Jamaican Pride Store

A fine party disc with an unbeatable selection of Jamaican rocksteady and roots reggae hits ranging from Millie Small's "My Boy Lollipop" to the Melodians' reverent "Rivers of Babylon," and including sides by Bob Marley ("Soul Shakedown Party," "Lively Up Yourself"), Toots & the Maytals ("Pressure Drop"), and the Ethiopians ("Train to Skaville"), it's hard to say why Reggae Pulse seems to come up as less than the sum of its parts. Maybe it's the sequencing, which has been tried a couple of different ways in the various editions of this release, or maybe it's because this compilation tries to be all things at once. The songs are certainly here, most of which are bona fide classics, and certainly no one will be the lesser for owning this package. Somehow, though, it feels like the real story of Jamaica's revolutionary music gets lost in the shuffle. [2005's DualDisc edition adds a DVD with three additional songs and Surround Sound]