Customer Reviews

20th Century Masters: Millennium Collection

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This is an amazing introduction to Peter Tosh's early years as a solo artist from 1971-1973, definately showcasing some of his best songs of the period. While a few early hits are absent such as "Nobody's Business," and "Dog Teeth," that doesn't hinder the album. The album's only downfall is its title. While this may be the best of his early period, this certainly isn't the best of his entire career. But if you just want a Peter Tosh CD with the greatest hits of his early years, you'll get your money's worth with this one.

These compilation is a rather interesting curio in that it takes a left turn away from what companies usually do with "best-ofs" (they take the same, familiar handful of popular tracks and repackage them). But, in a pleasant turn, the Universal umbrella has collected some early Tosh singles that he largely did on his own without the Wailers, showing he had much talent to spare -- and, despite his popularity, still remains an underrated and under-recognized musician, even though he was the one who taught Bob Marley how to play guitar. (just listen to the Wailers music under Marley after Tosh and Bunny Wailer left -- it lacks the edginess and solid rhythm foundation that the fiery Tosh influenced).
But, if there is a problem with this compilation, it's that the Tosh completists and hardcore fans will already have these songs, and the casual Tosh fan is likely to hesitate before buying this compilation, since it's not a true "best-of," but rather a "Peter Tosh: The Early Years" CD. So while the label deserves some kudos for highlighting lesser known Tosh material, the question remains: "Will those Tosh fans who don't know these songs pick this one up?" Hopefully, the answer will be "yes."

This compilation is made up of sides that Tosh recorded between 1971-73, predating 'Legalize It'. We get to hear 'Maga Dog' and 'Burial' as they sounded before reaching later albums and there's material produced by Joe Gibbs as well as Peter himself. One gets a glimpse of the solo star to come with what's on here and if you like early roots or rocksteady, check it out. I'm glad someone thought to release this collection so Tosh could get more of the shine he deserves. For reviewers whose more critical opinion of this I've read, I implore you to listen again.

I don't know who makes the choices for all these "Millennium" collections, but they're never that great. These ten tracks are mostly good "Tosh", but they're just too few, and so much is missing. I'd go with "The Best Of Peter Tosh", "The Toughest", or any other collection.