Customer Reviews

Reggae Explosion: The Story of Jamaican Music

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

 

 

This book does what it sets out to achieve. It is a thorough history of Jamaican music and its progression. While slightly general at times, it covers the course of Jamaican music from the mid-20th century up to today- ska, rocksteady, roots, dancehall and much more. But what makes this book great is the pictures. There are so many photos and illustrations which give you a real sense of what all these musicians were like. There are also collages of many pictures for certain notable artists (like Burning Spear, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Luciano, etc., Marley gets his own chapter full of photos) In fact the book is just packed with photos, i don't even know if they could have stuffed many more in it.

The book goes into how Jamaican music has impacted many other musical genres and cultures around the globe. For instance, the fact that the DJ and MC has its origins in the selectors and dj's of Jamaica. The modern ideas of electronic music can also be traced back to the origins of dub and other production techniques developed in Jamaica (notably by King Tubby & Lee Perry). This island of a few million has impacted the entire world in ways that are still not completely realized. The roots movements especially has affected my life in significant ways for the better. This is a very quality book, full of excellent photos, interesting text, and an overall good ting. Solid stuff, pick it up an feel irie.

I'm not sure that a coffee table book for reggae is entirely appropriate but that's what Reggae Explosion tries to be. Unfortunately, it fails to achieve it's goals on almost every level. The text isn't nearly as informative or insightful as The Rough Guide to Reggae or Reggae Routes but I'm not sure that people buy this kind of a book for text anyway. Some of the photography is is very good, but the layout is so busy and so desperately avant garde that the quality of the photos themselves is often obliterated. Given the price tag, I'd wait until it was remaindered and even then I'd think twice (that fact that I bought it just indicates I'm way too compulsive).

...but if you're looking for a decent history of reggae and reggae artists, this is NOT the place to start. Best to start with the ROUGH GUIDE TO REGGAE or Lloyd Bradley's THIS IS REGGAE MUSIC.

I LOVED THE INFORMATIVE INFO ON JAMAICAN MUSIC. THE BOOK IS A EXCELLENT READ,ALSO THERE ARE SOME VERY BEATIFUL PICTURES. ANYONE WHO ENJOYS JAMAICA, WILL ENJOY THIS BOOK. IT IS A COFFEE TABLE BOOK, FOR EVERYONE TO ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!
ONE LOVE NYIAH