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. ~ Jo-Ann Greene