Album: UB40

... present the Fathers of Reggae, DEP/Virgin

With this new compilation UB40 Present the Fathers of Reggae, the resilient reggae combo reverse the strategy of their Labour of Love series – in which they paid homage to the music's originators with covers of Jamaican classics – by having some of the island's finest voices perform UB40's own songs, with latter-day engineers such as Steely & Clevie, Sly & Robbie and Fatta & Bulby tweaking the band's backing tracks for contemporary tastes. Most of the singers are drawn from the ranks of the smooth vocal groups of the rock steady and roots eras that exerted such a powerful influence on UB40's sound: The Mighty Diamonds, Brent Dowe of The Melodians, Leroy Sibbles of The Heptones, Jackie Robinson of The Pioneers, and John Holt and Bob Andy of the Paragons all feature strongly here, the latter's tremulous tenor especially outstanding on "Love Is All Is Alright". Holt, too, is impressive, bringing the hooker-suicide lament "The Pillow" to life with a typically effortless, almost offhand, delivery. Elsewhere, The Maytals' Frederick "Toots" Hibbert truncates another wordy social-conscience anthem, "C'est la Vie", and Max Romeo is well placed on the righteous "Watchdogs", a lyric about piety and temptation. Best of all, though, is the cool ruler Gregory Isaacs's, casual but commanding "Bring Me Your Cup".