True Democracy [Bonus Tracks]

1	Chant a Psalm 4:30
2	Ravers 3:56
3	Find It...Quick! 3:26
4	A Who Responsible? 3:54
5	Worth His Weight in Gold (Rally Round) 4:35
6	Leggo Beast 3:44
7	Blues Dance Raid 4:53
8	Your House 3:42
9	Man No Sober 4:29
10	Dub' Marcus Say 4:41
11	Ravers previously unreleased / Bonus Track / 12" Version 5:56
12	Leggo Beast previously unreleased / Bonus Track / 12" Version 6:40
13	Your House previously unreleased / Bonus Track / Dub Version 3:49
14	A Who Responsible? previously unreleased / Bonus Track / Dub Version 3:59

Barnes & Noble

Steel Pulse is one of the toughest British reggae bands ever, and it also boasts one of the sharpest names in the biz. Born amid the blood and smoke of Birmingham's Handsworth riots, Steel Pulse was never part of reggae's "Don't Worry, Be Happy" school. Even after Pulse had made a name for itself with uncompromising rebel music like "Handsworth Revolution" and "Ku Klux Klan," TRUE DEMOCRACY, released on the band's own Wise Man Doctrine label in 1982, was a breakthrough album -- Pulse never sounded tighter, and its members were writing great songs. It's all there on the irresistible "Blues Dance Raid": the shimmering voice of front man David Hinds, the bright guitar chops, bouncy bass lines, swirling synth chords, and catchy call-and-response vocal hooks. From the dance hall blaster "Ravers" to the Afrocentric energy of "Rally Round" and "Dub Marcus Say," this is a reggae album that hums with high-energy power pop at its most infectious. Rob Kenner

All Music Guide

Although the group's first three albums are generally considered their finest, there is a very strong case to be made for including Steel Pulse's Elektra debut in their core collection as well. Where Reggae Fever had found the band moving from hardcore Rasta politics into lover's rock and party anthems, True Democracy marks a return to more ideological subject matter; the cover art, which shows singer David Hinds reading the Bible to his rapt bandmates, is a dead giveaway. Their sound might be a little bit slicker than before, but it's also harder and the lyrics less compromising -- "Leggo Beast" denounces adultery over a stripped-down one-drop beat; "Man No Sober" inveighs against drunkenness; "A Who Responsible?" uses a dour trombone line to call down judgment on Babylon. But the mood is lightened somewhat by "Your House," a gorgeous love song, and by the exalted "Chant a Psalm." This is one of Steel Pulse's most satisfying and fully realized albums. [The record was reissued in 2005 by Rhino and features four bonus tracks: 12" versions of "Ravers" and "Leggo Beast" and dub versions of "Your House" and "A Who Responsible?"] Rick Anderson