Historic Movements Volume One (On-U Sound, 1994)

Despite the title, there's nothing "historic" about this album, the first in a series of three collections of early work from Creation Rebel.  Volume One gathers tracks from the group's first two albums, Dub From Creation and Rebel Vibrations, released in 1977 and 1978, respectively.  Creation Rebel, like Singers & Players, is an Adrian Sherwood-produced band with a line-up -- often including Roots Radics drummer "Style" Scott -- that has fluctuated.  They focus more on dub than Singers & Players and are not always as rootsy, but they do sometimes utilize singers in addition to their players . . . although not here.  Creation Rebel at its best -- with vocals -- can be found on the compilation Dub Xperience, where they show that they can put out some amazing material.  Too bad none of it is on Volume One, a limp, slow-moving snore-fest of an album.  Though generally respected, I find Creation Rebel's first two albums to be filled with the kind of dub that puts me to sleep: minimalist, repetitive, rambling, interminable.  Many tracks seem little more than bass and percussion, and it's only when the group decides to throw in extra elements -- most effectively, a melodica on "Dub From Creation," "Rebel Vibrations," and "Diverse Doctor" -- that the music truly comes alive.  This doesn't occur often, unfortunately, on Historic Movements Volume...zzzzzzzzz...