Peter Tosh - Equal Rights (1999)

Even though Captured Live might be Peter Tosh's greatest recorded gift, this 1977 studio album was his best--by far--away from the stage. Equal Rights opens with two great salvos, "Get Up, Stand Up" and "Downpressor Man," both of them politically unequivocal in their support, aptly, of human rights and political equity. In his post-Wailers days, Tosh seemed ever in dialogue with his conscience and his obsession with Bob Marley's fame. Tosh sought a place for himself somewhere between reggae and pop (check out the Mick Jagger and Tosh duet, "(You Gotta Walk and) Don't Look Back" on the hits pack Scrolls of the Prophet). In itself, such a desire isn't at all surprising, but it did impact Tosh's music even on his best studio album. But even with any wrinkles, Equal Rights holds a spot firmly as one of the best reggae albums of the 1970s. In this reissue, it comes with a pair of live bonus tracks, "Pick Myself Up" and "African," both recorded live and charged with the best Tosh energy. --Andrew Bartlett