| Although
many hard core roots reggae fans will
absolutely disagree with me, I consider Rock
'n' Groove to be one of Bunny Wailer's best
albums ever. Originally released in 1981,
this album consists of 7 tracks, all comming
with their dub version. These kind of albums
are called "showcases". The music
is fresh and it is absolutely impossible to
not start dancing when you listen to the
sounds.
Bunny has been widely criticized for
releasing this album, as he was considered
to be a roots reggae artist, and the music
on this album was not really roots. Some
thought it was to "light weight".
So you might actually listen to the music
and think it is roots reggae, because it's
so old, but that's absolutely not the case.
Don't forget, the year is 1981, and a new
thing called "dancehall" was on
the rise. This dancehall style, or rub a
dub, is different then the computerized
music we now label as such (dancehall).
Rock 'n' Groove is a statement of peace
and love in a time of war. The political and
economical situation in Jamaica was very
tense, with the two rivaling political
parties using gunmen and other violent
methods to achieve their goals. It's an
attempt to make the people dance rather then
fight.
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