The Lion Roars (Charly, 1998)

A companion piece to Charly's Positive Vibrations and The Heat Is On, The Lion Roars carries a similar sound to the other two -- dominated by '70s and early '80s roots reggae -- but the quality of the songs here is decidedly inferior.  Jam-packed with 19 tracks, you have to sift through the filler to come up with worthwhile material, the best being a pair of well-known Gregory Isaacs tracks -- "Special Guest" and "Border" -- both of which a moderately experienced reggae listener will have on better albums than this one.  Like the other two Charly compilations, however, The Lion Roars does do a nice job of providing exposure to artists that don't otherwise get the attention they may deserve.  Here, Richie Mac contributes the inspirational "Missions Are Possible," while the soulful Earl George chimes in with "Sam Stone" and "I Would Be Telling You a Lie," and The Maytones represent strong with "Never Gonna Run Away" and "Money Trouble," with I Roy.  The overall sound of this album is solid, prototypical roots, but apart from the previously mentioned tracks, the individual songs are fairly generic.