-winning No Nuclear War album as well. Nothing new for aficionados here, but a decent roundup nonetheless. Disc two is exclusively comprised of live performances, drawn from a variety of different shows. Again, it doesn't add much to what's already available; however, by leaving in Tosh's between-song patter, for the first time fans can experience or relive the true fire and fury of his stage presence. Which leaves the first disc, and the one that alone makes the set worth the price of admission. This compiles 19 songs that Tosh cut alone or taking the lead with the Wailers, none of which was previously available in the States. And although most were released in the U.K., this is the first time they've been rounded up on a full-length album, as well as their debut on CD. These numbers were all recorded between 1968 and 1976, after the Wailers departed Studio One and following Tosh's own solo work with Bunny Lee. During this period, Tosh, on his own or with the Wailers, recorded for Joe Gibbs, Leslie Kong, and Lee Perry (among others), while the Wailers as a group and Tosh on his own took on self-production duties. The sequencing runs in generally chronological order, but it's a pity the disc didn't also sequence the productions; however, that's a bit of a quibble considering what's on offer here. Only the cover of the Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun" breaks the militant mood of the entire disc; everything else shreds the grooves with barely contained anger, and even the silky "Pound Get a Blow" is wreathed with suppressed rage. While EMI continues to release compilations showcasing Tosh's lightest material, this set is a vivid reminder of the artist's true revolutionary stature.