Firehouse Rock [2001]

Personnel: Bo Pee, Alan Bassford (guitar); Dean Fraser, Nambo Robinson (horns); Winston Wright (keyboards); Style Scott (drums); Christopher Blake "Sky Juice" (percussion).
Recording information: Channel One.
Talk about a triple threat: first you have the (by this point well-established and effortlessly professional) Wailing Souls, one of the greatest of the cultural harmony groups; then you have the Roots Radics, the studio band that almost single-handedly defined the new dancehall reggae sound in the early '80s; and to make everything perfect, you have the unassailable team of producer Henry "Junjo" Lawes (who can claim equal status with the Roots Radics as a dancehall pioneer) and engineer Hopeton "Scientist" Brown. The result is 1991's Firehouse Rock, one of the finest reggae albums of all time; one which combines the Wailing Souls top-notch songwriting and harmony singing with the absolute best in studio accompaniment -- there may never be another reggae band with a sound as rock-ribbed as that of the Roots Radics. Each track is a highlight in its own way, but pay particular attention to the title track, the gently rolling "Who Lives It," and the smoky, apocalyptic "Kingdom Rise Kingdom Fall." ~ Rick Anderson