Roots, Rock, Remixed

Bob Marley & the Wailers – Roots, Rock, Remixed
Reviewed by Sadie O., 8/2/07
Modern club-style remixes and dubs of Bob Marley hits. I thought it was an appalling concept, but it’s actually not bad at all. The first 8 tracks feature the original vocals prominently, with greater or lesser effects and overlaid electronics; the last few cuts get dubbier and have few vocals. Perhaps it’s a good way to make Bob’s music accessible again for the youngsters, but at any rate it sounds good.
No FCCs. I’m partial to 1, 2, 9, 10, but it’s all interesting stuff.
1. ***downtempo chugging bubble, long build, great booty-shaker. Ends with just electronic percussion.
2. ***starts with bit of hand drum, slow bubble, largely true to original but with lots of musical additions and a bit of effects.
3. **uptempo highly syncopated shuffling skank, great bounce, lots of effects in background.
4. **slow skank with lots of electronics. Modern dub sound (with a bit of melodica. Just Bob’s vocals, no backing chorus.
5. *slow club beat combined with midtempo bubble somehow. A fair amount of processing on vocals.
6. **slow electronic skank, with bits of piano and guitar, lots of syncopation.
7. **downtempo skank with lots of electronics, but a strong Reggae beat.
8. **bouncy chimes intro, upbeat and highly syncopated riddim, completely different from original.
9. ***uptempo syncopated shuffle with horns, heavily processed vocals.
10. ***uptempo, very much modern dance dub. Almost no original vocals except chorus, but forget that it’s supposed to be Bob Marley – it’s a highly entertaining dub mix.
11. **uptempo club dub, electronic and repetitive. You can hear Peter Tosh’s vocals, but it’s mostly the chorus, none of Bob’s lead.
12. **laid back electronic bubble, sometimes with drums cutting out. Vocals float around in the back of the mix.