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Product Description
Review
Unusual cover versions have long been a reggae staple. But it's hard not to be surprised by the effectiveness of this Nirvana tribute from producers Prince Fatty, Mutant Hi-Fi and veteran singer Little Roy (despite the sum of its parts).
Little Roy, born Earl Lowe in Kingston, was the first artist to top the Jamaican chart with an overtly Rasta tune - Bongo Nyah - in 1969. His songs have been versioned repeatedly through the dancehall era - his Tribal War was even used on Nas and Damian Marley's Distant Relatives album - but he has yet to crash the mainstream himself.
Roy appeared on both Fatty's albums and, with hindsight, it's easy to see why Mr Pelanconi chose him for this project. In addition to his obvious talents his voice has a similar grain to that of Kurt Cobain.
His bleak life and lyrics aside, Cobain's songwriting gave an uplifting quality to Nirvana's music. And this quality translates perfectly to a series of sprightly vintage rhythms played by Ruff Cutt band's Bubblers, The Wailers' Junior Marvin, Fatty mainstay Horseman and Leroy 'Mafia' Heywood - a central force behind Roy's excellent previous album, Heat. The arrangements, though actually by Mutant Hi-Fi, are classic Fatty: swirling organs, softly parping horns, and Ark-era Lee Perry-style backing vocals.
Standouts include a 'flyers' cut of Dive (with quick diversion into the Real Rock rhythm), a dubby Come as You Are and a cantankerous, clavinet-driven About a Girl. Roy had never heard Nirvana prior to recording this, and the gruesome words of his favourite song Polly sound strange from such a spiritual singer ("horny" is changed to "happy" on the 60s-flavoured final track Lithium, presumably for this reason). Only Sliver's repetitive "Grandma take me home" refrain feels like it could have been reduced.
Where this set's likely inspiration, Easy Star All-Stars' Dub Side of the Moon, mined the safe student bedroom crossover between Floyd and dub, Battle for Seattle is far more of a gamble. Daring and brilliant, it showcases the visionary side of Prince Fatty's retro stylings while bringing Little Roy the exposure he deserves.
--Angus Taylor
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CD Description
A collection of 10 songs recorded by Nirvana in a reggae style, the album is the brainchild of Prince Fatty, the Mutant Hi-Fi and features the vocal talents of Little Roy, one of the great singers from Jamaican music's classic era of the 1960s and '70s, having previously cut tunes with Studio One, Matador, Prince Buster and Lee 'Scratch' Perry. For this reason perhaps, 'Battle For Seattle' has had the thumbs-up from the original Nirvana camp as well as many of their friends.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Oh Lordy - how good is this... am I really the first person to review it here???
A close friend of mine put me onto a couple of pre-release YouTube postings, luckily in time for us to catch the great man do pretty much every song at the Reading Festival on the festival republic stage. As a lover of Nirvana from the release of Bleach (and tragically being old enough to experience the joy of it when it first came out) and also as a lover of true-soul Roots Reggae, this was like a mad clash of worlds that seemed like a personal dream created for me and was without a doubt my highlight of the festival. Little Roy delivered every lyric as if it had come from his own heart, smiling, totally engaging with the ever swelling crowd and, most importantly, without any kind of lyric sheet in evidence at all. It seemed impossible, but the songs of a desperately torn and unhappy man had been filled with joy and love, pure and simple, and rest assured, the album has captured all of this in the studio. Songs like Lithium and Sliver probably lend themselves most easily to a brilliant reworking and the weight and depth of Come As You Are is simply fantastic, but for me the absolute genius of Little Roy and Producer Prince Fatty's interpretations is most evident with the darker songs - Heart Shaped Box and Polly are simply heartbreaking and devastatingly beautiful, delivered by a man who is feeling every word and allowing the listener to clearly hear every syllable. Having immersed myself in this record for the last 10 days, I feel the same listening to it now as when Little Roy finished his set at Reading - when the final notes of Lithium fade you just get the feeling that Kurt is resting a little easier thanks to this astounding project. So thank you Little Roy, massive love to you and all involved with this release, you have made me and a lot of people I know very happy indeed and given us a very unexpected and warm end to the British Summer, please come and tour soon!
I got the album on the vinyl and it sounds gorgeous, you should get it on whatever format allows you to listen to it as many times as you possibly can - I guess I'll end up having to get the download for the I-Pod, but it's currently sounding awesome on my old skool 70s separates. My true hope is that this sells well enough and touches enough hearts that someone somewhere will take a walk through Little Roy's back catalogue, re-issue it and give us the chance to buy his music without having to track down expensive original vinyl copies, first release; the "Prophesy" album please!
A close friend of mine put me onto a couple of pre-release YouTube postings, luckily in time for us to catch the great man do pretty much every song at the Reading Festival on the festival republic stage. As a lover of Nirvana from the release of Bleach (and tragically being old enough to experience the joy of it when it first came out) and also as a lover of true-soul Roots Reggae, this was like a mad clash of worlds that seemed like a personal dream created for me and was without a doubt my highlight of the festival. Little Roy delivered every lyric as if it had come from his own heart, smiling, totally engaging with the ever swelling crowd and, most importantly, without any kind of lyric sheet in evidence at all. It seemed impossible, but the songs of a desperately torn and unhappy man had been filled with joy and love, pure and simple, and rest assured, the album has captured all of this in the studio. Songs like Lithium and Sliver probably lend themselves most easily to a brilliant reworking and the weight and depth of Come As You Are is simply fantastic, but for me the absolute genius of Little Roy and Producer Prince Fatty's interpretations is most evident with the darker songs - Heart Shaped Box and Polly are simply heartbreaking and devastatingly beautiful, delivered by a man who is feeling every word and allowing the listener to clearly hear every syllable. Having immersed myself in this record for the last 10 days, I feel the same listening to it now as when Little Roy finished his set at Reading - when the final notes of Lithium fade you just get the feeling that Kurt is resting a little easier thanks to this astounding project. So thank you Little Roy, massive love to you and all involved with this release, you have made me and a lot of people I know very happy indeed and given us a very unexpected and warm end to the British Summer, please come and tour soon!
I got the album on the vinyl and it sounds gorgeous, you should get it on whatever format allows you to listen to it as many times as you possibly can - I guess I'll end up having to get the download for the I-Pod, but it's currently sounding awesome on my old skool 70s separates. My true hope is that this sells well enough and touches enough hearts that someone somewhere will take a walk through Little Roy's back catalogue, re-issue it and give us the chance to buy his music without having to track down expensive original vinyl copies, first release; the "Prophesy" album please!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
excuse the rusbbish pun in my review title...best I could do given the time in truth it is very much Nirvana dubbed.
This set of songs could have so easily been just a curious collection...one which you could knowingly take out from time too formulate discussion at a cocktail party(if that's your thing) much as a William Shatner cover album or Paul Anka's rockswings could be used...however it is much more than that.
The songs have a classic reggae sound that seems to hark backwards rather than forwards and that's no bad thing..it has created a timelessness maybe within a set of songs that were likely to be timeless anyway.
The Nirvana and Nirvana/Vaseline's cover translate well ..stand outs straight off for me where Lithium,Come as you are,Heart Shaped Box and Polly..songs that had a melodic groove anyhow but which really shine forth in this treatment.
For all that I'm not saying this songs are better than the Nirvana one's as they aren't but as interpretations they are pretty equal and stand aside the original tunes rather than surpass them.
This set of songs could have so easily been just a curious collection...one which you could knowingly take out from time too formulate discussion at a cocktail party(if that's your thing) much as a William Shatner cover album or Paul Anka's rockswings could be used...however it is much more than that.
The songs have a classic reggae sound that seems to hark backwards rather than forwards and that's no bad thing..it has created a timelessness maybe within a set of songs that were likely to be timeless anyway.
The Nirvana and Nirvana/Vaseline's cover translate well ..stand outs straight off for me where Lithium,Come as you are,Heart Shaped Box and Polly..songs that had a melodic groove anyhow but which really shine forth in this treatment.
For all that I'm not saying this songs are better than the Nirvana one's as they aren't but as interpretations they are pretty equal and stand aside the original tunes rather than surpass them.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:MP3 Download
Not a nirvana fan i must admit - always thought they were very over-rated. Still, cobain could write a decent lyric even if he couldnt sing or write a melody. Thus little roys blending of those lyrics (with melodies put in their right context), backed up with reggae - works very well. This is a very rich sounding record, beautifully produced. son of a gun is the highlight though they all have their moments. Every track here is far superior to the original which makes this a lot more than just a novelty record. An inspired move for sure - lets just hope the next one isnt full of foo fighters covers.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Awesome
Absolutely blinding album. Saw him on Jools Holland and loved Lithium, but there are plenty more songs which'll blow your mind.
Chilled music, but dark lyrics... Read more
Chilled music, but dark lyrics... Read more
Published 6 months ago by dandawsinho
Wonderful
The vocal keeps the intrinsic sadness over a sunshine beat. Made us go back to the original and listen with new ears.
Published 6 months ago by Timna
Enchanting stuff.....
Saw Little Roy perform a couple of songs from this album on Later with Jools Holland. So thought I would invest in the whole thing. I was not disappointed in any way. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Philip E. S. Price
banana for nirvana
i liked it, mostly for its broad choice of tracks and novelty value.it could be improved with some dub beats perhaps
Published 6 months ago by wat dabney
Thanks Little Roy; a real gem! :-)
What a superbly inspired idea, so beautifully executed!
If you are into Nirvana & likes your Reggae vibes too then it surely can't get much better than this - a... Read more
If you are into Nirvana & likes your Reggae vibes too then it surely can't get much better than this - a... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Poz Feedback
Gorgeous genius
I have to agree with the only other reviewer of this on here - I picked up the LP and it is a beautiful sounding album. Read more
Published 7 months ago by C. S. Schalck
I'm So Happy 'Cause Today I Found My Friends: Joy Love & Respect
Oh Lordy - how good is this... am I really the first person to review it here???
A close friend of mine put me onto a couple of pre-release YouTube postings, luckily in... Read more
A close friend of mine put me onto a couple of pre-release YouTube postings, luckily in... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Coley Kev
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