Escape From Hell

Zukie, Tappa – Escape from Hell
Reviewed by Sadie O., 4/19/07
Classic dub, straight from the roots. Nothing showy in the production, which shows off the fine musicians. The bass is showcased throughout most of the songs, and for some reason the bassist doesn’t seem to be credited – I’m assuming it’s Robbie to match Sly on drums. The original vinyl album was just the first 10 tracks, released in 1977, which was a great time for dub, as well as for some of the best musicians Jamaica ever had. The last 10 “bonus” tracks are various b-side “versions” from 76-79; most have bits of singing and toasting, whereas first 10 tracks are entirely instrumental.
FCC on track 12. My faves are 13 and 14. Most are pretty similar.
1. 2:58 **midtempo roots skank, almost Lover’s Rock.
2. 3:34 ***downtempo skank with heavy reverb on the tom and horns. Coool!
3. 3:04 **midtempo, cool horns and piano
4. 3:25 ***midtempo skank, nice bass and famous horn line that I can’t place – arg!
5. 3:05 **a bit uptempo, pretty much Rock Steady..
6. 3:25 **downtempo skank, solid bassline
7. 3:04 **downtempo, notable horns
8. 3:04 ***midtempo forceful skank, nice keyboards and horns.
9. 3:18 ***downtempo, plenty of echo.
10. 3:17 **a bit downtempo
11. 3:38 ***muffled drum intro, echo-laden vocals at beginning, then midtempo with interesting gallop drumline.
12. 3:40 FCC immediately at beginning “Shit man”, a cappella preaching and toasting. Midtempo dub skank after a minute.
13. 2:42 ****much thicker dub effects, bits of vocals and looned out electric guitar.
14. 3:40 ****downtempo, minimalist, with nice bits of vocals, alternate version of “Trying to Conquer Me”.
15. 3:07 ***horn flourishes, then midtempo bubble with double-time on the snares, what sounds like rain sticks…
16. 3:49 **classic midtempo riddim, rasta preaching.
17. 4:25 ***slightly downtempo version, with bits of song and toasting.
18. 3:10 **midtempo dubby ode to the glories of pot.
19. 4:33 ***longish beeps intro, slightly uptempo instrumental dub.
20. 6:41 ***fine midtempo skank dub instrumental. Nice and long…