The Reggae Box

Disc 1
1	Forward March / Derrick Morgan 2:51
2	My Boy Lollipop / Millie Small 2:01
3	Bank to Bank, Pt. 1 / Baba Brooks 2:07
4	Count Ossie Special / Count Ossie 2:43
5	Broadway Jungle / The Maytals 2:49
6	Carry Go Bring Come / Justin Hinds 2:50
7	Eastern Standard Time / Don Drummond 3:13
8	Hard Man Fe Dead / Prince Buster 3:22
9	Confucius / The Skatalites 2:54
10	Tide Is High / The Paragons 2:44
11	Take It Easy / Hopeton Lewis 2:49
12	Ba Ba Boom / The Jamaicans 3:19
13	Tougher Than Tough / Derrick Morgan 2:26
14	Queen Majesty / The Techniques 3:31
15	Long Shot / The Pioneers 2:45
16	Israelites / Desmond Dekker & the Aces 2:35
17	54-46 Was My Number / Toots & the Maytals 3:12
18	Reggae Hit the Town / The Ethiopians 2:24
19	My Conversation / The Uniques 2:38
20	Rivers of Babylon / The Melodians 4:16
21	Double Barrel / Dave & Ansel Collins 2:50
22	Everything I Own / Ken Boothe 3:44
23	The Harder They Come / Jimmy Cliff 3:07
24	Stalag 17 / Techniques All Stars 2:58
25	Satta Massagana / The Abyssinians 3:39
Disc 2
1	Trench Town Rock / The Wailers 3:27
2	Blood and Fire / Niney the Observer 3:06
3	Cherry Oh Baby / Eric Donaldson 3:01
4	Better Must Come / Delroy Wilson 2:44
5	Book of Rules / The Heptones 3:27
6	Westbound Train / Dennis Brown 3:01
7	Baby I Love You So / Jacob Miller 2:30
8	No. 1 in the World / U-Roy 2:40
9	King Tubby Meets the Rockers Uptown / Augustus Pablo 2:31
10	All Nations Bow / Big Youth 2:52
11	Marcus Garvey / Burning Spear 3:25
12	Don't Trouble Trouble / Johnny Clarke 3:43
13	War and Friction / I-Roy 3:21
14	Ballistic Affair / Leroy Smart 3:08
15	War Ina Babylon / Max Romeo 4:50
16	Roots, Rock, Reggae / Bob Marley & the Wailers 3:38
17	1865 (96° in the Shade) / Third World 4:06
18	At the Feast / The Congos 3:40
19	My Number One / Gregory Isaacs 3:44
20	Police and Thieves / Junior Murvin 4:12
21	Black Roots / Sugar Minott 2:31
22	Guess Who's Coming to Dinner / Black Uhuru 6:01
Disc 3
1	One Love Jam Down / Papa Michigan 4:00
2	Entertainment / Triston Palmer 3:26
3	Sitting and Watching / Dennis Brown 3:18
4	Ganja Smuggling / Eek-A-Mouse 3:51
5	Pass the Kouchie / The Mighty Diamonds 3:34
6	Night Nurse / Gregory Isaacs 4:02
7	Zungguzungguguzungguzeng / Yellowman 4:09
8	Water Pumping / Johnny Osbourne 3:07
9	Pass the Tu-Sheng-Peng / Frankie Paul 3:30
10	Here I Come / Barrington Levy 3:46
11	Under Me Sleng Teng / Wayne Smith 4:09
12	Ring the Alarm / Tenor Saw 3:13
13	Tempo / Anthony Redrose 3:30
14	Greetings / Half Pint 3:35
15	Boops / Super Cat 3:59
16	Punanny / Admiral Bailey 3:23
17	Hol' a Fresh / Red Dragon 3:54
18	Rumours / Gregory Isaacs 3:20
19	Telephone Love / J.C. Lodge 3:28
20	Bandolero / Pinchers 3:31
21	Strive / Shinehead 4:13
Disc 4
1	Murder She Wrote / Chaka Demus & Pliers 4:04
2	Mr. Loveman / Chevelle Franklin 5:40
3	Flex / Mad Cobra 4:01
4	Dancehall Queen / Chevelle Franklyn Delano Renaissance Mix 4:34
5	Down in the Ghetto / Bounty Killer 3:30
6	Tour / Capleton 3:59
7	It's Me Again Jah / Luciano 3:59
8	Untold Stories / Buju Banton 4:34
9	Fire Pon Rome / Anthony B. 3:52
10	I and I Saw Them Coming / Starkey Banton 4:10
11	Rough Inna Town / Luciano 3:56
12	Armagideon Time / Dr. Israel 4:04
13	Warning / Tony Rebel 3:37
14	Set Yourself Free / Morgan Heritage 3:45
15	Ghetto People Song / Everton Blender 3:47
16	Party in Session / Stone Love Main Mix 3:46
17	What's the Matter With the World / Bushman 3:50
18	I Love Jah / Beres Hammond 3:47
19	Taking Over / Sizzla 4:04

Barnes & Noble

The natural step for any devoted listener to Bob Marley's brilliant Songs of Freedom box set is to learn more about reggae in general, and this four-CD set presents a panoramic view of Jamaica's greatest pop cultural contribution. As with any collection, connoisseurs can quibble with the selections, but the fact is that no four-CD compilation can exhaust this Caribbean island's prodigious output over the past four decades. With its mix of standards and rarities, the Reggae Box is a valuable Rosetta Stone for neophytes and will point them in many directions, from the jazzy ska of Don Drummond to the buoyant blue-beat pop of Millie Small, from the lean rock steady of Desmond Dekker to the JB-styled funk of Dave & Ansel Collins and the overt Rasta consciousness of the Abyssinians -- and that's just the first disc. Each side explores, more or less chronologically, the successive mutations of Jamaican pop, from ska to rock steady to reggae to rockers, dub, and dancehall styles. The presentation plays to the collection's biggest strength as a reference work. It's impossible to say that any one U-Roy track, for example, is his finest, or even most influential, but it's easy to see that the DJ's chatter in the midst of a set of roots reggae is hinting at developments yet to come. Likewise, the computer rhythms of the Wayne Smith classic "Under Me Sleng Teng" set a precedent for the harder electronic sounds of dancehall that dominate the final disc. Speaking of dancehall, Jamaica's famously fickle audiences make choosing "current" material something of a joke -- like mercury, it's too fast to actually get a grip on. Thus the fourth disc is a hodgepodge of post-reggae directions, from the Rasta drum 'n' bass of Brooklyn's Dr. Israel to the dancehall crossover smashes "Murder She Wrote" and "Flex" to the roots revivalists Morgan Heritage and Rasta DJs Sizzla and Anthony B. With a smart booklet of three essays to make sense of it all, this set certainly delivers the "routes" of its title. Mark Schwartz

All Music Guide

It's hard not to think that Hip-O's The Reggae Box will be the definitive word on the genre, not just because it spans four discs, but because Hip-O has open access to the Island vaults, and Island is to reggae as Sun is to rockabilly, meaning it's the defining force and leading light. With that as a base and with cross-licensing as a secret weapon, this could have been a stunner, but instead it just is a very good history that tends to lean toward the contemporary instead of the classic. At first, this doesn't seem to be a problem, particularly because the first disc runs through pre-reggae and early-reggae classics at an engaging clip, something that continues through the second disc. Then, things begin to bog down with good, but not classic songs, and it becomes easy to notice that some big, big songs by the likes of Bob Marley, Black Uhuru, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Peter Tosh are missing, among many others. What here is hardly bad -- and as a rough history, it's pretty terrific -- but it's hard not to be slightly disappointed that it isn't definitive, given its ambitions and possibilities, especially when compared to the tremendous 1992 set The Story of Jamaican Music: Tougher Than Tough. Still, this is a good, even educational listen, and few sets come as close as this to being truly comprehensive. Still, it's not as comprehensive as it could have been, and it's hard not to wish that it was more sweeping than it is. Stephen Thomas Erlewine