Bob Marley & The Wailers - Rastaman Vibration (2022) LP

Bob Marley’s music remains timeless.
One of the albums from Bob Marley and the Wailers, which produced many timeless hits, has been given a new life. Tuff Gong International has partnered with Acoustic Sounds/Analogue to release a limited edition, deluxe box set of the much beloved 1976 album Rastaman Vibration. It is set to be released on November 18 and is expected to feature a newly remastered version of the landmark album in Ultra High-Quality Record (UHQR) format on Clarity Vinyl.
At the time of its release, it was widely praised by renowned publications, including Rolling Stone, in 1976. The reviewer, Robert Palmer, described the album as Marley cementing his role as a spokesman for the Third World’s disadvantaged and an avatar of a highly commercial brand of popular music.
He also described the work as one that embodied the pain, rage, and determination of Shantytown, Jamaica, as well as the community’s political and cultural fragmentation as well.
Rastaman Vibration also did well on the US charts and became the iconic reggae singer’s first release to reach the top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart. It peaked at No. 8, with the most popular US single being “Roots, Rock, Reggae.” The track was actually the only Marley single to reach the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 51.
The album is one of the three Wailers solo albums released in 1976, along with Blackheart Man by Bunny Wailer Legalize It by Peter Tosh.
It was also the album that spawned some of Marley’s most popular tracks, including “War,” “Who The Cap Fit,” and “Crazy Baldhead.” Rastaman Vibration will also be the first in the Marley catalog to be released in UHQR format.
A statement from Tuff Gong International also noted that the UHQR is remastered by Sterling Sound’s Ryan K Smith from the original analog master tapes and that each UHQR is pressed at Acoustic Sounds’ industry-leading pressing plant Quality Record Pressings (QRP) using hand-selected Clarity Vinyl® with attention paid to every single detail.
The statement further acknowledged that the records feature the same flat profile that helped to make the original UHQR so desirable.
“From the lead-in groove to the run-out groove, there is no pitch to the profile, allowing the customer’s stylus to play truly perpendicular to the grooves from edge to centre. Each UHQR is packaged in a deluxe box and includes a booklet detailing the entire process of making a UHQR along with a hand-signed certificate of inspection.”
Besides the high-quality music, fans will also get a UHQR booklet which includes an eight-page 12″ x 12″ booklet containing new liner notes by musician and Marley’s biographer Leroy Jodie Pierson. Fans will also get exclusive photos by Kim Gottlieb-Walker.
Bob Marley died in May, 1981 after battling cancer. Four decades later he remains the highest selling reggae artist in the world.
-- Shirvan Williams