Various - We Are Getting Bad - The Sound Of Phase One

Various - We Are Getting Bad - The Sound Of Phase One
DUBROOM ALBUM REVIEW



Motion Records starts off the year 2003 with a high quality collection of Hard Rocking Reggae Riddims originally released by Jamaican Label "Phase One" in the late 1970's. "We Are Getting Bad" contains almost 75 minutes of material never released on CD and even more, two previously unreleased killer DJ tracks! Obscure tracks, as the name(s) of the DJ('s) are not even known! Where Phase One never wanted to license their tunes to the more established Reggae companies, they teamed up with UK based Motion Records for this one. The album contains much variety: Dubs, DJ'ing, Vocals, and Maxi Singles. All tracks are Hard Stepping tunes: well produced, well played, well sung. This is definitely a release in the category "All Killer, No Filler". Hear vocal groups as the Chantells and the Heptones. DJ's such as U Brown and Jah Berry. Dean Fraser's saxophone play. Superb Dub Mixing by such as Ernest Hoo Kim.

This release shows how much great music is made in Jamaica. Everytime, another vault opens and timeless music comes out. It's a shame, that the majority of these tracks never found their way to a bigger audience in the times they were created, but it shows just how much Jamaican music was ahead of it's time in the 1970's.

Completely in the tradition of Quality re-releases, "We Are Getting Bad" comes with a mini booklet written by a respected writer. For Motion Records, this is Lee Perry biographer David Katz. The booklet contains an interview with the head of Phase One, who currently (January 2003) runs things at the famous Mixing Lab studios. Katz uses the interview as a framework for his very interesting description of the culture in which the music came to existence.

All in all, I would say that this release should be in your Roots Reggae and Dub collections. When you respect yourself, that is. The music is simply great and the booklet gives enough inside information to enjoy the music into a deeper level. Buy!