On the Front Line (Lion Dance, 1999)

Although I love finding little-known gems, it's frustrating to tell people about a great album such as this one knowing that they will likely never be able to buy it anywhere.  This copy happened to be bought while on vacation in St. Croix before Midnite led a "Virgin Islands invasion" of the reggae world.  Bare-bones to say the least, the CD "booklet" is printed on someone's home computer on plain ol' Xerox paper, so I wouldn't count on it having a wide distribution.  I can't tell you much about Lion Youth -- I'm pretty sure he's not the same Lion Youth who recorded tunes like "Rat a Cut Bottle" in Britain years ago (see Don't Call Us Immigrants) -- but the blurry liner notes on On the Front Line state that the material here was recorded between 1988 and 1998, so he's been around a while.  He appears to be from the Virgin Islands and favors a strong, genuine righteous style and message in his music.  The self-produced sound doesn't feature the highest production value, but that may actually help the album's raw appeal.  If I didn't know better, I'd have guessed these tunes were recorded in the early '80s; its edgy mix of roots and early dancehall (with a mix of singing and DJing) has that distinct, engaging sound.  The track listing on the CD isn't in the correct order, and I'm suspicious as to if all the correct titles are there, but I've guessed at them the best that I can.  Whatever the titles, though, practically all are engrossing treats.