Essential Reggae Albums & Compilations for Beginners

by Michael Moody
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While not a ranking, hopefully this list may help give the curious a place to start. A bit of ska, dub and rocksteady have inevitably been included. I've opted for Bob Marley's 78-track collection "Songs of Freedom" over the more famous 14-track "Legend" because I believe more, in this case, is better. Click an album below to read a review

1

The Wailers - Burnin'

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2

Soundtrack - The Harder They Come

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3

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Songs of Freedom

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4

Culture - Two Sevens Clash

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5

Lee "Scratch" Perry - Arkology

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6

Desmond Dekker - Rockin' Steady: The Best of Desmond Dekker

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7

Black Uhuru - Red

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8

Various Artists - Duke Reid's Treasure Chest

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9

Toots and The Maytals - Anthology 1964 to 2000

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10

Steel Pulse - True Democracy

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11

Wailing Souls - The Very Best Of The Wailing Souls

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12

Tommy McCook & The Aggrovators - King Tubby Meets The Agrovators At Dub Station

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13

The Congos - Heart Of The Congos (40th Anniversary Edition)

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14

Ijahman Levi - Are We A Warrior

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15

Yabby You - Dread Prophecy

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16

Peter Tosh - Legalize It (Legacy Edition)

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17

Various Artists - The Best of Studio One

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18

Burning Spear - Hail H.I.M

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19

Larry Marshall - Presenting Larry Marshall

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20

Gregory Isaacs - Night Nurse

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21

Junior Byles - Beat Down Babylon: The Upsetter Years

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22

Horace Andy - In the Light

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23

The Uniques - Watch This Sound

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24

The Heptones - Party Time

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25

The Gaylads - Over the Rainbow's End

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26

Bunny Wailer - Roots Radics Rockers Reggae

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27

Joe Higgs - Life Of Contradiction

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28

Delroy Wilson - Once Upon A Time: The Best Of Delroy Wilson

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29

Keith Hudson - Playing It Cool

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30

Lee "Scratch" Perry - I Am The Upsetter - The Story Of The Lee "Scratch" Perry Golden Years

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31

Singers & Players - Trifecta

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32

Freddie McGregor - Bobby Babylon

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33

Max Romeo - War Ina Babylon

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34

Winston "Niney" Holness - Blood & Fire: Hit Sounds From The Observer Station 1970-1978

Read review on unitedreggae.com

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35

Various Artists - Uptown Top Ranking: Joe Gibbs Reggae Productions 1970-78

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Comments (1)

  2. #6283
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

This is brilliant, I can dive into this and discover some of these. I'd also recommend the Rebel Music comp on Trojan Records and the Dread Meets Punk Rockers Uptown comp on Heavenly Records.

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