What is the Best Bob Marley on CD?

I was flipping through the Marley remasters and I cant decide what to get. The only one I have is Legend. What should I start with? How are the Deluxe Editions? I was thinking of getting the Live at The Roxy just so I could get a live disc of some favorites but I am always uneasy of live discs.

On the same subject, what Peter Tosh should I get?
Thanks
R

 

There's an Essential Peter Tosh on Columbia disc I saw today. If it's as good as the other Essential discs from Sony (ie Anesini), I bet it sounds great!

 

Exodus DE is great because it's a great album.

Don't get Live At The Roxy because if you get Rastaman Vibration DE you can get most of that show on the 2nd disc.

 

Perhaps this has been superceded, but the one I treasure most is the "Songs of Freedom" boxset.

 

Hi,

What Rich said!

-Jeffrey

 

Yeah, that's one of the better box sets. Sound and material are both excellent, and you get the great liner notes...

FWIW, I know you're asking about CDs and all, but this is something everyone needs to hear. Marley's stock LPs (even US pressings) kick a whole lot of tail. It's a whole different experience than the CDs, and I usually don't say that unless there is a substantial difference. I've yet to hear a poorly mastered one, at least up through the early 80s issues. That's actually true for Island stuff in general - they really paid attention to quality more than their peers (musically and otherwise).

 

Catch A Fire, Exodus, Burnin

 

Huge agreement here. It should be no surprise to anyone that the 80's Island Traffic LP sound fantastic as well.

Try Exodus on MFSL CD. As long as you have no close neighbors.

 

I like the Exodus MFSL, but it has some kind of midrange suckout thing giving it almost a distant(?) sound. HUGE bass though!

 

Most of those remasters were done by Ted Jensen according to AMG. He seems to be pretty consistant as far as mastering. I'd say, you should get Babylon By Bus if you want a live album. It's more, uh, lively.

 

Speaking of live Bob Marley. Has anyone heard the boot of the whole radio performance of the songs on Talkin' Blues? Awesome. It's the original Wailers with Bunny and Peter on there first and only tour together in the US. I think it's has the best version of "Bend Down Low". Tight band. I only have it on a cassette recording of a cassette recording. Anyone know the name of the boot on CD?

 

My favorite is 'Kaya' (1977)- great, catchy tunes all the way thru from start to finish.

B/F

 

I have it on cassette too - that's good stuff. I don't know the name of the boot because the tape was given to me a long time ago.

 

It really is amazing to hear such a great band. Their music was unconventional, skelatal, slinky yet tight. I wish I was in that handful of people watching that performance in that studio. That would've been awesome!

Again, about the "Bend Down Low" performance, I can not believe they used that other, inferior version on Talking Blues!

 

The best Bob Marley is LIVE. I'm crying/waiting/hoping for a DELUXE EDITION of LIVE, and BABYLON BY BUS as well.

 

If we're talking about the Wailers/Bob Marley and the Wailers Island years, the four essential disks, in order of essentiality, are "Live," "Catch a Fire," "Burnin'," and "Exodus." I like all of the Island records, but these are the ones that stand a notch above the others aesthetically and historically.

The very greatest Wailers material, however, IMO, are the earlier sides produced by Lee Scratch Perry. Unfortunately, they're not easy to find in acceptable masterings. To my ears, the original Trojan collections of this material sound muffled and distant, and the later versions now availlable sound harsh and unpleasant ("smiley EQ, Compression/maxing? I don't know, I just don't like the sound). One exception to this, to my ears, is the old Trojan version of "Soul Revolution, Vols I and II," which has, on one disk, Perry's stereo mix of the original album (with its hard panning of the vocals in one channel and the instruments in the other), and on a second disk the dub versions (the instrumental tracks, really, not very "dubby," but cool). The mix on the vocal tracks is a little weird, esp. on headphones, but to my ears these are the only versions that sound natural.

I would love to hear what other people feel about this stuff. I know that a lot of people think the new Trojan remasters sound good, and I'm happy to try listening with new ears if I'm missing something. By the way, the version of the newer remasters that I'm talking about is the "Complete Upsetters Box." I haven't heard the newer 2 disk set of this material and would be happy to hear that it's a different master than the box. If anyone has them both, please take a listen and report back!!!

The JAD set that covers all of the material between the "Studio One" years and Island, has the Perry tracks on the last volume. I've held onto it for the completeness factor, but there's some very heavy NR going on on that set to my ears. There are dozens of collections of this material out there, some of questionable legality; I'd love to know of any that sound good.

L.

 

Tosh's best records are his first two, Legalize It (my favorite) and Equal Rights. The Sony remasters sound really good (or at least at lot better than the original CDs). Bush Doctor also has some great tracks (my Dad owned the record and used to play the pro-marijuana title track just to annoy his friend, who was a cop), though I haven't heard the recent remaster.

 

I'd agree with Equal Rights especially. Even if you get a box set, this album is one of those rare ones that really ought to be listened to from beginning to end, in the order it was intended. Strictly IMHO of course . The mastering kicks tail too - much better than the original LP which is awfully bright (much to my chagrin).

As for boxed sets, the Honorary Citizen box is supposed to be pretty darn good. It goes into more depth than the "Essential" disc, but either should sound great.

 

The "Honorary Citizen" box is wonderful. The first disk collects Tosh's '70's Jamaican singles, then there's a live disk and a selection of album tracks. "Legalize it" and Equal Rights" should, however, be picked up on their own as well. Two of the very best mainstream reggae albums of the '70's!!!

L.

 

Spring for the Songs of Freedom boxed set if you can afford it. All of the Legend songs are in different versions, so there is no crossovers with that set. And the unreleased stuff is killer as well. "Iron Lion Zion" is the Bob Marley hit that never was.

Individual albums: Burnin', Natty Dread, Exodus, Kaya. I have the latter two on '80's Island vinyl, and they sound killer. Lotsa bass for vinyl.

Evan