Social Living
Social Livingsees Burning Spear (a.k.a. Winston Rodney) fully finding the sound he'd developed during the mid-'70s. It's dry and bass heavy, and the horns add little licks of color while his own voice and socially conscious lyrics--Black Power leader Marcus Garvey and black culture remain prime subjects--take center stage. It helps that he uses some first-class musicians, includingSly and Robbieand Earl "Chinna" Smith, but there's little doubt that this is his very personal vision of reggae, which is as instantly identifiable as that of, say,Bob Marley. This is superb material, especially the title track, which has become a standard in Spear's repertoire. But there's no letdown on the entire album, making it an intense and essential reggae experience. It's perhaps the purest distillation of what Spear has always attempted to do, harnessing dub effects here and there to accent the arrangements, and it still stands as a highlight in a long and prolific career.--Chris Nickson