Sly and Robbie Present Taxi (Island, 1981)

A showcase for the enormous, innovative talent of the Riddim Twins.  A couple of their best productions are included, namely The Viceroys' "Heart Made of Stone" and Dennis Brown's "Sitting and Watching."  Alongside the great buttery melodies provided by the singers, the classic rhythms push these songs into the stratosphere.  With inventive digital "hiccups" and other such sounds, it's easy to see why Sly & Robbie are dub masters.  The rhythms from "Sitting and Watching," "Heart Made of Stone," and Jimmy Riley's cover of Curtis Mayfield's "My Woman's Love" could easily stand on their own.  Also solid are Sly's largely instrumental "Hot You're Hot," The Wailing Souls' rootsy, old-fashioned "Old Broom," and Sheila Hylton's bass-driven remake of The Police's "The Bed's Too Big Without You."  Other tracks, like Junior Delgado's "Fort Augustus," General Echo's "Drunken Master," and The Wailing Souls' "Sweet Sugar Plum," were fairly popular, but seem to me largely overrated.  The rest is similarly unspectacular.

Crucial Reggae Driven By Sly & Robbie (Island, 1982)

An odd collection of Sly & Robbie tunes, in that not all are Sly & Robbie tunes.  Four of the 12 tracks are indeed not produced by the duo, including two of the best ones, "Johnny Dollar" by The Rolands and the classic "Pass the Kouchie" by The Mighty Diamonds.  I don't know much about The Rolands, but I believe the name refers to Roland Burrell, who I suppose led the group (Maybe they were a bunch of guys named Roland, perhaps even clones, like the Stepford Wives.).   Regardless, the song is great, featuring a strong roots melody and a driving beat.  "Pass the Kouchie" needs little introduction; those unfamiliar with it need only be told that it was the basis for Musical Youth's "Pass the Dutchie" (Both tunes borrowed the classic Studio One rhythm "Full Up.")  The Mighty Diamond's version is slower and more rootsy, and the "kouchie" refers, of course, to a spliff, as opposed to Musical Youth's reference to a "dutchie," a pot of food (a different kind of pot altogether).  The best Sly & Robbie-produced track here is "Chalice in Mind," a great horn-filled ditty by the sorely underexposed Carlton Livingston(e).  Junior Tamlins' sultry "Real Love" and Sly's oft-sampled instrumental "Unmetered Taxi" are the best of the rest.   A select few from this album combined with a select few from Taxi would make a darn good set, but between the two, there is too much filler.

A Dub Experience (Reggae Greats) (Island, 1984)

At least a portion of this duo's musical genius is on display in this short dub compilation.  Most songs will be familiar to the seasoned reggae listener -- there are dubs of The Tamlins' "Baltimore" (a personal favorite of mine), Black Uhuru's "Chill Out," and Dennis Brown's "Revolution."  Needless to say, all of the rhythms are solid and are an especially good introduction to the dub genre.  Another standout for me was "Computer Malfunctions," a dub of Junior Tamlins' "Real Love," which is probably better than the original.  Incorporating jittery digital chirping blips, its otherworldly sounds help transport the listener to another place -- what all good dub music should do.

DJ Riot (Island, 1990)

Sly & Robbie strive to prove that they can make dancehall beats as generic as the next guy.  And they succeed.  While these songs aren't horrible (although you could make a case for the flaccid-voiced Dominic on "Nothing Like That"), they aren't very special.  Certainly the time period has something to do with it, but even back in 1990, these definitely weren't "killer" rhythms.  Sly & Robbie provide only 4 or 5 rhythms on this collection, with two of them running through about 8 or 9 of the songs, so don't say I didn't warn you.  The best tracks are provided by veterans Red Dragon and Tiger in "Wine & Go Down" and "Raggamuffin," respectively, but even they can't lift these songs above the level of run-of-the-mill.

Friends (EastWest, 1998)

This album won the Grammy for best reggae album in 1999, so that may give an indication of the mainstream appeal of Friends.  R&B and pop permeate the album, the worst instances of which are the sappy "Shoulder to Cry On" and the rock-ish remake of The Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction," featuring Keith Richards himself on guitar.  The instrumental "Friday" (of which there are two unnecessary versions) meanwhile is pedestrian jazzy R&B, also not reggae.  The best of these non-reggae tracks is the sultry "Candy Girl," a sumptuous bump 'n grind R&B tune.  The other songs are primarily reggae, but they are all remakes of well-known songs.  This annoying lack of originality aside, the banal, half-hearted quality of many of these covers is startling.  Maxi Priest does John Holt's "Only a Smile," UB40's Ali Campbell does Dobby Dobson's "Seems to Me I'm Losing," One Plus One takes on Debarge's "All This Love," and Simply Red's Mick Hucknall dares to do not only Dennis Brown's "Ghetto Girl," but also Gregory Isaacs' immortal "Night Nurse."  All of these attempts are bland and uninspired, adding nothing to the originals, and possibly even taking something away.   The only remakes that do anything interesting are the dancehall mixes of Lionel Richie's "Penny Lover" and the fun "Mission Impossible."  Of course, these latter two cuts are available on VP Records' Strictly the Best 18 and Reggae Gold 97, respectively, which are much better options to buy than Friends.   This album seems to be a statement by Sly & Robbie to the effect of "Look who I know!"  Well, look who doesn't give a damn.

Drum & Bass Strip to the Bone By Howie B (Palm Pictures, 1999)

I'm including this album only because it's Sly & Robbie, not because it's truly reggae.  The closest thing the music here could be equated with is dub -- modern '90s dub, that is, rather than the more roots-oriented '70s and early '80s dub.  Only a couple of the tracks on Drum & Bass, however, can really be called dub or even dub-like: "Ballistic Squeeze" and perhaps "Drilling for Oil."  I don't think it's really even drum and bass.  This is generic electronica more than it is dub or anything else.  Now, I'm not into this sort of music very much, but I don't think that this set is a good album even within the electronica sub-genres.  The beats are derivative, the digital effects are dull, and the songs are repetitive and long.  I have to fast forward a minute or two into many songs just to hear any music whatsoever, since they take so long to build up.  How pretentious can you get?  (Speaking of such, do these titles sound contrived or what?  "Zen Concrete?"  "Fatigue Chic?"  Gimme a break.)   By dragging the songs out, they might be heightening the anticipation. . . if the tracks were good.  Since they're not, its' merely annoying.  The sound of Drum & Bass ranges from the hip-hop beats and rock guitars of "Superthruster" to the aforementioned repetitive dub-like style of "Ballistic Squeeze" to the dancehall-ish sound of "Exodub Implosion" to the mellow, airy keyboards of "High Voltage Syndrome" to the Latin-esque drums and piano of "Softcore Surge," the latter two songs being the only ones I found tolerable.   I wish Sly & Robbie would stick to strict reggae and dub.  Experimentation is OK, but how many times do you have to create Frankenstein's monster before it kills you?

Massive (NYCMusic, 1999)

Good Dubs: The Prime of Sly & Robbie (Music Club, 2001)

Although Sly & Robbie became internationally renowned in the '80s due to their productions of songs like The Mighty Diamonds' "Pass the Kouchie," The Tamlins' "Baltimore," and Dennis Brown's "Sitting & Watching," as well as numerous albums from Black Uhuru, they honed their craft performing and producing more traditional, less digital roots tracks throughout the '70s.  Good Dubs focuses largely on this aggressive "rockers"-styled '70s material (mostly mid- to late-'70s), providing listeners with an alternate view of the Riddim Twins that is arguably as enjoyable as their '80s sound.  Dubs of tunes by Cornell Campbell, Johnny Clarke, Rita Marley, The Heptones' Leroy Sibbles, and John Holt can be found here, as well as original dubs like the bass-heavy "Disgraceful" and the celebratory "Taxi Connection" (one of the only cuts with an electro-'80s sound).  Other excellent tracks include "War," "Playful," the funky "Eden Dub," and the wicked "Dread Dread."  Fans of traditional rootsy dub may not have appreciated the electronic, experimental style that Sly & Robbie explored in the '80s and '90s, but Good Dubs should give them plenty to smile about.

Sly & Robbie's Taxi Sound (Auralux, 2005 [orig. released 198?])

*GUEST REVIEW*
At a recent Blood & Fire sound system gig, I could easily identify each Sly & Robbie track. They just have a signature sound that even Damian Marley has been borrowing of late. He took a beat or two from "World a Music" for his "Jamrock" single. Taxi Sound does what is says on the tin and showcases material from their Taxi label. Fourteen tracks get a look in here, with contributions from The Tamlins, Junior Delgado, Sugar Minott, and General Echo. Sly & Robbie dubs make me choke on my porridge, but the tracks hear warm me up. Their material has been compiled on a semi-regular basis, so perhaps this is not one of the essential Auralux releases. Nonetheless, this is still a fun introduction to the world of the Rhythm Twins.

- ragudave