This is a complete handbook of information and opinion about the history and development of reggae music. Based on the "Encyclopedia of Popular Music", the book contains over 1000 entries covering musicians, bands, songwriters, producers and record labels which have made a significant impact on the development of reggae music. It brings together people such as Prince Buster and Duke Reid, with performers who took reggae beyond Jamaica's shores such as Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley and the Wailers, and those who have been at the forefront in more recent years, such as UB40, Shabba Ranks and Red Rat. Each entry offers information such as dates, career facts, discography and album ratings.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By kaysixone
Speaking as someone with a huge and ever-expanding music collection (and a particular interest in reggae), I've always found books of this nature to be of little value. This is especially the case now that we have access to an almost infinite source of reference material on this and pretty much every other subject under the sun, ie the internet.
The Virgin encyclopaedia is basically an A-Z of reggae and certainly contains a great deal of information. As such, it's an easy to use reference tool for looking up the biographical details or discographies of individual artists, groups and producers, as well as overviews of reggae's many different styles.
The biographical information is generally good, but unfortunately, the discographies are of very variable quality and ratings for individual albums can be somewhat dubious. There is a five-star rating system, and the vast majority of albums listed have been given either three or four stars. In fact I was surprised to see some major reggae artists without a single album with a five-star rating. In addition, each album is rated only in comparison to other albums by the same artist. Thus a three-star album by Artist A could easily be better than a five-star album by Artist B.
Another failing is the complete lack of photos, but the principal one is the lack of context. This is not a book which will really help you to learn about or understand reggae. For that you need an account of the subject which contains all the above information, but also chronicles the development of modern Jamaican music and of Jamaica itself, as well as the evolution of reggae abroad and it's influence on other musics....
So I'd strongly advise you to acquire the excellent "ROUGH GUIDE TO REGGAE" (by Steve Barrow et al) or the authoritative "BASS CULTURE: WHEN REGGAE WAS KING" (by Lloyd Bradley) in addition to or instead of this book. Or better still, forget about books entirely and buy the superbly documented 4 CD set "TOUGHER THAN TOUGH: THE STORY OF JAMAICAN MUSIC"; from which you'll learn more about reggae than from all the books in the world combined, while getting to hear some of the greatest music ever made....
The Rough Guide to Reggae (Rough Guide Music Guides)
Bass Culture: When Reggae Was King
The Story of Jamaican Music: Tougher Than Tough
The Virgin encyclopaedia is basically an A-Z of reggae and certainly contains a great deal of information. As such, it's an easy to use reference tool for looking up the biographical details or discographies of individual artists, groups and producers, as well as overviews of reggae's many different styles.
The biographical information is generally good, but unfortunately, the discographies are of very variable quality and ratings for individual albums can be somewhat dubious. There is a five-star rating system, and the vast majority of albums listed have been given either three or four stars. In fact I was surprised to see some major reggae artists without a single album with a five-star rating. In addition, each album is rated only in comparison to other albums by the same artist. Thus a three-star album by Artist A could easily be better than a five-star album by Artist B.
Another failing is the complete lack of photos, but the principal one is the lack of context. This is not a book which will really help you to learn about or understand reggae. For that you need an account of the subject which contains all the above information, but also chronicles the development of modern Jamaican music and of Jamaica itself, as well as the evolution of reggae abroad and it's influence on other musics....
So I'd strongly advise you to acquire the excellent "ROUGH GUIDE TO REGGAE" (by Steve Barrow et al) or the authoritative "BASS CULTURE: WHEN REGGAE WAS KING" (by Lloyd Bradley) in addition to or instead of this book. Or better still, forget about books entirely and buy the superbly documented 4 CD set "TOUGHER THAN TOUGH: THE STORY OF JAMAICAN MUSIC"; from which you'll learn more about reggae than from all the books in the world combined, while getting to hear some of the greatest music ever made....
The Rough Guide to Reggae (Rough Guide Music Guides)
Bass Culture: When Reggae Was King
The Story of Jamaican Music: Tougher Than Tough
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
I've not actually fully read this yet, and it's not the kind of book you "read" anyway, it's a dip in - dip out kind of affair and I'm sorry to say that it didn't really live up to expectations. I originally found it recommended in what I think is a better book... Bass Culture "When Reggae Was King" by Lloyd Bradley. I like to collect Reggae records and I'am always looking for information to pave the way to new as yet un-heard artists and tracks. I don't know about you but the first thing I do to test a books depth is to look for a few records it should mention and a few mildly obscure artistes it should highlight, a few artists any really decent book should have weren't in there and this left me wondering how well I should trust the authors homework. However maybe the book would have been perfect for me a few years ago and could be just what someone getting into Reggae should be reading, but .......... In my opinion one would do better to read the Lloyd Bradley book or The Rough Guide To Reggae , I've also reviewed this one if you're interested.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.4 out of 5 stars
5 reviews
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Reggae Guide Available
14 May 2000
By A Customer
- Published on Amazon.com
Infinitely better and more accurate than the twee, patronizing "Rough Guide To Reggae," it's also far more accurate. And if U.S. readers aren't familiar with all the releases cited, it's because some are U.K. and Caribbean records only available as imports or now out-of-print but necessary to note for history's sake. Most of all, this is actually a kick to read and not arrogant or self-serving in tone.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
ADEQUATE, BUT YOU NEED MORE....
22 May 2002
By kaysixone
- Published on Amazon.com
Speaking as someone with a huge and ever-expanding music collection (and a particular interest in reggae), I've always found books of this nature to be of little value. This is especially the case now that we have access to an almost infinite source of reference material on this and pretty much every other subject under the sun, ie the internet.
The Virgin encyclopaedia is basically an A-Z of reggae and certainly contains a great deal of information. As such, it's an easy to use reference tool for looking up the biographical details or discographies of individual artists, groups and producers, as well as overviews of reggae's many different styles.
The biographical information is generally good, but unfortunately, the discographies are of very variable quality and ratings for individual albums can be somewhat dubious. There is a five-star rating system, and the vast majority of albums listed have been given either three or four stars. In fact I was surprised to see some major reggae artists without a single album with a five-star rating. In addition, each album is rated only in comparison to other albums by the same artist. Thus a three-star album by Artist A could easily be better than a five-star album by Artist B.
Another failing is the complete lack of photos, but the principal one is the lack of context. This is not a book which will really help you to learn about or understand reggae. For that you need an account of the subject which contains all the above information, but also chronicles the development of modern Jamaican music and of Jamaica itself, as well as the evolution of reggae abroad and it's influence on other musics....
So I'd strongly advise you to acquire the excellent "ROUGH GUIDE TO REGGAE" (by Steve Barrow et al) or the authoritative "BASS CULTURE: WHEN REGGAE WAS KING" (by Lloyd Bradley) in addition to or instead of this book. Or better still, forget about books entirely and buy the superbly documented 4 CD set "TOUGHER THAN TOUGH: THE STORY OF JAMAICAN MUSIC"; from which you'll learn more about reggae than from all the books in the world combined, while getting to hear some of the greatest music ever made....
The Rough Guide to Reggae 2 (Rough Guide Music Guides)
Bass Culture: When Reggae Was King
Tougher Than Tough: The Story Of Jamaican Music
The Virgin encyclopaedia is basically an A-Z of reggae and certainly contains a great deal of information. As such, it's an easy to use reference tool for looking up the biographical details or discographies of individual artists, groups and producers, as well as overviews of reggae's many different styles.
The biographical information is generally good, but unfortunately, the discographies are of very variable quality and ratings for individual albums can be somewhat dubious. There is a five-star rating system, and the vast majority of albums listed have been given either three or four stars. In fact I was surprised to see some major reggae artists without a single album with a five-star rating. In addition, each album is rated only in comparison to other albums by the same artist. Thus a three-star album by Artist A could easily be better than a five-star album by Artist B.
Another failing is the complete lack of photos, but the principal one is the lack of context. This is not a book which will really help you to learn about or understand reggae. For that you need an account of the subject which contains all the above information, but also chronicles the development of modern Jamaican music and of Jamaica itself, as well as the evolution of reggae abroad and it's influence on other musics....
So I'd strongly advise you to acquire the excellent "ROUGH GUIDE TO REGGAE" (by Steve Barrow et al) or the authoritative "BASS CULTURE: WHEN REGGAE WAS KING" (by Lloyd Bradley) in addition to or instead of this book. Or better still, forget about books entirely and buy the superbly documented 4 CD set "TOUGHER THAN TOUGH: THE STORY OF JAMAICAN MUSIC"; from which you'll learn more about reggae than from all the books in the world combined, while getting to hear some of the greatest music ever made....
The Rough Guide to Reggae 2 (Rough Guide Music Guides)
Bass Culture: When Reggae Was King
Tougher Than Tough: The Story Of Jamaican Music
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
the only guide you need
25 Mar 2001
By Sean M. Kelly
- Published on Amazon.com
This is indeed the most complete and historically accurate guide to Jamaican music around today. The care and love that was put into this guide, as with the other Virgin guides (blues, folk, top 1000 lps, etc) is evident from start to finish.
What makes this guide great is not only the fact that all the players in the history of the game- from Shaggy to Beenie Man to Yellowman, Scientist, Marley, Tosh, Skatelities, Count Ossie, etc- are represented and details given about their lives and careers, but that sub-genres of Jamaican music are described and excellent compilations for each of these sub-genres are suggested. This is an excellent idea and will allow for newcomers and "experts" alike to dive into each of the many fascinating facets of Jamaican music and become truly knowledgable.
For me, this is the only book I use as a reference point when it comes to Jamiacan musics. I pull it out at least 2x a day at work (music store) and at home to better educate myself. The raiting system (1-5 stars) is extremely fair, comparing what an artist has done only to other releases by that artist, so Marley will never be compared to Tosh, for example. Their 5 star lps are indeed the best of the best, and the 1 star lps are indeed not worth having. While such ratings systems are intrinsically subjective, I have found in all of the Virgin guides that their system works best and offers the least amount of bias.
If you love Jamiacan music or if you think that reggae is only Bob Marley, this book is for you- that is to say, for everyone. I highly recommend it.
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