Bunny Wailer - Crucial! Roots Classics (1994)

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Jamaica, there was a musical trio who, by coming together and recording a handful of albums, forever changed the face of popular music. The trio's artistic influence was worldwide, their popularity cutting across boundaries of race, religion or heritage to reach an international audience. Their message of peace and love, and their never-ending battle against oppression endowed them with a near-mythical status. The tragic youthful deaths of two-thirds of the trio, including the band's charismatic leader, forever sealed their place in history.

That band was the Wailers, the trio – Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer – whose impact on rock and reggae music is incalculable. As the only surviving member of the important threesome, Bunny Wailer has been lost to the obscurity of legend. This is unfortunate, considering that Wailer has sporadically released some classic reggae gems during the past decade and a half, albums like Blackheart Man and Roots, Radics, Rockers, Reggae, released on small indie labels. Crucial! Roots Classics collects material from through this fifteen year period, all unreleased songs that showcase Wailer's talents not only as a tunesmith, but as a socially-conscious and extremely spiritual poet, as well.

A devout Rastafarian, Wailer's lyrics often espouse a world view shaped by that benevolent philosophy, mixing in political commentary that serves as a musical call to arms. Reggae has long been a populist art form, bowing to no certain ideology. An example would be Togawar Game, a thinly-veiled damnation of corrupt organized politics, about which Wailer says "I don't deal with the left or right...one day the rope is going to burst and both sides are going to fall. We are Rastas, neither left or right. We stand for the people."

Other cuts such as Old Dragon, the Wailers' traditional show-opener that casts down the proverbial serpent of evil with its energy and emotion, or the angry relevance of Innocent Blame, Peace Talks or Trouble On The Road Again illustrate the struggle of the average Jamaican in the face of the island's cultural and political oppression. Crucial! Roots Classics is a powerful collection, the creation of a still-important artist deserving of a much wider hearing. (Shanachie Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Crucial! Roots Classics from Amazon.com)