Audiophile reggae?

Toots and the Maytals albums "From the Roots", "Funky Kingston" and "In The Dark" have been remastered well, and have many classics from which nearly every reggae artist (and many others) have been inspired.

I second the Black Uhuru vote as well, "Black Sounds of Freedom", "Positive", and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner".

The digital remasters of all the studio Bob Marley and Peter Tosh albums sound great, and really clean. Rita Marley should get credit too, since she wrote many of Bob's songs, and has many great albums of her own.

i'll recommend Prince Far I, for those of you who like Dub. the album Cry Tough Dub is excellent.

Eek A Mouse,,,first few cds are his best

Steel Pulse "True Democracy" sounds great, and is very good reggae, to boot.

linton kwesi johnson, peter tosh, maybe some uroy

Let's not forget Marley "Catch a Fire" on Mofi vinyl. His 4 cd box (remastered)is also good.

Black Uhuru: The Dub Factor (the standard for punch IME)
Mighty Diamonds: great vocals & instrumentation
Bob Marley: most every title

Just about anything on the Blood and Fire label is excellent. These are mostly re-issues of older material from the '70's to early '80's, but are beautifully remastered and carried into the modern digital world. The label is cleary a labor of love and run by people who really CARE about the music. In spite of it's decidedly non 'hi-fi' origins, most of these recordings that I have heard are amazingly punchy and full of earth & life. It's also a good way of digging past the exterior and the three or four reggae artists that most are familiar with. The Auralux label is a new label with an equal amount of obsession for unearthing the old sounds. They have been sourcing from master tapes and profess in the liner notes to using valve pre-amps and other gear in the mastering process.

Bob Marley "Survival"; sounds pretty darned good on the 24y/o vinyl. I second the MFSL gold cd of Exodus; great recording. Pity I misplaced mine years ago.

Bob Marley, Natty Dread, a must in any reggea collection. Just some good roots, rock reggea. Can be found on vinyl, from Acoustic Sounds.
Enjoy.
David

Bob Marley "Exodus" on MFSL, vinyl or CD.
Bunny Wailer "Liberation" on Shanachie, vinyl or CD.
I prefer vinyl, but the CD's are excellent, too.

Most of Bob Marley's best stuff has been remastered and sounds great on CD. He has some vinyl on MFSL if you can find it. And I believe if you check with some of the internet music stores you will find a couple of his vinyl records re-issued.

Mapleshade Records has a good CD of reggae (on their Wildchild label) called "Ras Mek Peace". The recording, by a group called Midnite, is very punchy and well recorded. Check the following Mapleshade web site for more info (it indicates the CD is currently out of stock):
http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/reviews/06552.php

Try Bob Marley's, "Kaya" LP on the Simply Vinyl label. Great recording by a great artist.

Jim