Customer Reviews

Present Arms in Dub

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

hardcore dub fans may have a hard time taking ub40 seriously, with their heavily commercial sound of the past decade or so. however, when they first started making records, they did their share of more roots-oriented reggae, including some fairly high-quality dub experiments. this recording dates from that era (1981). only 8 cuts makes for a short recording by today's standards, but the low price offsets that. the packaging is minimal, but it's a decent recording. ub40 fans who don't know about the earlier era of recordings may like this, but if they're not schooled in dub, may miss the vocals and commercialism initially. i bet it grows on you, though!

UB40 obviously were listening to a lot of Lee Perry ( or smoking a lot of herb - maybe both ) when they recorded this one. No vocals to be found here, no traditional song structure. Loads of echo-laden synth effects and syn drums. Awesome heavy dub grooves. This is much better than I thought it would be, and I can't recommend it highly enough. For fans of dub reggae in the vein of Lee "Scratch" Perry and King Tubby, this is a must have. For those who disregard UB40 as watered down commercial pop/reggae, this will come as a pleasant surprise.

its hard to put my finger in exactly what paid sounds like exactly. its a very enthrawing sound. its between reggae and ska with a lot of musical energy. i also like it a lot because its all in dub so you don't have to worry about the sometimes annoying vocals. very smooth enjoyable music. i could probably recommend this for anybody to enjoy. the return of dr. x in particular is a lot of fun. UB40 is simply a great group and this is one of the best.

once again UB40 has proven to be outstanding with beats that make you dance and lyrics that make you sing along! UB40 has taken REGGAE and added a new flair with a little bit of JAZZ and it is simply awesome!!! This is a definite must have for all UB40 listeners.

Not the best of UB40 quality--overly synthesized and muddy sound from the live performance ruins some of their best political songs. After seeing them live twice, I was definitely disappointed.