Rebirth

Jimmy Cliff | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 17, 2012)
• Original Release Date: 2012
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: UMe
• ASIN: B00864489G
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,414 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #27 in Music > World Music > Reggae > General AAS
  • #28 in Music > World Music > Reggae > General

Editorial Reviews

Review

Four decades later, Cliff's tenor still soars. --Rolling Stone

Working with Rancid's Tim Armstrong, Cliff cuts his best music in decades. --Rolling Stone

The importance of Jimmy Cliff not to mention his general coolness cannot be overstated. --Stereogum

Product Description

The legendary Jimmy Cliff is back with his first all new album in over 7 years! REBIRTH pairs the reggae superstar with the award-winning producer and punk legend Tim Armstrong, who produced this 13 track album. Armstrong also produced Cliff's Sacred Fire EP which was released late in 2011, and Rolling Stone magazine hailed the music as Cliff s best music in decades. REBIRTH includes compelling Cliff originals including the single One More and a few pointedly chosen covers such as a version of the Clash s The Guns of Brixton and a version of Rancid's Ruby Soho .

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Four Decades In-- Jimmy Cliff Finds His Feel Again! July 20, 2012

By Rick Raymo

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

For the past couple of decades, Jimmy Cliff hasn't made a full album that has been salient to me... As one of the Kings of Reggae's heyday he is one of the last standing. Bob Marley and Peter Tosh are long gone... and nothing truly compared to the dancehall/rocksteady music that Jimmy Cliff had done when he starred in 1972's The Harder They Come (The Criterion Collection). Happily, this attempt by Rancid's Tim Armstrong (as producer) to rekindle the feel of Jimmy's origins is a stellar success.

Every cut has a nod to what Jimmy had done best in the past. The vintage feel of this recording is enhanced by the simple lead-ins of Keyboard or Drums at the front of the tunes--as happened in early Reggae. That said the production values and backing musicians are wonderful-- they are called called Engine Room. Just a sampling of the backing crew? The gents playing with Jimmy Cliff are musicians such as Scott Abels from Hepcat (he plays with amazing authenticity--but adds current riffs,) Tim Armstrong from Rancid (his guitar is a wonder on this album), and Dan Boer of Cypress Hill fame does the keyboards proud. None of the band upstages Cliff. They are so tight and so well mixed that the album itself could become one of your test records if you are buying equipment and listening to various great productions to audiophile standards. Audiophile or not--this is an album that has impressive sonic quality.

The songs?

Children's Lament and World Is Upside Down touch upon Cliff's early sociopolitical content--as his tune Vietnam did previously.

His punchier tunes are dead-on with Bang and One More and bring the feel of songs like The Harder They Come.

Blessed Love, Outsider, and Reggae Music are uptempo vintage-feel gems ala You Can Get It If You Really Want.

And the covers?
It is exceptionally fun to have Jimmy Cliff singing about himself (as Ivanhoe--yes, Ivan as the Clash mention The Harder They Come lyrically) in the Clash's Guns of Brixton.
And then there is the Rancid tune Ruby Soho. It's a brilliant move and a big risk that was pulled off with aplomb by Tim and Jimmy.

All in this is an album to own and replay and to put on your list of "Best of's" in the Reggae Genre.
It may even be aptly titled.
We'll see in the next couple of albums by Mr. Cliff.

But in the meantime, we can celebrate this wonderfully produced piece that both reaches back and stands on its own today.
Buy it. Tell people about it. Play it for them. It is a heck of a CD.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars DEAR MUSIC APPRECIATORS July 28, 2012

By Andrew H. Lee

Format:Audio CD

Dear Music Appreciators,

I don't know a dang thing about reggae or Jimmy Cliff, but I know I like this album. I knew I liked it within just a few seconds of hearing it. Can someone else like me who doesn't know a thing about reggae or Jimmy Cliff really enjoy an album like this the way that I do? Yes. But why?

"Reggae music gonna make me feel good / reggae music gonna make me feel alright now" ("Reggae Music") - if you've ever felt a little down and out (and haven't we all?) the bouncy shuffle of a reggae beat can pick up your mood, and can do so regardless of what the lyrics say. The first track "World Upside Down" name checks war, poverty, prosperity, morality, injustice, religious hypocrisy, political tyranny, crime, violence, starvation, ecological calamity, economic instability, sanity, vanity, and love, love, love, love, love, love, love - but still made me feel like I was at a party. You get the message and you get to party at the same time.

Whether Cliff is singing/speaking in a clear and sincere style ("World Upside Down") baring his falsetto soul ("Cry No More") or channeling James Brown (the intro to "Bang") he sounds like a man half his age and its fun to hear him work through these songs, songs that clearly share a certain reggaeness but are all different enough to keep things interesting and to expose to even the uninitiated reggae listener what strong ties and influences this musical style shares with rock, pop, soul, gospel, rap, hip hop, and R&B.

Get your reggae on, and no matter what's going on, your world should get a little brighter.

Sincerely,

Constant Listener

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars On the Trigger August 3, 2012

By Lee Armstrong HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Jimmy Cliff's "Rebirth" is a delightful return to form that explodes from the speakers. At 64, Cliff clocks in with one of his very best albums ever. Cliff rocks joyfully on "One More" with Tim Armstrong's production hitting that tight reggae groove and Jimmy's vocals supple and urgent, "I've got one more song I must sing, super song, so sing along." "Bang" blasts in spasms of tight musical convulsions with its groove threatening to erupt at any moment, "They say the universe came in with a bang; When the sun burst, it burst with a bang." "Guns of Brixton" embodies the chaos of turmoil with Cliff's vocals weathered and wiser, "When they kick out your front door, how you gonna come: with your hands on your head or on the trigger of your gun? When the law breaks in, how you gonna go? Shot down on the pavement or waiting on death row?" It's such a powerful political song of struggle. "Outsider" sounds like a reggae-soul hybrid with its horn charts and its retro-sounding chorus as Cliff spells out the title. "Reggae Music" & "Rebel Rebel" are also delightful; and "Blessed Love" is sweetly profound. "Rebirth" is a dynamic set not to be missed. Bravo!