I noticed that Lee perry has no profile on this site so i thought i would review the first album by him for Sputnik. This Cd is a colletcion of his best work., He was a somehwat popular 70s reggae musician and songwriter who at times rivalled Bob Marley's songwriting skill(though Bob is overall better as he wrote one of the songs on here). He was frontman of Reggae act The Upsetters (who released a very good Dub album called "Super Ape")
This Album is a very chilled out , at times jazzy and at times trippy piece of work consisting of works that stretched his entire career.
1. Clint Eastwood Rides Again: This Track is instrumental and begins with Lee saying in an echoey voice "Clint Eastwood Rights again!", The use of Hammond organ is very clever in this piece but a little repetitive. Otherwise thi album is set to the basic reggae which many of you will know. But it is a nice atmospheric instrumental.
2. Enter The Dragon:
Beginning with drums and a very nice plucked guitar and bass riff, this song uses reggae/ska upstrokes on guitar less than most. The vocals are high and uplifting. The Bass line may be repeated alot but this is mainly because its works effectively as a centre to the song as other instruments and vocals are built around it. This gives the song a very unexpected feel.
3. Wind Up Doll:
Eerie guitar upstrokes bring you into this song. The drums in the background add to the feel as does the low end bassline. Again this track is mainly instrumental and has an incredible atmosphere created. It quite effectively brings up a picture of a seedy area or back alley in where there is no one around. The guitar upstrokes are used to occasionally up the tempo help bring variety to the piece.
4. Stay Red:
Nice electronic bits on this piece teamed up with a chorus of female vocals and Mr Perry himself. the Rhythm is as you expect, but as usual is the uplifting reggae rhythm we all love. The strange electronic background noises make this track both interesting and mildly comical, but in a good way. As the basicbeat is changed the electronic effects go off on their own mini instrumental. The drums on this piece are suitably simple but i still enjoy them quite alot. this song manages to move through many moods using some basic ideas.
5. Dreadlock:
With a very strange spoken word intro, this piece makes use of some low-end brass and a faster beat than most. Depsite not being Enter The Dragon he does say those words quite alot in this piece. This song is uplifting and upbeat. No real lyrics as such but the song has many pace changes and alot of quickening of tempos. The Shortest song here but it covers alot.
6. How Deep is Your Love:
This makes use of some nice strange delay and reverb. It's actually a very insteresting piece as the echoing is used across all of the instruments. The Physchedelic nature of this song is quite obvious. But once again it is all done with some of the simplest music. This is a very simple and efficent piece that is also multi-layered and complex.
7. Jah:
a very odd piece consisting mainly of a multi-layered echoing piano. They play over themselves and the piece is a basic fade out after a while. Its wierd in good way but i can't say much about it. You will have to listen.
8. Irie Irie:
This song again makes use of wierd echoey effects and is physchedelic . It has Lee singing some hard to make out lyrics. The song has a mega wierd vibe, not entirely dissimilar to some modern ambient dance or post-rock (like Aphex Twin or Sigur Ros) but considerbaly more reggae. Lee Perry is some kind of king of atmospheric music from the p.o.v of the Reggae genre. The military drums towards the end and synth parts add to the beautiful wierdness.
9. Cool Rockers:
More singable and catchy than the other tracks this song is one for those who enjoy a singalong and dance. It may lack the epxerimental nature of the other tracks, but it is still a very good track. The only lyric i can make out is "why" but this track is definitely a good one with the use of choral vocals being its biggest strength.
10. Rude Walking:
Jazzy Brass built on a low pitched regage beat make up this song. As you listen the Brass controls your mood almost and puts images in your head. The Brass takes the piece through many different moods and feelings. It's cool and shows how Jazz and Reggae can be used to compliment one another very easily.
11. Run For Cover:
Penned by Bob Marley, this song is another of the more accessible tracks on this collection. Definitely a good song, but othing veyr speical to it, unlike some of the instrumental tracks of this album. Essentially it does not do Perry too much credit as a song.
12. Something you Got:
The Lyrics and vocals here are very reminiscent of Blues music. The choral vocals once again allow it to shine. But there is a very clever, blues influenced part on guitar, with a nice palm mute. The Rhythm is held togther by the piano. The song has gospel and blues feel.
13. People Wierd:
Wierd song in its own way, the rhythm being the key. It is jerky and wierd. The Lyrics are once again hard to make put but this song has its own , almost crazy, feel. It's vaguely like one of those metal bands you can't keep up with but chilled out and put in reggae format. or maybe its just the closest Reggae gets to being anything like mathcore metal (Who knows?)
14. You Funny:
With an intro Vaguely reminiscent of 60s pop, breaking down into reggae beats, this track is one of the more accesible again. It once again has that feel of bluesy gospel-esque feelings to it. but then the blues solo kicks in and it sounds quite blues but also very physched out. Lee Perry still has the ability to be Wierd as he illustrates here.
15. Bless The Weed:
What a name! Not a bad song either. The Bassline definitely makes this song feel good. The vocals are cool, with their spoken-word feel. The Hammond organ has a very small but cool solo before it becomes part of the music which is backing the very cool vocal stylings. As the song fades out so does one very cool musical collection.
Overall:
I have been mainly positive but the album doesn't get a five because, it is not perfect. Tbh i like Lee most when he is doing his experimental stuff, such as Irie Irie and think the nice Reggae songs are a bit too MOR when compared to these. However when he does play those songs he does do them well so this is a good and solid 4.
