Customer Reviews

Burnin' (Deluxe Edition)

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I have the burnin album already, i bought this for the second live disc and i wasnt disappointed, I can honestly say that this is the best bob has ever sounded...the sound quality is A+ This concert (recorded in Leeds '73) sounded as if it could have been recorded yesterday and the performance is full of passion and tight. Ive rarely heard the Wailers sound better live musically than how they sound here, I couldnt ask for more. The quality of this is better (sonically) than the Roxy double disc and its truly a thrill to hear Bob and Peter Tosh playing and singing together, its been hard to take this one out of my cd player. Perhaps the more casual Bob fan might not be prepared to spend the amount of money for this, but most Bob fans would be thrilled.

"Burnin'" was the last album by the Wailers as a collective group, afterwhich Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer left the group to pursue solo careers and Marley reformed his group, calling it "Bob Marley & the Wailers" in 1974. The album shows the original three at their best, balancing lead vocals on several songs between Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, and Peter Tosh. The album not only serves to further reveal Bob's soon-to-be legendary work, but also to show the talent of Bunny Wailer with his lead vocals on songs like "Hallelujah Time" and "Pass It On".

The album also shows Tosh taking lead with Marley on "One Foundation" and alongside Marley on "Get Up, Stand Up". The album's biggest gem, however, was "I Shot the Sheriff," soon to be made a favorite in the U.S. and the U.K. by rock artist Eric Clapton on his 1974 "451 Ocean Boulevard" album.

The deluxe edition also features a concert from the tour in Leeds, U.K. just one week before the Wailers broke up. (Bunny, however, was already absent, having refused to tour outside of Jamaica once and for all earlier that year. His temporary replacement,the Wailers' old vocal coach, Joe Higgs was also absent, quitting the tour after they completed their shows in the U.S.) 1973's "Burnin'" shows the original Wailers at their very best before their breakup and is a timeless classic for music fans everywhere, I can guarentee it.

This is the last album by the trio who started out as the Wailers. After this album tensions amoung the original Wailers (Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer)proved to be too much and they broke up. But this album released in 1973 was the Wailers greatest work. the trio prefectly compliment each other on the classic I Shot the Sheriff and the fine Get Up, Stand Up. On Burnin' unlike on Catch A Fire, each Wailer gets a few of their own songs performed even though Bob Marley still takes many of the lead vocals. Burnin' is mainly some of the band's older songs re-worked with some new tunes that are quite catchy. All the songs have excellent harmonies and phat instrumentation, and to no one's suprise, the Barrett brother lay down some great grooves. This album presents the Wailers at the peak of their powers. the second disc is unbelievable. The leeds show has been in circulation amoungst tape traders but not with the quality here. The leeds show is one of my favorite wailers shows, and is one of the last concerts marley played with tosh. It is well worth the money for this, and I would recommend this as a great introduction to the wailers sound, these 2 discs surpass legened by far.

I did not have the original so this was an easy decision to make. My understanding is that Burnin' was the last wailers release to include Peter Tosh. Serious Bob fans will want to add this 2 cd deluxe set to their collection. Not only is it crisp and clear but the band is tight and focused - especially true on the live selections (disc 2). The remastering effort is excellent. The first disc makes you feel like you are standing in the studio with the band and the second makes you feel like you're in the audience.
About the live disc: the band is on top of their game here. It's a tight show that features excellent versions from the Burnin' album.
If you're new to Bob you might want to start with Exodus (or at least make Exodus part of your collection at some point) but experienced fans will not go wrong with this 2 cd set.

1973 was a monumental year for the original Wailers. A mere six months after the release of their brilliant breakthrough album, Catch A Fire, the group actually managed to top themselves with Burnin', arguably the greatest reggae album of all time. This album's most celebrated tunes, "Get Up, Stand Up" and "Sheriff" have certainly stood the test of time. But while they are, without question, worthy of their classic status, it is many of the lower profile tunes, in my opinion, that truly make Burnin' special. Take, for example, Bunny Wailer's two incredible contributions, "Hallelujah Time" and "Pass It On". His lyrics have rarely been more insightful and his voice more hauntingly beautiful than on these two cuts. And, while Peter Tosh only contributes a single song to this collection with "One Foundation", it is easly one of his finest both musically and lyrically. The Wailers' updates of classics recorded a few years earlier for Lee Perry, "Put In On", "Small Axe" and "Duppy Conqureror", are also stellar, if not necessarily superior to the originals. Finally, we have the dark, millitant anthem "Burnin' and Lootin'" and uplifting closing track "Rasta Man Chant" rounding out this amazing collection of songs.

This deluxe edition is certainly worth owning, even if you already have an original copy of Burnin' (in my case, a very worn out LP I purchased about 20 years ago). Featured as bonus tracks are two early sketches of songs Bunny would eventually re-cut for Black Heart Man: "Reincarnated Souls" and "The Opressed Song" as well as Tosh's classic "No Sympathy", which probably should have found its way onto Burnin' originally.

The real exciting news, however, is disc two, which features a concert recorded at Leed's University a short while before Bob, Bunny and Peter went their seperate ways. Bunny, as well as his tour replacement Joe Higgs, are unfortunately absent from this recording and, subsequently, so are the group's trademark three-part vocal harmonies. None the less, this is a great performance and a powerful reminder of how amazing this original lineup was. The sound quality is also vastly superior to the bootlegs I've heard.

This is truly the deluxe edition of an essential album and well worth your hard-earned money.

Well I got this one obviously cause Its Bob Marley, but The concert. I have the concert that is on this package, so I wanted to hear, other than quality wize the difference. Well sure enough I did, THEY EDITED SLAVE DRIVER AROUND 2:45-2:46 INTO THE SONG BY ABOUT 8 SECONDS. There are other bits as well that they edited, not songs, but in between them. But hey its still great to hear the concert, just ignore the fact that it's the whole concert. Also you get to hear two extra versions of Get Up Stand Up. Seeing how it is my top five Bob Marley song, (or should I write Marley/Tosh song, seeing how the next time they share that credit, to my knowledge, is on Why Must I Cry)
Im satisfied hearing them. So if you have not gotten it yet well you should.

Jah Blessings Itinually

I also think that the live recording from Leeds is spectacular in sound (probably the best sound on a live recording I've ever heard), tightness and energy, but is it only me that have noticed that The Wailers plays out of key during the whole set? Listen to Tosh's guitar 4.20 into Slave Driver, the intro to No More Trouble (2.05). Tosh short solo on Stir it Up (3.46) is a nightmare. These are just a few remarks - the list could be much longer. Sometimes everything sounds right but suddenly Tosh gets lost, or the keyboardist, and sometimes even Marley's rythm guitar sounds out of key. It's only 'Family Man' Barret on base and his brother on drums that got it 100% together on this recording. It's so frustrating! This would have been a pure masterpiece. Live! is meek in comparison to the energy on this live. If I was given one ride with a time machine today i would go to Leeds on the 23/11 1973 and get their instruments in tune.

I agree with all the praises for the live set at Leeds University, U.K.

However, though other reviewers [E. Gustafsson mentions 'Barret on base' - should be 'bass' - 'and his brother on drums'] mentioned that Bunny Wailer and Joe Higgs had bailed out of the tour, prior to this live recording, no reviewer managed to credit/discover the one person who could have made or un-made this recording.

This one person, on drums, and his brother, on bass, is the answer to why this recording is so great:
Carlton "Carlie" Barrett (drums)
Aston 'Family Man' Barret (b)

Please, people who love rhythm and blues (of which reggae is a part): give credit where the ultimate credit is due!

Sometime in the nineties, when it became clear that CD's were not a passing fad and that they'd be the dominant format, the record companies began re-releasing all the albums they'd put out right when CD's came out, in the late 80's or very early 90's. The re-released albums would be remastered, have new and improved art, information, and essays inside the liner notes, and often times, if they could be found, new versions of the album tracks or contemporary songs not included would be put on the end.

Some of these re-released albums were worth buying, and some were not. I originally scoffed at the "Deluxe Editions", because for many of the records, they represented not the second issue, but the third or even forth, and because 2 CD's seemed excessive. For example, The Who's "Live at Leeds" had already come out in several versions on CD in remastered sound with new liner notes and bonus tracks.

But really, most of the "Deluxe Editions" are really great, and worth buying, especially if it is an album you don't have on CD, because they don't cut out any of the original album or re-arrange it. They only add things after the length of the original album and/or on the second disc. Some other excellent re-issues in this series are The Velvet Underground's "Loaded" and Cream's "Disraeli Gears".

The re-issued "Deluxe" "Burnin'" features 12 live tracks either from "Burnin"' or from the prior album or contemporary with "Burnin'". The sound is really excellent. So good that it makes me think that perhaps the songs were recorded with the intention of making a live album which eventually got scrapped. All the instruments and vocals can be heard distinctly and clearly. Also, the band stretches and jams out and gets to really get into many of the songs.

So, as someone who is usually weary of buying an album again, I would recommend the Deluxe Edition of "Burnin". Oh, the re-issued "Deluxe Edition" of "Catch a Fire" is also excellent. Disc 2 features different versions/mixes of the album tracks. Many of which have radically different instrumentation. You can really hear Blackwell's influence, and see how he subtly changed the arrangements to be more accessible to American (rock & roll) fans.

I am a Marley fan. I have nearly all of his CDs and I recently purchased this Deluxe addition to get the "Live at Leeds" recording on the 2nd CD. I have enjoyed the live recording as much as any Marley CD that I have and IMHO it is clearly his best live recording. The sound quality is superb, the harmonies with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh are great, the songs are done at a faster pace/tempo than the other live CDs and the concert was done at a time when Bob was featuring his cheekeee - cheekeee style of guitar playing that he first pioneered and that has become a staple of Reggae music. They really really "cook" at this performance! If you are a Marley fan you will love it.