Search - Bunny Wailer :: Dubd'sco Volumes 1 & 2

Dubroom Review

Messian Dread | Drachten, Fryslan Netherlands | 11/23/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Dubd'sco volume one and two are dubs from two entirely different Bunny Wailer Albums: Blackheart Man and Bunny Wailer Sings The Wailers. Blackheart man is a very rootsy album in the style of In I Father's House (a dub from that album is on this CD as well), Struggle, and Protest, where Sings The Wailers finds her equivalent in an album called Rock 'n Groove. When you've ever seen Bunny live, you know that he starts up with a Roots set and then, after he's done about half the concert, a Dancehall Set. The same with this re-release. The lighter material on Sings the Wailers counterweights the heavy mystical roots vibes from Blackheart Man, just like on his concerts. I have not seen an artist that made such a strickt seperation between the heavy and the lighter material, combining it again in a perfect balanced combination as this brethren. Although his voice is pretty high, the roots music remains heavy. Bunny's Roots are as literature: they are not easy to swallow. You need to listen over and over, every time you hear more things, you have to actively listen. Even on the dubs this stays a fact. They have to grow on you. Bunny's Roots reminds me of the gospel music that I was brought up with. I compare volume one of Dubd'sco a bit with Living Dub from the artist Burning Spear. Dub from the roots, heavier as lead. Volume two, is considerable different: it contains the sound of these easy to catch tunes you'll remember from Sings the Wailers and Rock 'n Groove (when you know them, that is). Clear, not too fast but also not too slow, and on-going. When you think, that all reggae sounds the same, check this release out, because it will prove you otherwize. Dubd'sco volume 1 and 2 is also essential and crucial for any reggae / dub collection. It is the only dub that has ever been released from this longest living Wailer, that is one reason. The special Sound, that I find on volume two (the dance part) is another reason to buy, because you simply don't find it anywhere else. "

Dub it up!

jeffrodesiac | b-town | 02/20/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This cd compiles 2 records Dub Disco volumes 1 and 2 onto 1 cd. in the 70's they were released seperately, but here you can get them both on 1 disc. This disc is basically Bunny Wailer in dub, which is extremely good. The disc compiles songs from his first 2 cd's and whoever mixed it did a fine job. If you are not a hardcore Wailers fan, or Bunny fan you can probably pass on this disc, but if you do you'll be missing out on some great jam sessions."

Don't be put off by the name, this is SOLID dub!

C. M. Sienko | Chicago, Illinois United States | 01/23/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Despite the odd-sounding name, this isn't disco at all, but ultra-tight dub reggae. Even grizzled dub fanatics who think they've heard it all will be blown akimbo by this record. It's very melodic and the harmonies are beautiful (particularly on "Battering Down Dub"), but the dub production is just top notch! This sits very comfortably up against the masters of dub(you know who I'm talking about, people with surnames like King, Prince, Scratch, Mad...). Without coming off at all gimmicky or over-done, the dub production fits perfectly within the style of each song (would love to hear the originals), so that it's truly a "version" of the original, not a pummeled mass of spring-reverb'd sounds, twitching and sputtering under an overuse of tricks. On the other hand, it's far more than an occasional flange on the drumbeat and a dropout of vocals. This record has what a lot of dub records seem to miss...a sense of reason behind the process. Rather than getting lost in a maze of high-speed fader tricks, every manipulation helps to strip the song down to its essential elements. You can listen to this album again and again to pick out the amazing production, or you can just let it ride behind a heated conversation. It's perfect either way."