I think of this as Marley's most accessible album. Released in 1977 and coming in at number 55 on the Best of the 70's list, the album reflects a more mellow Marley and an album full of very slow infectious grooves. Of course Marley was always about infectious grooves, but the harshness has been toned down a bit, think Catch a Fire and a song like "Concrete Jungle" and it doesn't fit here at all. I would think of this album as having a huge influence on an artist like Sade who likes to layer emotional and social lyrics over top of very mellow grooves, something Marley does brilliantly here.
This may not be Marley's best album, but if I were to pick one album to introduce someone to Marley with it would be this album, and so I can fully understand why this album is his one representative album on the Best of the 70's list.
This is one of those few albums I have always made sure I owned and I find it to be fitting for any situation and any mood.
Following the Rhapsody rating method I give it 4 out of 5 stars for Really Good.
Bob Marley & the Wailers are probably my favorite 8-track artists. When we lived in Bowling Green after college, Rob had an Oldsmobile Delta 88 with an 8-track player, and it was during this time that I was introduced to this music. It's not my favorite sound, but Marley was a beautiful, beautiful songwriter and quite a compelling singer.
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