Customer Reviews

Exodus

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"Exodus" is Bob Marley's best studio album, period. Tight and focused (10 tracks, 37 min.), Marley brings forth the best reggae you will find anywhere. (The 2001 remaster adds 2 "long versions" of "Jamming" and "Punky Reggae Party", the latter not even being on the original album).

Opener "Natural Mystic" sets the tone: easy-flowing reggae sounds, with Bob's never-absent comments on the way things are, or should be. The album's title track is, at 7+ min, the "monster" track on the album, and one of Bob's best ever. The album also contains the well-known (and hits in the US) "Jamming", "Waiting in Vain", and "One Love".

One can argue that Marley was never as good in the studio as he was live (check out the live album "Babylon by Bus"), but as far as his studio output is concerned, it never got any better than this. Essential for any Marley fan.

Fun fact: Marley was always bigger in Europe than he was in the US. Of the original 10 tracks, 7 were issued as a single in the UK, a feat not repeated until Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album, just to give you a sense of "Exodus" impact in 1977.

I watched a TV documentary the other night about the making of this album and it was a spellbinding hour and a half. Apparently, Bob had to flee Jamaica for the UK after an assassination attempt and ended up living in London for a year. It was during this year that this phenomenal album was recorded. I've owned it for over 20 years now - first on cassette, then on vinyl and finally on CD - and I had no clue that this was so.

The album was released in 1977. It was the year of the Queen's Silver Jubilee but Britain was in a very bad place, the seeds of Thatcherism and the heartless 80s had already been sown and Punk ruled the airwaves. I lived a very sheltered life as a teenager and so it wasn't until 1979 when I went away to boarding school, that I finally get to hear the album in its entirety. It was a true revelation. I heard it on (what was then) a new invention my peers and I called a "hi-fi system" owned by an older student and I remember hearing the percussion on "Jamming" and being transfixed. No exaggeration; I was literally hypnotised.

The album is faultless with pristine production by Bob and The Wailers. From the minute the first strains of "Natural Mystic" fade in, through the accusatory "Guiltiness", on to the revolutionary title track, the slow jams "Waiting In Vain" & "Turn Your Lights Down Low", on to the optimitic "Three Little Birds" and right to the end of "One Love/People Get Ready", there is not a single note out of place. Each song, a potential hit single, (7 of the 10 songs on the original album were actually hits here in the UK) has a vibrant, totally relevant message - especially for a black teenager living in 70s UK, and Bob's primary ethos of peace & love have stayed with me ever since. That being said, this is the album that began to open my young eyes to the oppression and injustice that already surrounded me. The idea that music wasn't simply for entertainment or escapism but could inspire thought, behaviour and attitude change as well as activism, was new and very appealing.

And this was also the album that turned Bob from an international reggae star into a global prophet. Setting everything about Rastafarianism (respectfully) to one side, Bob the man and the music he made, the message he spread, have always educated and enthralled me in equal measure and always will. When I think about what are for me, consummately iconic, influential and superb recordings and I think about such albums as Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, John Coltane's A Love Supreme, Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life, Michael Jackson's Off the Wall, Pink Floyd's The Wall (Deluxe Packaging Digitally Remastered) and Radiohead's OK Computer, I also, immediately, think of Bob Marley's "Exodus". My life was definitely not the same after listening to it and now that I fully understand the story behind it, I hold the album in even higher esteem.

Whether this is Marley's best piece of work or not is, I guess, a matter of personal opinion and will always be open to debate. What is beyond doubt, is that it is my favourite Bob Marley album and I am proud and honoured to make this my 200th review on amazon.com. I'm a bit of a purist so I prefer the version I have which does not have the two extra tracks (though I have both on 12" single) but they are definitely worth having. As such, this is the version to get. There'll no doubt be a '30th anniversary edition' knocking around before too long as well.

Exodus (the movement of JAH People) was time magazine's album of the century, that should say enough right there. But if you are not convinced buy it and you will be for sure. This album was released in 1977, and was recorded in London England. Bob Marley and members of the band survived an attempted assination in December of 1976, and went into self imposed exile in London. Here the creativity of the band is quite good, and many of the Songs that you know by Bob Marley and the Wailers appear on this disc. Jamming, Exodus, One Love, Three Little Birds, and Waiting In Vain. All the tracks are great on this disc and you can hear for the first time in all of the Wailers recordings that the quality of the recording equipment here is much better. The dummer's (Carlton Barrett) high hat never came through so clear. This album marks the intro of Junior Marvin (lead guitar)to the band. The band was about to gain superstar status and this album marks the beginning. If you crave more Jamming, check out the Exodus Deluxe Edition, it offers a second disc with part of a concert from the Rainbow Theater, and some rare Lee Perry tracks that will surely move you. This album is the album of the cetury, and you should own it for yourself, reguardless of you liking reggae or not.

The story behind Exodus is worthy of a book - in fact there is a book on the making of Exodus. This and the follow-up 'Kaya' were recorded and assembled in London in the 18 months following the attempted assassination of Marley in December 1976. The first side of the album (old-school vinyl fans know what I mean) is pure revolutionary reggae rock: Natural Mystic, So Much Things to Say, Heathen, Guiltiness, and Exodus. Drop-dead master reggae powered by the brother team of Aston 'Family Man' Barrett on bass and Carlton Barrett on drums.

In the book 'Exodus' author Vivien Goldman takes you inside the studio in some very intimate recollections. Bob, for instance, worked the band from mid-afternoon til the wee hours of the morning. Generally speaking the band would record basic tracks for a song, and keep working on it until it was deemed 'finished,' when they'd then move on to the next track.

On several occasions he came in alone to record vocals for songs by himself, and at one point spent several hours working to get the right 'take' for a song. Of course this was before the days of digital mixing where you could drop in a word or phrase at a time, so Bob was singing each time all the way through. He would work until his voice warmed up and finally nail a take.

On to side two: Jammin', Waiting in Vain, Turn Your Lights Down Low, Three Little Birds, One Love/People Get Ready. Some of the sweetest and most intimate love songs I've ever heard, as well as the spirited Jammin' - one of the most uplifting songs ever to grace my earbuds.

Exodus is one of those rarities - a coming together of great songwriting, stellar performances, ground-breaking recording methods (read the book!), and timeliness. As a historical document of the best that Bob Marley and the Wailers had to offer, as well as a kick-ass soulful album to crank up, Exodus has it all.

It is always interesting to follow Bob Marley's career from his early rude boy years, to the rock steady years, to the ska years, to reggae, to the roots, rock, reggae which this set shows itself. As so many other reviewers have said this has to be Bob Marley and the Wailers at their absolute tightest. Tight because of how tightly compacted and densely thick the drum lines are, delivered with startling accuracy. Tight because the guitars, and organs, and instruments have never sounded so heavy and so right before. Tight because there's no longer the dense weed smoke hanging in the air that clouded up some parts of Catch a Fire and earlier recordings. Instead now, now Marley is clear on, leaving no lyric to chance, and leaving no sound to the inspiration of the atmosphere: rather he's MAKING the atmosphere with his sound. Tight because his vocals have never been so right on before. If I had to stack all the records Bob and the Wailers (Peter Tosh and Bunny included) ever made, this would be the singular one I would choose. This is the best album Robert Nesta Marley, O.M. ever made, uniting world styles of music with the dreams of a little boy from St. Ann's Parish who on this record, has become a man of startling musical and lyrical power.

The album opens with Natural Mystic, a remake. Many times you will find that Bob remade some of the hits that he, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh recorded back in their ska and rude boy years. This is one of them. Natural Mystic was recorded in a ska (a folkish jazzy sort of form of reggae) a few years earlier completely with trumpets, and orchestraic instruments. This time, Marley choose a more straight-forward and blunt delivery, his voice quiet, more mournful than it was in the ska version. While the trumpets are still here their last boastful as they were in the earlier version. Marley gives the song a hint of fatality that makes it quite profound.

So Much Things to Say follows next. This song was redone by his daughter-in-law, Grammy winning singer/songstress/philosopher Lauryn Hill some years later on her classic Unplugged 2.0 collection, and one can see why a songwriter of her caliber chose to do this as a remake. It has a classical no b.s. attitute towards the things people say. Marley acknowldeges that old axiom "Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me" is a complete lie. He says that words can hurt you, but only if you stop to listen. But if you know who you are, you know what you believe, and you know what you represent, it doesn't matter. This message is delivered over a rapturous accompaniment with joyful doo-wop style of vocals by the I-Threes

Guiltiness is next. He talks about hypocrites, liars, and backstabbers in this song, aknowledging that even they have a heart, but that that heart is filled with guiltiness. Unless they turn from their ways "Woe to the downpressers, for they shall eat the bread of sorry" he cries over a darker background than the earlier music.

Heathen is a sort of chanting kind of mantra against the Spiritual Enemy, as Marley and the I-Threes cry: Jah put dah heathen back deh, pon deh wall, or in American english: God, put the heathen back there against the wall, requesting that God help him fight the battle against the Heathen both spiritual, mental, and physical.

The album's title track comes in next. It's called Exodus. It's suprisingly long. In the Wailers (Bob, Peter, and Neville "Bunny") ska years they usually wrote songs that were about 2 minutes long, so it's a big jump to see him writing a 7-plus minute track. This is a very politically minded song, and it's not entirely catchy except for it's chorus Exodus movement of Jah people, which itself is not that catchy. It's more a political dictation that you really have to listen to. It fit well in the 70's, but now, it's more something you'll want to listen, and because of how heavy he made the beat and instruments it's more something you march to than dance to.

Next has got to be one of Marley's tightest dance tracks, Jammin. The beat says it all. This is Carlton Barret at his best, proving himself one of the most exceptional drummers in the known world with tight dense delivery and transcendent ability in regards to reggae. The way he switches rhythms in the middle of the drum line without ever disrupting the flow, constantly back and forth to some three to five different rhythms is absolutely amazing. Marley delivers lyrics about dancing in the name of the Lord, a righteous party here.

Waiting in Vain is a sweet love song over a sweeter accompaniment. Here the Wailers, usually hard up on rhythm and power, deliver a sweet as honey background to Marley's declaration that he will knock on her door for as long as she wants, and he'll wait for her love for as long as she says, but he just wants to know that he isn't waiting in vain. He'll wait forever, but he needs a promise that one days he'll get some reciprocity. It's a beautiful sentiment, and Bob as usual delivers it with shocking honesty and sentiment.

Next is one of Bob's, or maybe it IS Bob's best love song. For me it's his best, and what he brings to it is emotional. It has the feeling of new love, young love, passionate, full of light and emotion. His daughter-in-law, Grammy winning singer Lauryn Hill did a duet of this song with his voice, using computer technolongy. The duet made Natalie Cole and Nat King Cole's technology-aided duet seem tame, and makes you believe that if she had married his son while he was still alive, they might have actually done this duet together. They have the same views, and their voices so well together, his Marley's rough, and Hill's so smooth that it works. Check Chant Down Babylon, an album made by Marley's son Stephen, for this duet. But the original version is by far the best. The accompaniment is trance like and Marley's vocals are admirable. Here that feeing of smoke hanging in the air returns, but this time it's a more organic, natural vibe, and sensual sort of trance-like rapture, that transcends time and space, titanic yet captured at the same time. It's a great love song.

Three Little Birds is nice feel good song, and it works well. Enjoyable.

The monster hit One Love is next. This song has been played so much that it's self explanatory.

The two bonus tracks are great. The long version of Jammin lets Carlton Barrett give a transcendental execution of drumplay. If you don't marvel at how Barrett handles those drums, and how ridiculously wonderful that bass line is, then hand over your heart and your musical taste, because you have no need for them in regards to modern music. The next track Punky Reggae Party is insatiable and irrepressable. I dare you not to start jumping around your bedroom or living room as if you're in a Jamaican basement party. If your feet are not at least tapping uncontrollably, then again, hand over your heart and musical taste.

This is Bob at his ABSOLUTE FINEST. THe ska years saw Bob discovering his style. The ska years have their own feeling and are just as enjoyable as the reggae years, this is back when folk and jazz music from New Orleans pervaded Jamaica, and the Wailers (who were then Bob Marley, Peter McIntosh (Peter Tosh) and Neville "Bunny Wailer" Livingston) were ample exponents of that style, brilliantly delivering it. The rude boy years saw a young teenage Bob ascending from the ghetto's of Trenchtown with a fierce attitude, a courageous heart, and a raw talent as he was discovering his voice. The early Island recordings saw Bob consumating it. But it is Exodus that pushes Bob into a realm of superstardom so spectacular that Time was forced to declare this the album of the Century. That decision has got to be unanimous.

-Terrence Craft

I am a huge Bob Marley fan and always have been for about 20 years now, but listening to Exodus doesn't give me the same thrill as of the over albums such as Uprising, Natty Dread and Survival.
Yes this album was called the most important album of the century by Time Magazine and holds many classics, but I feel that maybe Coming In From The Cold or Wake Up And Live should had more credit than it did.
An excellant album though but I would consider Uprising or Survival to your starting path of Bob Marley.

This album is simply perfect. The tempo and mood flows throughout the album at an excellent pace. Every song has a messeage or meaning that is universal, anybody could and should be able to relate to it. I recommend everyone to listen to it, even if you have declared that you hate reggae give this a listen. Bob Marley was one of those unique artists who never recorded a bad song, and this is one of those rare albums where everysong is a classic in every sense of the word.
One Love

Many reviewers (myself included) use the word "classic" probably more often than they should when examining great albums, but Bob Marley's thunderous "Exodus" rightfully earns the title. Its influence is incomparable, and its brilliance makes it second to none. You wanna talk about a record that has the word "genius" written all over it? This is it. And even after all these years since I first listened to it as a child, it has lost none of its urgency. Marley croons with pain and longing in the popular "Waiting in Vain;" delivers a strong message of empowerment in the title song, and another favorite of mine is the suave "Jamming." And while Lauryn Hill's version of "Turn Your Lights Down Low" is fine, it can't measure up to the smokin' original that appears here. The remastering on "Exodus" is superb, making the recording even more crisp and tight than what we've heard on previous editions. In a way, "Exodus" is to Marley what "Kind of Blue" is to Miles Davis: a great beginner's album. If you own none of his stuff, this is a pretty good place to start, as it contains many of his more popular songs. And even those who are already familiar with this album should get this reissue for the remastering. Across the board, "Exodus" is indispensable.

This album is breathtaking. It's amazing how much emotion someone can put into music so simple. The music is just gorgeous. "Waiting in Vain" is one of the prettiest and most heartfelt songs I've ever heard. Just listen to Junior Marvin's incredible guitar solo in that song. This is essential Marley, and his best album. Just INCREDIBLE!

Aside from Legend, a great compilation and a recommended introduction to the music of Bob Marley, this is one of Bob Marley's finest accomplishments. Every song is strong and topics range from party songs to social commentary. With Exodus, Jamming, Waiting in Vain, Three Little Birds (every thing is gonna be all right) and One Love, this is a greatest hits album in its own right. And, if you are looking for the sexiest reggae song of all time - Turn Your Lights Down Low simply smokes. I also strongly recommend Kaya, a beatiful set of love songs.
~~~_/)~~~ Sail On ~~~