Houston Blog

With all due respect Craig, this is a ridiculous conceit. All of the albums you recommend are in fact excellent. You could certainly add Toots and the Maytals (Toots is a far better singer than Bob) and Linton Kwesi Johnson (whose "dub poetry" was far more political and often more interesting lyrically than Bob's).

However, to call Bob Marley "overrated" is CRAZY. The man was the first third world superstar. His music inspired political movements all over the world. Did he soften up a bit near the end? "Survival" may not be his best record but it is his most radical and it came out 2 years before his death. Don't forget he was the victim of an attempted assaination which was politically motivated.

As to the "sunniness" of Bob's songs--"Dem Belly Full" anyone?

You're a much better writer than this dude. This is half assed and you just come off like a hipster doofus.

Craig was gracious enough to send me a note about my response and we exchanged a couple of e-mails back and forth. In one of thos I suggested that a bettr article would have been "10 Reggae Records Better Than Legend".
That would not be hard to put together.

Marley's impact as an artist however is comparable to the Beatles and Bob Dylan. It would not surprise me koshkin if you don't like either of those artists either. However to deny their influence is to just stick your head in the sand and your ass in the air.

Bob Marley had a far greater impact on the third world musically and politically than he has on American frat boys.

My apologies to Craig. YOU are the hipster doofus koshkin.

Marley's music is great for what it is but just is not very typical for jamaican music in general. That's probably why there is so many people stuck with Marley. Whereas most JA artists write lyrics which are very down-to earth, refering to jamaican issues Marley stayed vague (or should I say universal) with his message in many songs. Thus making it easy for just about anyone on the planet to adapt the songs to his own circumstances.

Firstly, equating Marley with the pinhead celebrations of 4-20, is a faux-pas. secondly, using "Legend" as the crux of your arguement, and the obvious choices you use to back up your arguement show that you, most probably start and end your reggae knowledge with a few albums by the other Wailers, and a soundtrack...oh, and 'Legend'.

True, Marley is THE go-to guy for most peoples' reggae choice, but there is a reason. He was good. He was palatable, and aside form Jimmy Cliff, probably the easiest to digest.

Trying to tie the dope pun and your inadequate knowledge shows that you are probably the guy that Paul Westerberg (another over-rated dude) screamned about with the famous lines
"Dope smokin' moron/don't make me yawn"

Have you ever heard of the ol' saying, "Better to eb thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it"? Best get back to your Tool records man, and leave well alone.

I lived all over the world in the 70s and 80s including two years in India (similar to being on a desert island), and one of my go-to albums wherever i was living was always Funky Kingston - Toots and the Maytals. Raised two decent children on Pressure Drop and Time Tough.

Plus Toots had those great versions of Country Roads and Louie Louie.

But Marley's overarching influence, accomplishments, and presence are undeniable.

And just for the record, it's not nice to argue with Mother Nature or Uncle 'Lijah.

Speaking of Dylan, we've heard this all before. Do a word replace with Dylan, snorkle down a few of the greatest hits, call Time Out of Mind a 'lifetime achievement' award because it's not as good as Blood on the Tracks, which didn't win a Grammy. And so on ...

Give it a rest. Of course Peter Tosh is wonderful, and underappreciated in the Austin undergrad scene. That's why there's grad school in Madison, Charlottesville and Chapel Hill and, oh yeah, the rest of our lives to catch up with all that stuff. Picking on Marley to get there is just stupid.

This is the results of an idiotic democracy society