Red

Black Uhuru

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1981
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Mango
• ASIN: B000003QHO
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #194,147 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Reggae music just does not get much better than this. Red features bedrock vibrating bass lines, massive chunky rhythms, and some of Michael Rose and Duckie Simpson's most crucial lyrics. The Sly and Robbie production shapes a solid foundation over which the voices of Rose, Simpson, and Puma romp, implore, and call down brimstone and fire. They sing of militancy in "Youth of Eglington" and of adversity building character in "Sponji Reggae"; of enduring backbreaking work in "Rockstone" and of the simple joy of hearing a voice that you can relate to in "Utterance." This is music with a serious edge that deals with the downtrodden, the dispossessed, and the exploited. But Black Uhuru also know how to play, to bring joy and respect, and to lift the spirit. It is a tough balance to maintain, but on Red, the group is more than equal to the task. --Jeff Grubb

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LISTEN UP!, May 31, 2001

By	The masked reviewer "rasmark1" (Teaneck, NJ) - See all my reviews

FOCUS! This album is the Revolver of Reggae. Do not even think twice. If you buy 10 reggae albums in your life this must be one. Utterance I feel is one of the top 5 best reggae songs ever recorded. The album is superb. The next Uhuru album you would buy would be Sinsimilla. And, then you move on to other bands as they were not able to maintain the sincerity of the sound much beyond Red.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Believe the Hype!, May 7, 2001

By	"tkpk7057" (Takoma Park, MD) - See all my reviews

Anyone who likes reggae music should own this album. For the casual fan looking to expand beyond Marley, this is one of the best places to start. Few if any albums are as pure gold as this wonderful album. The playing is inspired, the singing beautiful, the production clean and crisp. Whenever I listen to it I ask myself why I ever bother listening to anything else. Buy it; love it; then get GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A classic album by a very underrated reggae artist, October 24, 2005

By	Matt "Dash" (Miller Place, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This album is great. Sly & Robbie are an incredible duo and are certainly underrated to mainstream music fans. The 'taxi' sound the band ushered in is a welcome deviation from standard one drop drumming. Red has got to be the best, or one of the best Black Uhuru albums. It's rough, hardcore roots with a special blend of electronic instrumentation thrown on top which is always what made black uhuru very unique to me. They're able to put electronics into roots music and have it still be roots, and that's very impressive. The obvious standout track is "Youth of Eglington", one of their very best songs and a song that will go down as one of the finest in roots reggae. Followed by the magnificent "Sponji Reggae", the first Black Uhuru song I heard, and a song that really entranced me. Black Uhuru is just so peculiar, they have such a unique sound even within a genre that is known for repeating itself endlessly. Sometimes it works, sometimes it's garbage though. Sly & Robbie can be depended to put awesome drums and bass on any songs though, and the other musicians of Black Uhuru are decent enough. Although I love Mykal Rose on alot of albums, and his voice and style is very distinguished, he's unfortunately not the best lyricist and can kinda babble on off-key with slack rhymes which are just *not very interesting* - I look back at the simplistic, yet *SOLID* words of bob marley and I'm left dissapointed by what Mykal has to say. He has the voice but he is just not the best lyricist and it makes alot of his music suffer almost in a way. It's not even him using patois, just ways he says certain things, you'd never make out unless you were born in jamaica or read a lyric booklet. Puma Jones..fine back-up singer, but for some reason, I always found her voice to be really, really weird sounding. Overall though an awesome album deserving of 4 stars, a star taken off for Mykal's not-the-best lyrics, and occasionally the band can't live up to thier cohorts Sly & Robbie. An interesting tidbit - you can totally tell UB40 directly ripped off Sly's drums on "Puff she Puff" for UB40's "Cherry oh Baby".