Robert Nesta Marley died of cancer on May 11, 1981. He was 36. Twenty years on the man hailed as "the first Third World superstar" is being remembered with this 'best of' compilation, which preceeds a massive reissue of fifteen of his original albums.
All this fuss, while yet another obvious cash-in, is well deserved. Marley and his Wailers brought reggae to the rest of the world and today he remains the biggest selling reggae artist of all time. His deeply spiritual songs of faith, devotion and revolution have been covered by the like of Eric Clapton and Barbara Streisand and, next to The Beatles, Marley is the most bootlegged musician in the world.
If you're a fan you'll have all twenty of these tracks, with perhaps the exception of 1977's 'I Know A Place (single remix)', previously unreleased on a Bob Marley Album. If you're the casual listener who bought 1984's 'Legend' compilation you'll have the bulk of material here, this time arranged in chronological order.
If you're a Bob Marley virgin however, you're in for a real treat. How can you not thrill to the uplifting Rastaman vibrations of 'I Shot The Sheriff' (a Number One US hit for Clapton), 'Lively Up Yourself', 'No Woman No Cry (live)', 'Jamming', 'Waiting In Vain', 'Three Little Birds', 'One Love/People Get Ready' and 'Could You Be Loved'?
There is no better music to play when the sun is shining ladies and gentlemen. Marley was regarded as a poet and a prophet in his native Jamaica. One listen to 'One Love' and you'll know what all the fuss was about.
