Search - Clint Eastwood :: Stop That Train

STOP THAT TRAIN!

Locks Lion | Blue Mountain Peak | 04/07/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"STOP THAT TRAIN: Best known for their dance ramming ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST, England-based DJ duo Clint Eastwood and General Saint recorded this full-length outing in 1983 with producer Chris Cracknell and the Rockers Inity band. In the typical English style, the production is generally looser, lighter and a little brighter, in many ways the opposite of the sparse, tightly wound Jamaican sound of the early eighties. Where the duo's previous full length release, TWO BAD DJ, had leaned heavily on rhythm tracks imported from Jamaica, and particularly from producer Junjo Lawes and the Roots Radics band, STOP THAT TRAIN plants the artists' Caribbean roots in the fertile musical soil of urban England, and the resulting hyrbid is something both familiar and refreshingly new.



Keith and Tex's hit, STOP THAT TRAIN, is given a fairly straightforward reading with nice harmony singing and great backup from Rockers Inity with Courtney Pine's silky sax solo leading out - a classic English update of a true Jamaican classic. Other highlights include the delightful MATTY GUNGA WALK, MONKEY MAN (both featured as bonus twelve inch versions, too), and the nice rocksteady style Ethiopians update, EVERYTHING CRASH. TRUE VEGETARIAN and ROCK WITH ME are also excellent selections. The doom and gloom of NUCLEAR CRISIS is a surprisingly downbeat detour both musically and lyrically, but the record wraps up with the self-explanatory H.A.P.P.Y., and everything is irie for sure. All in all, STOP THAT TRAIN is just a great reggae record, and definitely recommended, especially in this newly re-released CD format. This is one train you don't want to miss.



Finally, one BIG shout to the Greensleeves people for this and other recent reissues (check the Wailing Souls and Yellowman MOST WANTED selections for starters - both excellent). The label has really pulled its socks up in the last couple of years, licensing and issuing a steady stream of artist releases (recently Chuck Fenda's LIVING FIRE, Lutan Fyah's PHANTOM WAR, Jah Mason's WHEAT & TEARS, Norrisman's HOME & AWAY), as well as taking time to refresh the reissue program with proper sleeve notes, bonus tracks and so on. Nice one, Greensleeves!

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