Toots & The Maytals - Time Tough: The Anthology (1996)
BAND/ARTIST: Toots & The Maytals, Toots and The Maytals
- Title: Time Tough: The Anthology
- Year Of Release: 1996
- Label: Island Records
- Genre: Rocksteady, Roots Reggae
- Quality: FLAC 16-Bit/44.1 kHz
- Total Time: 02:33:45
- Total Size: 917 mb
- WebSite: Album Preview
Album review
With a group as prolific as the Maytals, led by a singer whose career is as long-running as Toots Hibbert's, few compilations will come away unscathed by fans and critics alike, least of all those that purport to be something more than a simple best-of collection. Time Tough: The Anthology is no exception, for even with two discs and 41 tracks the set can only scratch the surface of Toots & the Maytals' canon.
The biggest complaint comes straight off the bat, with a mere five songs dedicated to the ska years. During this era, the Maytals unleashed a flood of fabulous singles, with their last, 1966's "Bam Bam," winning Jamaica's annual Festival Song Competition. Five tracks gives awfully short shrift to this instrumental early period in the band's career. Much to fans' regret, Toots Hibbert's incarceration for drug possession saw the group sidelined during the rocksteady era, but they returned with a ferocity as the reggae era began. Under the aegis of producer Leslie Kong, the trio were unstoppable, sending a deluge of stellar singles into the chart, of which ten of the best are gathered up here. Kong's death in 1971 barely slowed the group's output, while a deal with Island Records saw international release for their crucial Funky Kingston, In the Dark, and Reggae Got Soul albums, whose tracks fill much of the rest of disc one. The first half of disc two follows the group until its demise (they took their final bow together at Reggae Sunsplash in 1982), with the rest of the tracks selectively following Hibbert's solo career down to 1988. Thus, the compilation does provide an adequate overview, but weighted as it is toward the Kong and then the Island years, not necessarily a fair one. Still, most fans will be happy with the results, especially as the compilation includes a clutch of previously unissued songs. It still remains by far the most thorough collection available.
© Jo-Ann Greene
Tracklist:
1 Six And Seven Books Of Moses
2 Broadway Jungle
3 It's You
4 Never You Change
5 John And James
6 54-46 (Was My Number)
7 Do The Reggay
8 Desmond Dekker Came First
9 Sweet And Dandy
10 Monkey Man
11 Peeping Tom
12 One Eyed Enos
13 She's My Scorcher
14 Pressure Drop (Single Version)
15 Pomps & Pride
16 Funky Kingston
17 Take Me Home Country Roads
18 Time Tough
19 In The Dark
20 Reggae Got Soul
21 Rasta Man
22 Living In The Ghetto
23 Hallelujah (Live)
24 Get Up Stand Up
25 My Love Is So Strong
26 Chatty Chatty
27 Gee Whiz
28 Just Like That
29 Careless Ethiopians
30 Never Get Weary
31 Spend The Weekend
32 Beautiful Woman
33 Bam Bam
34 Spiritual Healing
35 B For Butter
36 Peace Perfect Peace
37 You Know
38 (I've Got) Dreams To Remember
39 Precious Precious
40 Hard To Handle
41 Freedom Train
With a group as prolific as the Maytals, led by a singer whose career is as long-running as Toots Hibbert's, few compilations will come away unscathed by fans and critics alike, least of all those that purport to be something more than a simple best-of collection. Time Tough: The Anthology is no exception, for even with two discs and 41 tracks the set can only scratch the surface of Toots & the Maytals' canon.
The biggest complaint comes straight off the bat, with a mere five songs dedicated to the ska years. During this era, the Maytals unleashed a flood of fabulous singles, with their last, 1966's "Bam Bam," winning Jamaica's annual Festival Song Competition. Five tracks gives awfully short shrift to this instrumental early period in the band's career. Much to fans' regret, Toots Hibbert's incarceration for drug possession saw the group sidelined during the rocksteady era, but they returned with a ferocity as the reggae era began. Under the aegis of producer Leslie Kong, the trio were unstoppable, sending a deluge of stellar singles into the chart, of which ten of the best are gathered up here. Kong's death in 1971 barely slowed the group's output, while a deal with Island Records saw international release for their crucial Funky Kingston, In the Dark, and Reggae Got Soul albums, whose tracks fill much of the rest of disc one. The first half of disc two follows the group until its demise (they took their final bow together at Reggae Sunsplash in 1982), with the rest of the tracks selectively following Hibbert's solo career down to 1988. Thus, the compilation does provide an adequate overview, but weighted as it is toward the Kong and then the Island years, not necessarily a fair one. Still, most fans will be happy with the results, especially as the compilation includes a clutch of previously unissued songs. It still remains by far the most thorough collection available.
© Jo-Ann Greene
Tracklist:
1 Six And Seven Books Of Moses
2 Broadway Jungle
3 It's You
4 Never You Change
5 John And James
6 54-46 (Was My Number)
7 Do The Reggay
8 Desmond Dekker Came First
9 Sweet And Dandy
10 Monkey Man
11 Peeping Tom
12 One Eyed Enos
13 She's My Scorcher
14 Pressure Drop (Single Version)
15 Pomps & Pride
16 Funky Kingston
17 Take Me Home Country Roads
18 Time Tough
19 In The Dark
20 Reggae Got Soul
21 Rasta Man
22 Living In The Ghetto
23 Hallelujah (Live)
24 Get Up Stand Up
25 My Love Is So Strong
26 Chatty Chatty
27 Gee Whiz
28 Just Like That
29 Careless Ethiopians
30 Never Get Weary
31 Spend The Weekend
32 Beautiful Woman
33 Bam Bam
34 Spiritual Healing
35 B For Butter
36 Peace Perfect Peace
37 You Know
38 (I've Got) Dreams To Remember
39 Precious Precious
40 Hard To Handle
41 Freedom Train
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