Like all of the Island releases in the "an introduction to" series covering artists that actually did some-to-much non-Island recording, this isn't a complete career survey, but an extraction of highlights from the artist's Island catalog. In
Sly & Robbie's case, that means 14 tracks from the late '70s to the mid-'80s, only three of which are actually billed to
Sly & Robbie (though another is billed to
Sly Dunbar as a soloist). For this rhythm section were and are more known as session musicians and a production team, and this also features ten
Sly & Robbie productions of other artists, including tracks by reggae stars
Black Uhuru,
Dennis Brown,
Gregory Isaacs,
Junior Delgado,
the Mighty Diamonds, and
Sugar Minott, as well as lesser-known reggae singers
Jimmy Riley,
the Rolands,
the Tamlins, and
the Wailing Souls. As a consequence, this doesn't really have the kind of unified sound expected of single-artist compilations, though roughly speaking a solid, thick bass sound, crunching percussion, and percolating electronics are constant. Because a bunch of big names are here and because
Sly & Robbie were top-notch producers, this does serve as a reasonable sampler of reggae in general in the first half of the 1980s, particularly on the best material, like
Dennis Brown's "Hold on to What You Got" and
the Wailing Souls' "Sweet Sugar Plum Plum." Less kindly, it also charts the beginning of reggae's move from its roots sound of the 1970s into a slicker, more programmed vibe, and the three
Sly & Robbie tracks veer closer to disco and urban contemporary dance-pop than to the reggae that gave them their foundation. ~ Richie Unterberger