Bob Marley & The Wailers - Reggae Fever Vol. 1 & 2 [2CD] (1997)

Thumb through enough Bob Marley & the Wailers compilations and you can be forgiven for wondering if after a while the selectors were just drawing song titles out of a hat, or perhaps throwing them up in the air, and whatever landed on the desk made it onto the set. Reggae Fever, Vol. 1 is yet another in a myriad of releases drawn from the late '60s/early '70s, when the Wailers bounced around the studios, biding their time and still dreaming of stardom abroad. Take away the Leslie Kong-produced "Soul Captives" (mistitled "Soul Captive" on the set), and the compilation would fall into an even more notorious pile, those dedicated exclusively to Lee Perry productions, which at this point must be nearing two stories in height. Perhaps they're saving the big hits for Vol. 2, but you do get such favorites as "Soul Rebel," "Put It On," "Sun Is Shining," "African Herbsman," "Rainbow Country," and Peter Tosh's cultural killer "400 Years." Of course, all of the Perry material is strong, but are there enough faves here for the fans? Probably not -- there are better roundups of this era available, all stuffing in a lot more than a dozen tracks, so this one's not going to make anyone that feverish.

One did wonder if they were holding back the big hits for Reggae Fever, Vol. 2, and indeed they were. So here they are -- "Kaya," "Duppy Conqueror," "Small Axe," "Soul Shakedown Party," and the exuberant "Trench Town Rock" among them. Like its predecessor, this compilation again draws from Bob Marley & the Wailers' in-between years, after they had departed Studio One but before they signed to Island. This period has been not merely well served by compilers but repackaged just about to death, with the recordings done with producer Lee Perry tossed onto so many sets that it now defies belief. Vol. 1's 12 tracks included 11 Perry productions; Vol. 2 features another nine, with the aforementioned "Party," "Stop the Train," and "Chances Are" the exceptions, the former overseen by Leslie Kong, the latter pair by Johnny Nash and Danny Sims. There's a group of great songs here, but then again they're everywhere, and inevitably some of your faves are on the first set, so you'll need to buy both. Or better yet, go grab a less parsimonious collection that contains them all.