Search - Flashing Echo :: Flashing Echo

A Classic Compilation

Laurence Upton | Wilts, UK | 12/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Since coming under the wing of the Sanctuary group, Trojan have gone from strength to strength, and this compilation is one of the strongest they have put out. Dub reggae was a particularly innovative and influential genre which created huge reputations for some of the best producers, engineers and musicians who created it. Laurence Cane-Honeysett has compiled the anthology in chronological order and the set rightly opens with Andy Capp's historic Pop-A-Top. From the notes I discovered that the inspiration behind this surreal injunction, for which the entire lyric is "Pop-a-top", came from a then-current Jamaican radio jingle for Canada Dry. Perhaps I wish I hadn't. 

The great Lee Perry is represented by half a dozen tracks including the title track by Lee Graham and the Upsetters, and the Upsetters' own Dubbing In The Back Seat, a reworking of William DeVaughn's soul hit, Be Thankful For What You've Got. 

Other producers and engineers here include Joe Gibbs, Bunny Lee, King Tubby, Niney the Observer, Duke Reid and Prince Jammy, who is at the controls for Jammin' For Survival, a version of Kingston 12 Toughie from 1979, which at 7 minutes is the longest on the album. John Holt's Ali Baba inspired two separate heavy dub versions that appear side by side on Disc One, and several Johnny Clarke hits are versioned by the Aggrovators.

Where tracks have appeared before on other Trojan collections the versions here are generally better quality and sometimes in stereo for the first time. In an overcrowded field this is one of those compilations that will become remembered as a classic in future years

"

Great Tunes Great Sound

Sean Smith | Freehold, New Jersey, United States | 07/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The music is great, no doubt about it. What jumped out at me was the sound quality. The remastering is fantastic."