Equal Rights (CBS, 1977)

*GUEST REVIEW*
Peter Tosh never really had much chance of competing with Bob Marley. Marley's music is so universally beautiful and accessible. On the other hand, Tosh's music is harsher, has a militant edge, and is more of an acquired taste. Equal Rights, the follow-up to Tosh's solo debut, Legalize It, is his best album. It opens with a version of reggae's anthem "Get Up, Stand Up" that features a wailing blues-guitar solo that squeals like a B.B. King lament. Tosh's dark, guttural vocals give the song an idiosyncrasy not heard on the version on the Wailers' Burnin'. The production is crisp, with Sly and Robbie bouncing off the downbeat with urgent ferocity. On "Downpressor Man", Tosh taunts the Babylonian forces with contempt, mockery, and self-righteousness. The same perspective is seen on "Stepping Razor," my personal favorite Tosh song, where he sings, "If you wanna live, you better treat me good…I'm like a stepping razor, you better watch my size, I'm dangerous". It is, however, a more positive-sounding song in that it is more playful. If Tosh's lyrics don't come across to that effect, then the lead guitar dancing around does. The title track easily fits with the Abyssinians' "Satta" and his "Get Up, Stand Up" as the Reggae National Anthem. The song reflects on the Malcolm X-ish view that peace is secondary to justice and equal rights. It asks what is peace worth if it comes at the cost of millions of people being marginalized and exploited. It represents the pinnacle of Tosh's writing and sums up his viewpoint. "African" is essentially a reiteration of Marcus Garvey's teachings. In the same way as Jesus did not come to the healthy, but to the sick, the song reminds us that H.I.M came to Africans who were uprooted and enslaved. "Jah Guide" is a song of comfort that gives strength to those who "walk through the valley." "Apartheid" protests the injustice of the political system that represses blacks and shuns equal rights, rounding out one of the greatest reggae albums ever made.

- Trammell Scruggs