LEGEND

ISLAND 50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION. THERE ARE FEW MUSICIANS WHOSE MUSIC HAS INDISPUTABLY ADVANCED HUMANITY. REGGAE FIGUREHEAD BOB MARLEY--A SONGWRITER, POET, ACTIVIST, AND VISIONARY--IS ONE OF THEM. THE IDEA THAT A SINGLE-DISC COLLECTION COULD REPRESENT THE DEPTH, BREADTH, AND POWER OF MARLEYS ACHIEVEMENT IS FAR-FETCHED, BUT LEGEND MAKES AN EXCELLENT ATTEMPT. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF ITS TRACKS IS OUTSTANDING, AND THE ARTISTS DIFFERENT FACES--REVOLUTIONARY ('GET UP STAND UP'), ROMANTIC ('IS THIS LOVE'), DEVOUT RASTAFARIAN ('BUFFALO SOLDIER'), AND PROPHET ('ONE LOVE/PEOPLE GET READY') ARE EQUALLY REPRESENTED.

IN ADDITION TO HIS MOVING MESSAGE OF LOVE AND UNITY, MARLEY IS A MASTER SONGWRITER, AS THE TIMELESSNESS OF SONGS LIKE 'STIR IT UP,' 'I SHOT THE SHERIFF,' AND THE GORGEOUS, POIGNANT 'REDEMPTION SONG' PROVES. OF COURSE, A TRUE SAMPLING OF MARLEYS OUTPUT WOULD REQUIRE SOME EARLY SKA MATERIAL, THE WAILERS DEBUT (CATCH A FIRE), THE DEFINITIVE NATTY DREAD, AND HIS LATER-PERIOD OPUS EXODUS, BUT LEGEND PROVIDES A HIGHLY SATISFYING, IF BRIEF, OVERVIEW OF MARLEYS GENIUS. A RECORD WELL SUITED TO ANY LOCATION, SEASON, OR TIME OF DAY, IT HAS PROVEN UNIVERSAL IN ITS APPEAL. THE MUSIC HEREIN IS AS ESSENTIAL AS AIR. (NOTE: THE DELUXE EDITION CD INCLUDES TWO BONUS TRACKS AND AN ADDITIONAL DISC OF REMIXES.)