“Reggae is the music of the people, for the people, and by the people.” -Peter Tosh Renowned American music newspaper “Rolling Stone” has revised and issued its list of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,” honoring the efforts of legendary Jamaican reggae and ska artists Bob Marley and The Wailers, Jimmy Cliff, Toots and the Maytals, and Black Uhuru. Reminding reggae lovers of some of the best Reggae albums allowing them to once again reconnect with some of the greatest hits.
Two albums from Marley and the Wailers, the 1977-released ‘Exodus’ and the 1973 album ‘Catch A Fire’, ranked at #48 and #140, respectively, on the magazine’s widely debated compilation of recordings from influential music artists spanning the genres of reggae, rap, rock, pop, country, rhythm and blues, and electronica.
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Within the top 50 albums, the publication stated that “Exodus”: “As the title suggests, this album wasn’t recorded in Jamaica; after Bob Marley took a bullet in a 1976 assassination attempt, he relocated the Wailers to London. But tracks such as ‘Jamming’ are still suffused with the deep essence of reggae and life at home. ‘Three Little Birds’, for example, had been written on the back step of Marley’s home in Kingston, where he would sit and smoke herb. Each time Marley rolled a spliff, he would discard the seeds — and the birds of the song’s title would pick them up. ‘The music have a purpose,’ Marley said, and his spiritual intent was never clearer than on the anthem ‘One Love’, with its message of redemption and revolution.”
“Rolling Stone” is nostalgic in its homage to “Catch A Fire.” It was noted, “This was the album that introduced the whole world to Bob Marley, expanding his audience beyond Jamaica without diluting his bedrock reggae power.”
Rolling Stone wrote, “This was the album that took reggae worldwide,” the magazine noted. “The movie was a Jamaican stew of ‘Robin Hood’, ‘High Sierra’ and ‘Easy Rider’ — reggae singer turns outlaw hero, goes on the run with guns blazing — with patois dialogue so thick that US audiences needed subtitles. But the soundtrack needed no translation, introducing Babylon to the new beat.”
The album “Funky Kingston” by Toots and the Maytals, released in 1973, peaked at #344.
The article noted, “Loose, funky, and exuberant, Kingston is the quintessential document of Jamaica’s greatest act after Bob Marley. Showcasing some of the Maytals’ best songs and borrowing from soul, pop, and gospel, ‘Funky Kingston’ introduced the world to the great Toots Hibbert.”
The 1981 album “Red” by Black Uhuru debuted at #466, receiving praise for being “the peak of a landmark five-LP run. On tunes like ‘Sponji Regga’ ‘Youth of Eglington’ and ‘Utterance’ singers Duckie Simpson and Puma Jones go high over lead vocalist Mykal Rose’s cantor-like wails while Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare’s rhythm machine bore into the deepest part of the beat.”
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list by Rolling Stone was first released in 2003 and somewhat updated in 2012.
As stated in the publication, “It’s been the most widely read — and argued over — feature in the history of the magazine.”
Votes from ‘Rolling Stone’ staff members, journalists, music business professionals, artists, composers, and producers were used to reassemble the 2023 list.
Voters were invited to pick their top 50 albums of all time on votes they submitted. The highest-ranked album on each list received 300 points, followed by the second-highest album at 290 points, and so on, down to 44 points for number 50. The votes were totaled. Over 3,000 albums were voted on with at least one vote.
Among Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums, the top 10 are:
- Marvin Gaye – ‘What’s Going On’ (1971)
- The Beach Boys – ‘Pet Sounds’ (1966)
- Joni Mitchell – ‘Blue’ (1971)
- Stevie Wonder – ‘Songs in the Key of Life’ (1976)
- The Beatles – ‘Abbey Road’ (1969)
- Nirvana – ‘Nevermind’ (1991)
- Fleetwood Mac – ‘Rumors’ (1977)
- Prince and The Revolution – ‘Purple Rain’ (1984)
- Bob Dylan – ‘Blood on the Tracks’ (1975)
- Lauryn Hill – ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ (1998)
