April 8, 2025 • 34 mins
Catch a Fire is the fifth studio album by Bob Marley and the Wailers, released on April 13, 1973. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest reggae albums of all time and a key record in bringing Jamaican music to an international audience.
This album was the band's first release under Island Records, with producer Chris Blackwell polishing their raw, roots reggae sound to appeal to rock audiences. The result was a fusion of reggae with rock and soul influences, featuring electric guitar solos, keyboard overdubs, and a more polished production style.
Thematically, Catch a Fire blends political consciousness, social struggle, and spirituality, with standout tracks like "Concrete Jungle," "Slave Driver," and "400 Years" addressing issues of oppression and resistance. The album also contains more personal and romantic songs such as "Stir It Up", which became one of Marley's signature hits.
Though it wasn't an immediate commercial success, Catch a Fire has since become a landmark album, helping to launch Bob Marley into global superstardom and solidifying reggae’s place on the world stage.
Listen to the album on Apple Music
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
It's just a lot of things.
SPEAKER_00 (00:13):
This is Polyfonic Price, the podcast where two
music fans make a classic albumcompletely at random.
Using the painted random albumgenerator, they are given an
album to review from a curatedlist of over 1,000 classic
releases, spanning multiplegenres.
And now on to the show.
(00:35):
Here are your hosts, Jeremy Boydand John Van Dyke.
SPEAKER_05 (00:48):
Hey, welcome to Polyphonic Press.
I'm Jeremy Boyd.
And I'm John Van Dyke.
And let's not waste any time,we've got the uh patented random
album generator right in frontof us here.
Uh so let's hit the button andsee what album we're going to be
listening to this week.
SPEAKER_02 (01:03):
The album you will be reviewing is Catch a Fire by
Bob Marley and the Wailers.
SPEAKER_05 (01:08):
Oh wow.
Alright, so this is uh here's adescription of the album.
It says Catch a Fire is thefifth studio album by Bob Marley
and the Wailers, released onApril 13th, 1973.
It is widely regarded as one ofthe greatest reggae albums of
all time and a key record inbringing Jamaican music to an
(01:28):
international audience.
The album was the band's firstrelease under Island Records,
with producer Chris Blackwellpolishing their raw roots reggae
sound to appeal to rockaudiences.
The result was a fusion ofreggae with rock and soul
influences, featuring electricguitar solos, keyboard overdubs,
and a more polished productionstyle.
(01:52):
Thematically, Catch a Fireblends political consciousness,
social struggle, andspirituality with standout
tracks like Concrete Jungle,Slave Driver, and 400 Years,
addressing issues of oppressionand resistance.
The album also contains morepersonal and romantic songs such
as Stir It Up, which uh becomewhich became one of Marley's
(02:13):
signature hits.
Though it wasn't an immediatecommercial success, Catch a Fire
has since become a landmarkalbum helping to launch Bob
Marley into global superstardomand solidifying reggae's place
on the world stage.
Sounds like it should be fun.
Alright, so the album wasreleased on the 13th of April,
1973, and the genres are reggae,reggae rock, and roots reggae.
(02:39):
Uh label is Tough Gung andIsland Records, and produced by
Bob Marley and Chris Blackwell.
And uh if you're listeningalong, which we encourage you to
do, the album is uh uh there'snine songs on the album, and the
first side uh goes through songsone through five.
(02:59):
So it starts with ConcreteJungle and ends with Baby We've
Got a Date.
So if you're uh listening along,if you want to stop it after the
fifth song, uh Baby We've Got aDate, we'll pause and discuss
the album halfway through.
Okay, here is the first song onthe album, Concrete Jungle.
So here we go.
(03:33):
We've got a date and bracketsRocket Baby.
Uh yeah, I mean this is a thisis a really great album.
It's it's uh it is kind of notobvious, but it it is sort of um
it I can tell that it's his hisfirst album, his debut album,
(03:54):
um, because it is uh he's stillnot quite as developed in in his
singing and still sort offiguring that's that out.
But the Wailers actually didexist before Bob Marley joined.
They were a band for 10 yearsbefore he they got together with
Bob Marley in Jamaica.
(04:16):
Um so this is their this is hisfirst album with them, um or
their first album together.
But uh and it's the what it'slike it's the first album that
really brought reggae to sort ofa wide audience.
(04:37):
Um but so far it's a it's it'spretty pretty great, you know.
SPEAKER_04 (04:42):
Yeah, it is a good album.
Um I think it started off reallystrong, and the uh and the
guitar solo in the uh firsttrack was actually it was pretty
good, not bad.
I I don't know who plays lead.
SPEAKER_05 (04:56):
So that actually wasn't one of the wailers.
Okay so the producer ChrisBlackwell he wanted to add some
more rock elements to the musicto sort of bring it into sort of
a more of a a mainstream tobasically to get it played on
(05:20):
radio.
And so that was uh guy by thename of Wayne Perkins.
Well, it was really good anyway.
SPEAKER_04 (05:27):
I I thought I thought it was uh you know, I
love the tone of it, I love theuh just the the com composition
of it.
I thought it was actually areally good solo, and it fit
really, really well in the song.
SPEAKER_05 (05:40):
It really did.
Um yeah, it was it was uh it wasvery tastefully done.
It didn't feel like like here'sthis rock guy trying to trying
to squeeze something in thatdidn't feel yeah, I know what
you mean.
Yeah, it was very tastefullydone.
It was like it and and so itsays something like the that
(06:02):
guitar player Wayne Perkins, hehad never heard of reggae
before, never played reggae, buthe just sort of I guess and
that's sort of the the mark of agood session player is you know,
you just sort of you've got ajob to do and you gotta sort of
figure it out.
But he did a great job in in uhyou know figuring out what to do
(06:26):
in this sort of uh style ofmusic that he wasn't familiar
with.
Yeah.
His writing on this is is uh youknow, he had by this point he is
uh he was already pretty wellknown in Jamaica, but um I don't
(06:47):
think he was quite as a likesocial, like a political uh
writer as much as he had he hewould become um later on.
SPEAKER_04 (06:59):
Although there is definitely some There's quite a
bit of um you know, 400 yearsand concrete jungle and slave
driver are definitely very umpolitical.
I'm sure there's gonna be moreon side.
SPEAKER_05 (07:13):
Uh probably, yeah.
Um and you know, it's it's uhlike he's he's a great you know
that's the thing about BobMarley is I I often find people
don't they do pay attention tohis lyrics and they do recognize
him, but he's I don't know.
(07:34):
I feel like I I feel like hishis his message is often buried
in where people don't payattention to what he's actually
singing about as much as theyreally should.
Um maybe I'm wrong about that, Idon't know.
(07:55):
Uh but I feel like people sortof listen to his music and it's
and the music can be veryrelaxing and laid back, and it
is, and a lot of his songs arethat, but a lot of his songs are
very politically charged and andspecific to Jamaica, it's like
this is what's going on inJamaica, um, especially in the
(08:17):
70s, where there was a lot ofcorruption in the government in
Jamaica, and and he was singingabout like this is what's going
on, this is what they're doing.
Um, and I feel like when he sortof sort of broke through in
America I guess a lot of whiteaudiences didn't quite
(08:40):
understand or didn't payattention to what he was
actually saying and and saying,This is what's going on in my
country.
And they almost not that theydidn't care, but they weren't
almost like unaware of what hewas singing about.
You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_04 (08:54):
Yeah, I know what you I know what you mean.
I mean, there's a certaindisconnect when there's like an
ocean and or or even a you knowa strait in between um you know
countries and whatnot.
And it's it's it's hard to payattention to what's going on in
another country when you knowthere's a lot of crap going on
in your own.
(09:16):
Um and you know, the 70s weren'texactly the most uh I mean there
was a lot of crap going on in inthe US as well.
SPEAKER_05 (09:25):
And yeah, you can't Nixon happening in the Vietnam
War and stuff, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (09:32):
Yeah, and even in Canada we had uh what was it,
the FLQ cross and stuff likethat.
So yeah.
Um so sometimes, yeah, I thinkin that in that way the message
can be lost uh in in the middleof a a lot of people don't pay
attention to lyrics anyway, butuh Bob Marley was uh a man who
(09:56):
tried to live by his uhconvictions and uh he uh had a
lot to say and um yeah it doescome across when you actually
listen to what he has to sayit's it's um you know it's not
necessarily a party down Yeahthat no that's that's that's the
(10:17):
perfect perfect way of uh ofputting it and you know it's
it's I don't know and I think Italked about this in the the
other Bob Marley album that wedid, but I don't know I don't
know how and I don't know whyreggae music is so is so
(10:42):
different than any other type ofmusic the in terms of the rhythm
that reggae has.
SPEAKER_05 (10:50):
Every other like ja every other s form of of sort of
western music from like jazz toblues to rock to like everything
everything from like the 20thcentury, let's say, is
everything that's in 4-4 has acertain beat, which is uh one
(11:17):
and three on the kick drum andtwo and four on the snare.
Yeah, and reggae reverses thatdoesn't reverse that, it's
everything comes down on three.
It's one, two, three, you'reright.
One, two, three, four, one, two,three.
It and it creates this this openspace of and I don't know how
(11:43):
they came up with that.
I don't it I don't know what uhwhy what what uh I don't know if
they decided they were gonna dosomething different or like I
don't know how or why thathappened, but it works so well.
SPEAKER_04 (11:58):
Um well it's that open space that sort of gives
that relaxing feeling.
Even when the song is upbeat andand so sort of fast, it has that
airiness to it, and it just hasa a light feel to it.
It's very joyous, even when thewell, like we were saying, the
you know, the message isactually kind of bluh.
SPEAKER_06 (12:22):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (12:23):
Yeah, that's right.
It's um the and you know, thethe the there's a certain like
rhythm to the guitars and thebass line, like there's just and
the and the keyboard is doingthese like little little stabs,
and that's really what's drivingthe rhythm.
(12:44):
The drums are almost like justthe accent.
Um and yeah, it's just it's sodifferent than any other form of
like 20th century music.
Um and and I think well, I thinkska ska was sort of where reggae
evolved from, and um and I thinkthat's sort of where that rhythm
(13:09):
kind of started.
But I don't I don't know theorigin of that.
I don't know why, and I'm socurious to find out like why why
they decided like why doesreggae reggae well exactly like
you can hear like you can hearthe influence, like if going
(13:30):
through the the the goingthrough the 20th century on
every sort of form of music youcan hear the influence, but
reggae is sort of like it's sortof it's it's its own thing, and
I'm not saying it's in a bubbleor anything, but it's it's it's
it doesn't sound like anythingelse.
(13:52):
Like it doesn't I can't pinpointwhat where it sort of came from.
Um and I don't know how theymust have heard like other music
before, but I don't know.
SPEAKER_04 (14:08):
It's a it's an odd rhythm to suddenly just sort of
spring out of somewhere, yeah.
Um yeah, I know what you mean.
It's uh it's it's a little bitelusive, but yeah, obviously it
came out of I think ska againgot lots of influence from like
you know jazz and rock and popand stuff like that, and then
(14:29):
reggae sort of definitely cameout of the ska um sort of sound,
and and I guess somewhere in theska creation this reggae rhythm
sort of just came about, and andit'd be interesting to sort of
follow the uh it we need morelike early ska to sort of appear
(14:53):
on this list or something likethat, I think is what what we
really need.
SPEAKER_05 (14:57):
Yeah, yeah, and you know, honestly, if there's any
I'm sure somebody out thereknows.
Uh so if anybody out there islistening to this and and knows
like the the history of or likethe origin of that sort of
sound, please, you know, contactus.
Um because I'm sure I'm sure youknow someone there's like an
expert in in Jamaican music tothat knows, like, oh yeah, this
(15:21):
uh so if you if you or you knowanyone who who knows that we
would love to hear from you.
Um because I'm very curiousabout that.
Uh but other than other thanthat, I mean I I know like he
this is a a great uh this isgreat music and the Wailers are
are like they like I said theywere around for like 10 years
(15:45):
before uh this album came out.
And so they're they're already atight unit when uh uh Bob Marley
comes along and um and uses themas his uh as his backup band.
And um yeah, this uh the albumit it's uh it wasn't it wasn't
(16:09):
initially a big hit in America,but it it caught on fairly
quickly.
SPEAKER_04 (16:17):
And uh but it was um it's one of those cult classics
that sort of introduce the genreand and being a new genre, of
course, it wasn't gonna be likethe best, or I mean the uh the
biggest thing in the worldhitting off.
It takes a little bit of timefor that to catch on, but it it
it made a splash in certaincircles.
SPEAKER_05 (16:40):
It absolutely did, yeah.
Um, you know, and it it it didlike it got reviewed, and and uh
there were a lot of um like itwas mostly like positive reviews
from out of the gate.
Uh says the critical receptionuh to catch a fire was positive.
(17:00):
Uh Village Voice critic RobertCrisco says uh half these songs
are worthy of St.
John the Divine, and BarrettBrothers bass and drums save
those that aren't from limbo.
Uh reviewers from Rolling Stonealso praise the brothers
playing, concluding that catch afire is a blazing debut.
According to the review,Concrete Jungle and Slave Driver
(17:23):
crackle with uh streetwiseimmediacy, while Kinky Reggae
and Stir It Up revel in themusic's vast capacity for good
time skanking.
Uh Stop That Train and 400Years, both written by Peter
Tosh, indicate the originalWailers weren't strictly a
one-man show.
That's important too.
And like I said, they were agood a great band uh to begin
(17:46):
with.
And yes, Peter Tosh is uh theother big reggae.
The other big reggae, exactly.
Yes, he yeah, if if um he's likelike if you if you if anyone
knows another reggae artist,it's it's Peter Tosh.
Yeah, and he like obviously hevery worked very closely with
(18:10):
Bob Marley and was a member ofthe Whalers before he joined,
but he's a great writer as well,and and you know, sort of um he
had a great solo career as well.
So I did manage to find a fewinteresting facts about the
album.
So it says to catch a fire wasthe first Bob Marley's Bob
(18:32):
Marley in the Wailers albumreleased outside of Jamaica,
marking their transition from alocal act to an international
phenomenon under Island Records.
Um, this is kind of cool.
And it's and it's unfortunatethat they couldn't uh keep up
with this.
It's it had a unique albumcover.
(18:53):
The original vinyl release uhfeatured a Zippo lighter-shaped
album cover that opened like areal lighter, uh, but due to
high production costs, later thepressing switch to a standard
sleeve featuring a photo of BobMarley smoking a joint.
Um, but it is kind if you uh Ican I think I can show.
(19:13):
I think I've seen pictures ofthe original.
Yeah.
Uh it is really cool.
Um, and it like it it opened thelike the top opened, and that's
how you took the record out.
But uh it just it as the albumbecame popular and they needed
to make more copies, it becametoo expensive to uh especially
(19:33):
for a small label like Island ofat the time.
SPEAKER_04 (19:37):
Yeah.
I mean lots of great ideas, butyeah, you just gotta you not
always have the uh the dough toback it up.
So it it's a neat collector'sitem out there, though.
SPEAKER_05 (19:48):
So um and so the yeah, and uh rock it has a rock
influence.
Peter uh producer ChrisBlackwell added rock-oriented
overdubs, including lead guitarsolos by Wayne Perkins, a white
American session guitarist whohad never played reggae before
but contributed to songs likeConcrete Jungle, um, which we uh
(20:09):
talked about before.
Um political themes, many trackssuch as uh Slave Driver and 400
Years reflect Marley's and theWhalers' deep-rooted concerns
about colonial colonialism,oppression, and black
liberation.
Um which you know though thoseare themes that that uh would
(20:30):
continue that um Bob Marleywould continue to to write
about, um uh especially on thealbum that we did before Exodus.
Um and uh and you know, yeah,this was uh uh a breakthrough
for reggae.
While the album wasn't a hugecommercial hit at first, it
helped establish reggae as aglobal genre, um, paving the way
(20:54):
for Marley's later Superstardand Reggae's expansion beyond
Jamaica.
And uh yeah, that's that's uhthe the sort of the ska punk of
uh the sort of the late 70s,early eighties.
It would uh because there was auh a large Jamaican community in
(21:20):
in England, London.
Uh yeah, in London.
That's sort of where it sort ofcaught on.
And uh Jamaica or reggae, thisis really the first time anybody
outside of Jamaica had heardreggae, and and you know, after
that it just sort of exploded,and it became it's weird that
this small country in theCaribbean had such a huge
(21:44):
influence on music, and likeglobally, people love reggae,
you know.
SPEAKER_04 (21:51):
I guess it takes a visionary to sort of do that,
and Bob Marley was definitelythat guy.
Um but yeah, even even so it'sit's uh quite the uh
accomplishment for uh because Ican't think of too many other
like you know, small countries,be them islands or not, to have
(22:12):
the same kind of oh, maybe GreatBritain if you consider that a a
small island.
But again, it it it sort of tookblues and rock and roll and and
molded it into something elseand sort of sold it back to the
country that it came from andelsewhere.
(22:32):
But uh but yeah, to havesomething that just sort of
originates in the small islandcountry and and have have it
take on such a huge you knowcultural impact is is uh it's a
bit unusual.
It's it's uh it's a bit of ananomaly that way.
I'd love to see something elselike that happen again.
SPEAKER_05 (22:54):
It would be very cool, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (22:56):
Some well, you know, there's also there's like Korean
pop and stuff like that, that'skind of doing that.
Um and Japan did a little bit ofthat as well.
But uh again, it's it's hard tosay if that's like uniquely
(23:17):
exactly it's Jamaican or Korean,or I mean uh Japanese or Korean
in the same way that reggae wasso uniquely Jamaican.
SPEAKER_05 (23:27):
Exactly.
Well, yeah, that's what that'shard to say.
Like with the Korean pop and andand and whatever it's like, you
can hear the influence ofWestern music on it, exactly.
SPEAKER_04 (23:40):
And there was an influence of Western music on
Jamaican music.
SPEAKER_05 (23:46):
However, they took it and sort of made something
very unique.
SPEAKER_04 (23:54):
It seems a little different somehow, and it's hard
to really pinpoint exactly whatit is, but it's gotta be that
reggae beat that's just sounique.
I mean, how many differentthings can you do with um three
with uh you know four-fourtiming and uh still come out
(24:14):
with something brand new likeJamaica did?
I mean, there's there's a bityou can do with it, but they
managed to do somethingcompletely new and and ran with
it.
Maybe that's why you haven'theard anybody else do it,
because when they try to do it,it either doesn't it sounds
wrong or it just sounds likereggae or something else that
came before, and they're like,oh, this is hard coming up with
(24:37):
something new.
Unless they pick a completelydifferent time signature or
something like that, like put iton Dark um Pink Floyd's money,
and and and try to like do a 7-4timing that sounds just as good
as that.
SPEAKER_05 (24:54):
Yeah, do something unique with 7-4 that hasn't
been.
Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_04 (25:00):
Or even 6-4.
I mean, lots of blues and was in6-4 and stuff like that.
Lots of jazz.
Um jazz really plays around withtime signatures, they're doing
new things all the time.
I mean, that's just kind of whatjazz is.
And they'll throw anything atthe wall and make it sticks.
Not everything is like the mostpleasant thing to listen to,
(25:21):
exactly.
But they they're they're tryingand and and a lot of stuff is
good to listen to.
SPEAKER_05 (25:27):
So exactly.
They're they're uh they're goingfor it, yeah.
Um, but yeah, I guess we'll getback into the uh the album.
Uh but uh before we do that, uhlet's hear from our friends over
at uh The Worst Podcast on Mars.
So uh check those guys out.
SPEAKER_01 (25:46):
I'm Amanda, and that's Evan.
Say hi, Evan.
SPEAKER_06 (25:50):
Hi, Evan.
SPEAKER_01 (25:50):
And we're the hosts of The Worst Podcasts on Mars.
This is the podcast that talksmusic.
And on Fridays, we work our waythrough the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fames list.
So 200 definitive albums.
I do a bunch of research tryingto figure out why it's on this
list.
And on Tuesdays, we do smallerepisodes that are not part of
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fameslist.
And Evan, well, he justliterally shows up.
(26:13):
So if that's what you're into,please find us on Apple Music or
Spotify.
SPEAKER_03 (26:17):
But not Mars yet.
We'll now take a few secondsbefore we begin side two.
Thank you.
Here's side two.
SPEAKER_05 (26:28):
All right, and uh ending the album with uh
Midnight Ravers.
Yeah, this is uh uh this is afantastic album.
Um I don't know if there's a BobMarley album that isn't great.
Um and I don't know, I I don'tknow if that's because he died
(26:51):
so young and he didn't get achance to get it's like the
thing is like like is it's thething is is is Jimi Hendrix so
great because he died so youngand he didn't, you know, but
then you know you think aboutlike I don't know the Rolling
Stones who have had such a longcareer and even their bad albums
(27:13):
are still pretty good.
SPEAKER_04 (27:15):
Yeah, it's true, and and some people give them a lot
of flack for for their so-calledbad albums, but honestly,
they're pretty good, even whenthey stepped out of the rock and
roll genre, or sometimes theywould do like a disco or
something like that.
They did it well.
Um yeah, I know what you mean.
Uh Bob Marley really was only onthe scene for just a little
(27:39):
under ten years.
At least uh in the like um NorthAmerican scene or something like
that.
I think he was I think he was alittle over ten years in the
Jamaican scene.
SPEAKER_05 (27:50):
Yeah, this this came out in 73 and he died in 81.
So that's what, eight years?
So that's not a long time.
But he put out like so a lot ofalbums in those those those
years.
But yeah, no, I I I I don'tthink he really has done
(28:12):
anything that's been bad.
Like uh, you know, I I don't umhe's he's uh he was a very uh
prolific songwriter, and youknow I think he had a lot to
say.
Um obviously some of the songsare on this one are more
(28:32):
personal, but you know, I thinkhis uh political stuff and and
yeah, he yeah, he he just had ahe just had so much he he needed
to get out there.
I don't think that he really hadtime to think about whether it's
gonna be good or bad.
He just had to get his messageout there, and it turned out
(28:53):
like he had an amazing bandhelping him do that along the
way.
SPEAKER_04 (28:58):
Yeah.
And I and honestly, that's sortof like the best approach.
Like the more you sort of worryabout whether or not it's good
or bad, I mean sometimes that'swhen you sort of falter.
If you don't worry too muchabout that, you just put out
other put out stuff.
I don't have the greatest timefollowing my own advice here,
(29:19):
but sometimes I think that'syour best advice is to just not
worry about it.
Just put out stuff, and youknow, if if it's if it's good,
it'll get it'll catch on.
And even if it's not, I mean,you're starting, you're you're
doing it, you're putting it outthere, and sometimes you gotta
suck before you're good.
SPEAKER_05 (29:39):
Yeah, no, exactly.
And I don't think he uh Well,maybe it's just we ne we haven't
we didn't hear it when hesucked.
SPEAKER_04 (29:49):
It's true.
I don't There might be some homerecordings that he absolutely
hated or something like that,and we've never heard, never hit
the light of day.
Or something like that.
But yeah, he uh for the mostpart, he just, you know, he had
something to say and he said it.
SPEAKER_05 (30:08):
So yeah, and and I I really enjoyed this album.
I I I knew a few songs from it.
I think I knew St Stir It UpStir It Up and uh Kinky Reggae
and Concrete Jungle.
But uh Yeah, I I really enjoyedthe whole thing, and I I I can't
(30:30):
really say I yeah, I can't saythat there's really a uh song
that I don't like on here.
Um so what would what would beyour your pick for your three uh
favorite songs?
SPEAKER_04 (30:45):
Well, oddly enough, uh the uh the two big hits off
of it, Concrete Jungle and StirIt Up are there are two of them
because I just think those songsare just they're great.
Um they uh they uh picked pickedup an uh a lot of like they they
were just imaginative.
(31:06):
And uh I know some of the stuffwas like dubbed in later and
stuff like that, but it workedso well that it just it just
works.
And and they laid the groundworkfor like some of my favorite
musicians came along later, likeBig Sugar and and uh David
Lindley and stuff like that.
So um, but my third favoriteprobably has to be I might go
(31:27):
with Midnight Ravers, that was agood one too.
SPEAKER_05 (31:30):
I would probably go with um I'd probably yeah, I'd
probably go with Stir It Up,Kinky Reggae, and and Midnight
Ravers, too.
I think those would be my thosewould be my picks.
So yeah, so would like I I thinkI know, but like would you
listen to this album again?
SPEAKER_04 (31:48):
Oh yeah, I'd listen to this again.
I think I like this one betterthan the other one, even so.
SPEAKER_05 (31:53):
I yeah, I think so too.
I think I do too.
Yeah, there's this one is alittle more um but I'd have to
go back and and listen to thethe the other one again, but
yeah, and I probably I probablywould too.
Yeah, and but uh yeah, I thinkthis one there's that's that
freshness of uh there'ssomething I like about debut
(32:16):
albums where it's like you canfeel the sort of the the band
isn't quite fully formed yet,and it's there's that freshness
to them.
And I think this uh this albumdefinitely has that.
SPEAKER_04 (32:29):
Umbe not so much the the Wailers weren't you know
well seasoned.
Not exactly the Wailers, butlike this the collaboration with
collaboration with uh um BobMarley, yeah, absolutely.
It was a very freshcollaboration and and it uh was
definitely worth their time.
SPEAKER_05 (32:48):
Yeah, I would I would absolutely listen to this
again.
Um but yeah, I guess we'll uhend the episode there.
Uh thank you so much forlistening if you made it this
far.
Uh if you did enjoy the show,don't forget to subscribe so you
don't miss any future episodes.
And uh we'd love it if you woulduh leave a a rating and review
and uh as it really helps the uhnew listeners find us.
(33:11):
And if you want to support theshow and get some exclusive
content, like you get ashout-out uh during these
episodes, and uh you get theepisodes a day before they go
live, and you can even pick analbum for us to review.
Uh you can do that by going toour Patreon, go to patreon.com
slash polyphonic press.
And uh you can also check outthe website, you go to
(33:33):
polyphonicpress.com, you can uhlisten to uh all the previous
episodes that we've done overthere, and uh and lots of uh you
know updates and everything likethat.
And uh yeah, I think that justabout does it.
Uh, I'm Jeremy Boyd.
And I'm John Vander.
Take it easy.
It's just a lot of things.
SPEAKER_00 (00:13):
This is Polyfonic Price, the podcast where two
music fans make a classic albumcompletely at random.
Using the painted random albumgenerator, they are given an
album to review from a curatedlist of over 1,000 classic
releases, spanning multiplegenres.
And now on to the show.
(00:35):
Here are your hosts, Jeremy Boydand John Van Dyke.
SPEAKER_05 (00:48):
Hey, welcome to Polyphonic Press.
I'm Jeremy Boyd.
And I'm John Van Dyke.
And let's not waste any time,we've got the uh patented random
album generator right in frontof us here.
Uh so let's hit the button andsee what album we're going to be
listening to this week.
SPEAKER_02 (01:03):
The album you will be reviewing is Catch a Fire by
Bob Marley and the Wailers.
SPEAKER_05 (01:08):
Oh wow.
Alright, so this is uh here's adescription of the album.
It says Catch a Fire is thefifth studio album by Bob Marley
and the Wailers, released onApril 13th, 1973.
It is widely regarded as one ofthe greatest reggae albums of
all time and a key record inbringing Jamaican music to an
(01:28):
international audience.
The album was the band's firstrelease under Island Records,
with producer Chris Blackwellpolishing their raw roots reggae
sound to appeal to rockaudiences.
The result was a fusion ofreggae with rock and soul
influences, featuring electricguitar solos, keyboard overdubs,
and a more polished productionstyle.
(01:52):
Thematically, Catch a Fireblends political consciousness,
social struggle, andspirituality with standout
tracks like Concrete Jungle,Slave Driver, and 400 Years,
addressing issues of oppressionand resistance.
The album also contains morepersonal and romantic songs such
as Stir It Up, which uh becomewhich became one of Marley's
(02:13):
signature hits.
Though it wasn't an immediatecommercial success, Catch a Fire
has since become a landmarkalbum helping to launch Bob
Marley into global superstardomand solidifying reggae's place
on the world stage.
Sounds like it should be fun.
Alright, so the album wasreleased on the 13th of April,
1973, and the genres are reggae,reggae rock, and roots reggae.
(02:39):
Uh label is Tough Gung andIsland Records, and produced by
Bob Marley and Chris Blackwell.
And uh if you're listeningalong, which we encourage you to
do, the album is uh uh there'snine songs on the album, and the
first side uh goes through songsone through five.
(02:59):
So it starts with ConcreteJungle and ends with Baby We've
Got a Date.
So if you're uh listening along,if you want to stop it after the
fifth song, uh Baby We've Got aDate, we'll pause and discuss
the album halfway through.
Okay, here is the first song onthe album, Concrete Jungle.
So here we go.
(03:33):
We've got a date and bracketsRocket Baby.
Uh yeah, I mean this is a thisis a really great album.
It's it's uh it is kind of notobvious, but it it is sort of um
it I can tell that it's his hisfirst album, his debut album,
(03:54):
um, because it is uh he's stillnot quite as developed in in his
singing and still sort offiguring that's that out.
But the Wailers actually didexist before Bob Marley joined.
They were a band for 10 yearsbefore he they got together with
Bob Marley in Jamaica.
(04:16):
Um so this is their this is hisfirst album with them, um or
their first album together.
But uh and it's the what it'slike it's the first album that
really brought reggae to sort ofa wide audience.
(04:37):
Um but so far it's a it's it'spretty pretty great, you know.
SPEAKER_04 (04:42):
Yeah, it is a good album.
Um I think it started off reallystrong, and the uh and the
guitar solo in the uh firsttrack was actually it was pretty
good, not bad.
I I don't know who plays lead.
SPEAKER_05 (04:56):
So that actually wasn't one of the wailers.
Okay so the producer ChrisBlackwell he wanted to add some
more rock elements to the musicto sort of bring it into sort of
a more of a a mainstream tobasically to get it played on
(05:20):
radio.
And so that was uh guy by thename of Wayne Perkins.
Well, it was really good anyway.
SPEAKER_04 (05:27):
I I thought I thought it was uh you know, I
love the tone of it, I love theuh just the the com composition
of it.
I thought it was actually areally good solo, and it fit
really, really well in the song.
SPEAKER_05 (05:40):
It really did.
Um yeah, it was it was uh it wasvery tastefully done.
It didn't feel like like here'sthis rock guy trying to trying
to squeeze something in thatdidn't feel yeah, I know what
you mean.
Yeah, it was very tastefullydone.
It was like it and and so itsays something like the that
(06:02):
guitar player Wayne Perkins, hehad never heard of reggae
before, never played reggae, buthe just sort of I guess and
that's sort of the the mark of agood session player is you know,
you just sort of you've got ajob to do and you gotta sort of
figure it out.
But he did a great job in in uhyou know figuring out what to do
(06:26):
in this sort of uh style ofmusic that he wasn't familiar
with.
Yeah.
His writing on this is is uh youknow, he had by this point he is
uh he was already pretty wellknown in Jamaica, but um I don't
(06:47):
think he was quite as a likesocial, like a political uh
writer as much as he had he hewould become um later on.
SPEAKER_04 (06:59):
Although there is definitely some There's quite a
bit of um you know, 400 yearsand concrete jungle and slave
driver are definitely very umpolitical.
I'm sure there's gonna be moreon side.
SPEAKER_05 (07:13):
Uh probably, yeah.
Um and you know, it's it's uhlike he's he's a great you know
that's the thing about BobMarley is I I often find people
don't they do pay attention tohis lyrics and they do recognize
him, but he's I don't know.
(07:34):
I feel like I I feel like hishis his message is often buried
in where people don't payattention to what he's actually
singing about as much as theyreally should.
Um maybe I'm wrong about that, Idon't know.
(07:55):
Uh but I feel like people sortof listen to his music and it's
and the music can be veryrelaxing and laid back, and it
is, and a lot of his songs arethat, but a lot of his songs are
very politically charged and andspecific to Jamaica, it's like
this is what's going on inJamaica, um, especially in the
(08:17):
70s, where there was a lot ofcorruption in the government in
Jamaica, and and he was singingabout like this is what's going
on, this is what they're doing.
Um, and I feel like when he sortof sort of broke through in
America I guess a lot of whiteaudiences didn't quite
(08:40):
understand or didn't payattention to what he was
actually saying and and saying,This is what's going on in my
country.
And they almost not that theydidn't care, but they weren't
almost like unaware of what hewas singing about.
You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_04 (08:54):
Yeah, I know what you I know what you mean.
I mean, there's a certaindisconnect when there's like an
ocean and or or even a you knowa strait in between um you know
countries and whatnot.
And it's it's it's hard to payattention to what's going on in
another country when you knowthere's a lot of crap going on
in your own.
(09:16):
Um and you know, the 70s weren'texactly the most uh I mean there
was a lot of crap going on in inthe US as well.
SPEAKER_05 (09:25):
And yeah, you can't Nixon happening in the Vietnam
War and stuff, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (09:32):
Yeah, and even in Canada we had uh what was it,
the FLQ cross and stuff likethat.
So yeah.
Um so sometimes, yeah, I thinkin that in that way the message
can be lost uh in in the middleof a a lot of people don't pay
attention to lyrics anyway, butuh Bob Marley was uh a man who
(09:56):
tried to live by his uhconvictions and uh he uh had a
lot to say and um yeah it doescome across when you actually
listen to what he has to sayit's it's um you know it's not
necessarily a party down Yeahthat no that's that's that's the
(10:17):
perfect perfect way of uh ofputting it and you know it's
it's I don't know and I think Italked about this in the the
other Bob Marley album that wedid, but I don't know I don't
know how and I don't know whyreggae music is so is so
(10:42):
different than any other type ofmusic the in terms of the rhythm
that reggae has.
SPEAKER_05 (10:50):
Every other like ja every other s form of of sort of
western music from like jazz toblues to rock to like everything
everything from like the 20thcentury, let's say, is
everything that's in 4-4 has acertain beat, which is uh one
(11:17):
and three on the kick drum andtwo and four on the snare.
Yeah, and reggae reverses thatdoesn't reverse that, it's
everything comes down on three.
It's one, two, three, you'reright.
One, two, three, four, one, two,three.
It and it creates this this openspace of and I don't know how
(11:43):
they came up with that.
I don't it I don't know what uhwhy what what uh I don't know if
they decided they were gonna dosomething different or like I
don't know how or why thathappened, but it works so well.
SPEAKER_04 (11:58):
Um well it's that open space that sort of gives
that relaxing feeling.
Even when the song is upbeat andand so sort of fast, it has that
airiness to it, and it just hasa a light feel to it.
It's very joyous, even when thewell, like we were saying, the
you know, the message isactually kind of bluh.
SPEAKER_06 (12:22):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (12:23):
Yeah, that's right.
It's um the and you know, thethe the there's a certain like
rhythm to the guitars and thebass line, like there's just and
the and the keyboard is doingthese like little little stabs,
and that's really what's drivingthe rhythm.
(12:44):
The drums are almost like justthe accent.
Um and yeah, it's just it's sodifferent than any other form of
like 20th century music.
Um and and I think well, I thinkska ska was sort of where reggae
evolved from, and um and I thinkthat's sort of where that rhythm
(13:09):
kind of started.
But I don't I don't know theorigin of that.
I don't know why, and I'm socurious to find out like why why
they decided like why doesreggae reggae well exactly like
you can hear like you can hearthe influence, like if going
(13:30):
through the the the goingthrough the 20th century on
every sort of form of music youcan hear the influence, but
reggae is sort of like it's sortof it's it's its own thing, and
I'm not saying it's in a bubbleor anything, but it's it's it's
it doesn't sound like anythingelse.
(13:52):
Like it doesn't I can't pinpointwhat where it sort of came from.
Um and I don't know how theymust have heard like other music
before, but I don't know.
SPEAKER_04 (14:08):
It's a it's an odd rhythm to suddenly just sort of
spring out of somewhere, yeah.
Um yeah, I know what you mean.
It's uh it's it's a little bitelusive, but yeah, obviously it
came out of I think ska againgot lots of influence from like
you know jazz and rock and popand stuff like that, and then
(14:29):
reggae sort of definitely cameout of the ska um sort of sound,
and and I guess somewhere in theska creation this reggae rhythm
sort of just came about, and andit'd be interesting to sort of
follow the uh it we need morelike early ska to sort of appear
(14:53):
on this list or something likethat, I think is what what we
really need.
SPEAKER_05 (14:57):
Yeah, yeah, and you know, honestly, if there's any
I'm sure somebody out thereknows.
Uh so if anybody out there islistening to this and and knows
like the the history of or likethe origin of that sort of
sound, please, you know, contactus.
Um because I'm sure I'm sure youknow someone there's like an
expert in in Jamaican music tothat knows, like, oh yeah, this
(15:21):
uh so if you if you or you knowanyone who who knows that we
would love to hear from you.
Um because I'm very curiousabout that.
Uh but other than other thanthat, I mean I I know like he
this is a a great uh this isgreat music and the Wailers are
are like they like I said theywere around for like 10 years
(15:45):
before uh this album came out.
And so they're they're already atight unit when uh uh Bob Marley
comes along and um and uses themas his uh as his backup band.
And um yeah, this uh the albumit it's uh it wasn't it wasn't
(16:09):
initially a big hit in America,but it it caught on fairly
quickly.
SPEAKER_04 (16:17):
And uh but it was um it's one of those cult classics
that sort of introduce the genreand and being a new genre, of
course, it wasn't gonna be likethe best, or I mean the uh the
biggest thing in the worldhitting off.
It takes a little bit of timefor that to catch on, but it it
it made a splash in certaincircles.
SPEAKER_05 (16:40):
It absolutely did, yeah.
Um, you know, and it it it didlike it got reviewed, and and uh
there were a lot of um like itwas mostly like positive reviews
from out of the gate.
Uh says the critical receptionuh to catch a fire was positive.
(17:00):
Uh Village Voice critic RobertCrisco says uh half these songs
are worthy of St.
John the Divine, and BarrettBrothers bass and drums save
those that aren't from limbo.
Uh reviewers from Rolling Stonealso praise the brothers
playing, concluding that catch afire is a blazing debut.
According to the review,Concrete Jungle and Slave Driver
(17:23):
crackle with uh streetwiseimmediacy, while Kinky Reggae
and Stir It Up revel in themusic's vast capacity for good
time skanking.
Uh Stop That Train and 400Years, both written by Peter
Tosh, indicate the originalWailers weren't strictly a
one-man show.
That's important too.
And like I said, they were agood a great band uh to begin
(17:46):
with.
And yes, Peter Tosh is uh theother big reggae.
The other big reggae, exactly.
Yes, he yeah, if if um he's likelike if you if you if anyone
knows another reggae artist,it's it's Peter Tosh.
Yeah, and he like obviously hevery worked very closely with
(18:10):
Bob Marley and was a member ofthe Whalers before he joined,
but he's a great writer as well,and and you know, sort of um he
had a great solo career as well.
So I did manage to find a fewinteresting facts about the
album.
So it says to catch a fire wasthe first Bob Marley's Bob
(18:32):
Marley in the Wailers albumreleased outside of Jamaica,
marking their transition from alocal act to an international
phenomenon under Island Records.
Um, this is kind of cool.
And it's and it's unfortunatethat they couldn't uh keep up
with this.
It's it had a unique albumcover.
(18:53):
The original vinyl release uhfeatured a Zippo lighter-shaped
album cover that opened like areal lighter, uh, but due to
high production costs, later thepressing switch to a standard
sleeve featuring a photo of BobMarley smoking a joint.
Um, but it is kind if you uh Ican I think I can show.
(19:13):
I think I've seen pictures ofthe original.
Yeah.
Uh it is really cool.
Um, and it like it it opened thelike the top opened, and that's
how you took the record out.
But uh it just it as the albumbecame popular and they needed
to make more copies, it becametoo expensive to uh especially
(19:33):
for a small label like Island ofat the time.
SPEAKER_04 (19:37):
Yeah.
I mean lots of great ideas, butyeah, you just gotta you not
always have the uh the dough toback it up.
So it it's a neat collector'sitem out there, though.
SPEAKER_05 (19:48):
So um and so the yeah, and uh rock it has a rock
influence.
Peter uh producer ChrisBlackwell added rock-oriented
overdubs, including lead guitarsolos by Wayne Perkins, a white
American session guitarist whohad never played reggae before
but contributed to songs likeConcrete Jungle, um, which we uh
(20:09):
talked about before.
Um political themes, many trackssuch as uh Slave Driver and 400
Years reflect Marley's and theWhalers' deep-rooted concerns
about colonial colonialism,oppression, and black
liberation.
Um which you know though thoseare themes that that uh would
(20:30):
continue that um Bob Marleywould continue to to write
about, um uh especially on thealbum that we did before Exodus.
Um and uh and you know, yeah,this was uh uh a breakthrough
for reggae.
While the album wasn't a hugecommercial hit at first, it
helped establish reggae as aglobal genre, um, paving the way
(20:54):
for Marley's later Superstardand Reggae's expansion beyond
Jamaica.
And uh yeah, that's that's uhthe the sort of the ska punk of
uh the sort of the late 70s,early eighties.
It would uh because there was auh a large Jamaican community in
(21:20):
in England, London.
Uh yeah, in London.
That's sort of where it sort ofcaught on.
And uh Jamaica or reggae, thisis really the first time anybody
outside of Jamaica had heardreggae, and and you know, after
that it just sort of exploded,and it became it's weird that
this small country in theCaribbean had such a huge
(21:44):
influence on music, and likeglobally, people love reggae,
you know.
SPEAKER_04 (21:51):
I guess it takes a visionary to sort of do that,
and Bob Marley was definitelythat guy.
Um but yeah, even even so it'sit's uh quite the uh
accomplishment for uh because Ican't think of too many other
like you know, small countries,be them islands or not, to have
(22:12):
the same kind of oh, maybe GreatBritain if you consider that a a
small island.
But again, it it it sort of tookblues and rock and roll and and
molded it into something elseand sort of sold it back to the
country that it came from andelsewhere.
(22:32):
But uh but yeah, to havesomething that just sort of
originates in the small islandcountry and and have have it
take on such a huge you knowcultural impact is is uh it's a
bit unusual.
It's it's uh it's a bit of ananomaly that way.
I'd love to see something elselike that happen again.
SPEAKER_05 (22:54):
It would be very cool, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (22:56):
Some well, you know, there's also there's like Korean
pop and stuff like that, that'skind of doing that.
Um and Japan did a little bit ofthat as well.
But uh again, it's it's hard tosay if that's like uniquely
(23:17):
exactly it's Jamaican or Korean,or I mean uh Japanese or Korean
in the same way that reggae wasso uniquely Jamaican.
SPEAKER_05 (23:27):
Exactly.
Well, yeah, that's what that'shard to say.
Like with the Korean pop and andand and whatever it's like, you
can hear the influence ofWestern music on it, exactly.
SPEAKER_04 (23:40):
And there was an influence of Western music on
Jamaican music.
SPEAKER_05 (23:46):
However, they took it and sort of made something
very unique.
SPEAKER_04 (23:54):
It seems a little different somehow, and it's hard
to really pinpoint exactly whatit is, but it's gotta be that
reggae beat that's just sounique.
I mean, how many differentthings can you do with um three
with uh you know four-fourtiming and uh still come out
(24:14):
with something brand new likeJamaica did?
I mean, there's there's a bityou can do with it, but they
managed to do somethingcompletely new and and ran with
it.
Maybe that's why you haven'theard anybody else do it,
because when they try to do it,it either doesn't it sounds
wrong or it just sounds likereggae or something else that
came before, and they're like,oh, this is hard coming up with
(24:37):
something new.
Unless they pick a completelydifferent time signature or
something like that, like put iton Dark um Pink Floyd's money,
and and and try to like do a 7-4timing that sounds just as good
as that.
SPEAKER_05 (24:54):
Yeah, do something unique with 7-4 that hasn't
been.
Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_04 (25:00):
Or even 6-4.
I mean, lots of blues and was in6-4 and stuff like that.
Lots of jazz.
Um jazz really plays around withtime signatures, they're doing
new things all the time.
I mean, that's just kind of whatjazz is.
And they'll throw anything atthe wall and make it sticks.
Not everything is like the mostpleasant thing to listen to,
(25:21):
exactly.
But they they're they're tryingand and and a lot of stuff is
good to listen to.
SPEAKER_05 (25:27):
So exactly.
They're they're uh they're goingfor it, yeah.
Um, but yeah, I guess we'll getback into the uh the album.
Uh but uh before we do that, uhlet's hear from our friends over
at uh The Worst Podcast on Mars.
So uh check those guys out.
SPEAKER_01 (25:46):
I'm Amanda, and that's Evan.
Say hi, Evan.
SPEAKER_06 (25:50):
Hi, Evan.
SPEAKER_01 (25:50):
And we're the hosts of The Worst Podcasts on Mars.
This is the podcast that talksmusic.
And on Fridays, we work our waythrough the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fames list.
So 200 definitive albums.
I do a bunch of research tryingto figure out why it's on this
list.
And on Tuesdays, we do smallerepisodes that are not part of
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fameslist.
And Evan, well, he justliterally shows up.
(26:13):
So if that's what you're into,please find us on Apple Music or
Spotify.
SPEAKER_03 (26:17):
But not Mars yet.
We'll now take a few secondsbefore we begin side two.
Thank you.
Here's side two.
SPEAKER_05 (26:28):
All right, and uh ending the album with uh
Midnight Ravers.
Yeah, this is uh uh this is afantastic album.
Um I don't know if there's a BobMarley album that isn't great.
Um and I don't know, I I don'tknow if that's because he died
(26:51):
so young and he didn't get achance to get it's like the
thing is like like is it's thething is is is Jimi Hendrix so
great because he died so youngand he didn't, you know, but
then you know you think aboutlike I don't know the Rolling
Stones who have had such a longcareer and even their bad albums
(27:13):
are still pretty good.
SPEAKER_04 (27:15):
Yeah, it's true, and and some people give them a lot
of flack for for their so-calledbad albums, but honestly,
they're pretty good, even whenthey stepped out of the rock and
roll genre, or sometimes theywould do like a disco or
something like that.
They did it well.
Um yeah, I know what you mean.
Uh Bob Marley really was only onthe scene for just a little
(27:39):
under ten years.
At least uh in the like um NorthAmerican scene or something like
that.
I think he was I think he was alittle over ten years in the
Jamaican scene.
SPEAKER_05 (27:50):
Yeah, this this came out in 73 and he died in 81.
So that's what, eight years?
So that's not a long time.
But he put out like so a lot ofalbums in those those those
years.
But yeah, no, I I I I don'tthink he really has done
(28:12):
anything that's been bad.
Like uh, you know, I I don't umhe's he's uh he was a very uh
prolific songwriter, and youknow I think he had a lot to
say.
Um obviously some of the songsare on this one are more
(28:32):
personal, but you know, I thinkhis uh political stuff and and
yeah, he yeah, he he just had ahe just had so much he he needed
to get out there.
I don't think that he really hadtime to think about whether it's
gonna be good or bad.
He just had to get his messageout there, and it turned out
(28:53):
like he had an amazing bandhelping him do that along the
way.
SPEAKER_04 (28:58):
Yeah.
And I and honestly, that's sortof like the best approach.
Like the more you sort of worryabout whether or not it's good
or bad, I mean sometimes that'swhen you sort of falter.
If you don't worry too muchabout that, you just put out
other put out stuff.
I don't have the greatest timefollowing my own advice here,
(29:19):
but sometimes I think that'syour best advice is to just not
worry about it.
Just put out stuff, and youknow, if if it's if it's good,
it'll get it'll catch on.
And even if it's not, I mean,you're starting, you're you're
doing it, you're putting it outthere, and sometimes you gotta
suck before you're good.
SPEAKER_05 (29:39):
Yeah, no, exactly.
And I don't think he uh Well,maybe it's just we ne we haven't
we didn't hear it when hesucked.
SPEAKER_04 (29:49):
It's true.
I don't There might be some homerecordings that he absolutely
hated or something like that,and we've never heard, never hit
the light of day.
Or something like that.
But yeah, he uh for the mostpart, he just, you know, he had
something to say and he said it.
SPEAKER_05 (30:08):
So yeah, and and I I really enjoyed this album.
I I I knew a few songs from it.
I think I knew St Stir It UpStir It Up and uh Kinky Reggae
and Concrete Jungle.
But uh Yeah, I I really enjoyedthe whole thing, and I I I can't
(30:30):
really say I yeah, I can't saythat there's really a uh song
that I don't like on here.
Um so what would what would beyour your pick for your three uh
favorite songs?
SPEAKER_04 (30:45):
Well, oddly enough, uh the uh the two big hits off
of it, Concrete Jungle and StirIt Up are there are two of them
because I just think those songsare just they're great.
Um they uh they uh picked pickedup an uh a lot of like they they
were just imaginative.
(31:06):
And uh I know some of the stuffwas like dubbed in later and
stuff like that, but it workedso well that it just it just
works.
And and they laid the groundworkfor like some of my favorite
musicians came along later, likeBig Sugar and and uh David
Lindley and stuff like that.
So um, but my third favoriteprobably has to be I might go
(31:27):
with Midnight Ravers, that was agood one too.
SPEAKER_05 (31:30):
I would probably go with um I'd probably yeah, I'd
probably go with Stir It Up,Kinky Reggae, and and Midnight
Ravers, too.
I think those would be my thosewould be my picks.
So yeah, so would like I I thinkI know, but like would you
listen to this album again?
SPEAKER_04 (31:48):
Oh yeah, I'd listen to this again.
I think I like this one betterthan the other one, even so.
SPEAKER_05 (31:53):
I yeah, I think so too.
I think I do too.
Yeah, there's this one is alittle more um but I'd have to
go back and and listen to thethe the other one again, but
yeah, and I probably I probablywould too.
Yeah, and but uh yeah, I thinkthis one there's that's that
freshness of uh there'ssomething I like about debut
(32:16):
albums where it's like you canfeel the sort of the the band
isn't quite fully formed yet,and it's there's that freshness
to them.
And I think this uh this albumdefinitely has that.
SPEAKER_04 (32:29):
Umbe not so much the the Wailers weren't you know
well seasoned.
Not exactly the Wailers, butlike this the collaboration with
collaboration with uh um BobMarley, yeah, absolutely.
It was a very freshcollaboration and and it uh was
definitely worth their time.
SPEAKER_05 (32:48):
Yeah, I would I would absolutely listen to this
again.
Um but yeah, I guess we'll uhend the episode there.
Uh thank you so much forlistening if you made it this
far.
Uh if you did enjoy the show,don't forget to subscribe so you
don't miss any future episodes.
And uh we'd love it if you woulduh leave a a rating and review
and uh as it really helps the uhnew listeners find us.
(33:11):
And if you want to support theshow and get some exclusive
content, like you get ashout-out uh during these
episodes, and uh you get theepisodes a day before they go
live, and you can even pick analbum for us to review.
Uh you can do that by going toour Patreon, go to patreon.com
slash polyphonic press.
And uh you can also check outthe website, you go to
(33:33):
polyphonicpress.com, you can uhlisten to uh all the previous
episodes that we've done overthere, and uh and lots of uh you
know updates and everything likethat.
And uh yeah, I think that justabout does it.
Uh, I'm Jeremy Boyd.
And I'm John Vander.
Take it easy.
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