Prince Buster - Fabulous Greatest Hits [Diamond Range]
Despite popular perceptions, Jamaica's first international  superstar was notBob Marleybut an  idiosyncratic music arranger namedPrince Buster.  Buster's pre- and post-ska musical stylings were so left of center  (sometimes his rhythmic structures focus on the after-beat rather than  the downbeat) that he's largely thought to have created his own reggae  subgenre called blue beat (named after his label of the same name).Fabulousmixes some of Buster's well-known cuts with some  not-so-famous ones that fly all over the musical map as far as soundscapes  go. On the more obscure numbers like "Texas Hold-Up," the wicked horn  section wails away over a shuffled syncopated beat, while on the  bass-heavy "Freezing up Orange Street," the organ and saxophone are mixed to  spar off against one another. Down-tempo ballads like "Julie" keep this  collection balanced, while Buster's more ubiquitous up-tempo rhythm  tracks like "Al Capone" and "Judge Dread" expose listeners to his more  uncensored political positions regarding race and sex. While his hit  "Ten Commandments" is included on this collection, the sexist manifesto  it espouses would generate an even more heated set of responses from  women than it garnered back then (the third commandment asks for the  woman "to kiss and caress me, and honor and obey me, seven days a week  and twice on Sundays"). In the end, those who think thatShaggywas the  creative genius behind "Oh Carolina" (Buster actually produced the  original version for the Folkes Brothers) need to purchase this  collection and get schooled on this ska legend.--Dalton Higgins