From the Secret Laboratory [Import]

Lee "Scratch" Perry | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 1, 1997)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Ume Imports
• ASIN: B0000081B8
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #403,194 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

11 TRACKS: 1) Secret Laboratory (Scientific Dancehall) 2) Inspector Gadget 3) (I Got The) Groove 4) Vibrate On 5) African Hitchhiker 6) You Thought I Was Dead 7) Too Much Money 8) Push; Push 9) African Headcharge In 10) The Hackney Empire 11) S K»ö ýS üï øï

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Among the Best of the Latter Day Lee Perry, August 6, 2005

By 

Ernesto Del Mundo (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: From the Secret Laboratory (Audio CD)

Two killer songs and some standard Scratch make up this 1990 collection. "Push Push" and "You Thought I was Dead" are the standouts here and worth the price by themselves, while "African Headcharge" and "Seven Devils Dead" are also fine examples of the Madman Perry style. As usual, ya gotta love the freestyle, always funky rantings from the Professor across each song. Here they include items ranging from Lufthansa to Edward Seaga to Hurricane Gilbert. All in all this is among the best of his post-Black Ark efforts.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic work from the Original Upsetter, December 19, 2003

By 

James Forsyth "www.jamesforsyth.net" (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From the Secret Laboratory (Audio CD)

Ok. One thing I don't understand is that Amazon has two listings for this CD. One (this one) is correctly entitled "From *the* Secret Laboratory" the other "From *my* Secret Laboratory", which I've never heard of. True, I could be completely out of touch and Lee may have produced another CD with a strikingly similar name to this one, but wilymanc's review would indicate that it is the same product.

Anyhow, to the CD itself: The cover drew me immediately. There's Lee, sitting in royal robes, probably in the Alps somewhere (he lives in Switzerland these days). This was the first Lee Perry CD I ever purchased, and it has always been my favourite.

Every tune is rich with subtle layers of brass, back-up vocalists, keyboards and last but not least, the madness of the dreaded Lee himself.

"African Hitchiker" has warped lyrics and is good for a laugh, but "You Thought I Was Dead" has crushing electronic movements, with Lee taking us straight back to Jamaica's political to-ing and fro-ing in reggae's heyday, with taunts at Michael Manley.

Every time you listen to "From the Secret Laboratory" you will hear something new. A true journey of sound.

5.0 out of 5 stars Love., January 19, 2012

By 

Michael A. Ridge "The Agent Of Truth" (Boston - The World) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From The Secret Laboratory (Audio CD)

A friend of mine loaned me a cassette tape way back in 1990...one side said 'King Tubby' and the other said nothing. I really wasn't really familiar with Mr. Perry at that time, especially how his voice sounded. I had purchased 'Scratch Attack' a couple of years earlier, with little/no vocals, and as far as Reggae went, I was basically into BOB, Tosh, Steel Pulse and Black Uhuru at that time, and some early Dancehall...
The other side of this cassette. Wow. It really grabbed me...seduced me, amazed me, compelled me, and inspired me. Was this reggae? Dub? What was it? I had no idea of whom I was listening. Neither did my friend, as the tape was made for him by an acquaintance. It wasn't until many years later, after many Perry CD's, that I realized/remembered it was him on that tape all along...that tape that was long since lost/disappeared...I NEEDED to find it once again, no matter what...
I would never forget several phrases from two of my favorite songs on this release. The internet age came about, and then the Google age. I continued to type in these couple/few lines every once in a while...with no luck, again and again...I thought I would never hear these songs again, and that they would forever remain just a fading memory. Perry's catalog is huge. I think I researched every song he ever made, produced, and sang on - until finally one day, Hallelujah...I found it...'From The Secret Laboratory' was rediscovered...Thanks & Praise!
I do not care for the first three tracks...that's just me & my opinion. But from 'Vibrate On', the rest of the release in my opinion is real Magic...wonderfully made by and between Scratch & Adrian Sherwood, and it has a real continuity; the songs seem to blend seamlessly from one to the next...
Pardon me...I get carried away sometimes with this sort of thing. Like the title says, 'Love'. I Love this release. It would be (in my opinion) the only great thing (brand new material) Perry would put out for the next eighteen years (aside from 1997's 'Live at Maritime Hall')...until he would hook up with Adrian Sherwood once again in 2008 for 'The Mighty Upsetter'...
Big Up Scratch...Thank You for all You have done and continue to do. And Praise Jah.