Best Reggae Albums of all time?

Junior Delahaye - Showcase (1982)
And yet another release in the string of classic Wackies albums that have been (re)released by Berlin dub-techno duo Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus a.k.a. Rhythm & Sound, as part of their rerelease program of the complete Wackie's catalog. More on their own releases, whether technodub on Basic Channel or their Rhythm & Sound label and also on their classic Wackie's (re)releases can be found at the Basic Channel website. "Reggae" as the album is called on the sleeve a.k.a. "Showcase" as it is known as well and dubbed by Rhythm & Sound upon their Bullwackies reissue programme, by Junior Delahaye was originally released in 1982. "Love" is a fabulous self-penned track where Junior's falsetto in combination with the classic dubby Wackies riddims immediately brings to mind the best moments of the classic combination of Junior Murvin's voice over Lee 'Scratch' Perry produced riddims. And like every other track, this album is truly showcase style, thus followed directly by its dub version, and coming from Wackies that's a real treat. Next Junior, who also co-engineered the album alongside Lloyd 'Bullwackie' Barnes covers the 1971 Fuzz hit penned by their lead singer Seil Young "I Love You For All Seasons" in a much deeper voice that keeps floating on top of the dub mix in the second part of the track. The 'reggae-traditional' "Travelling Man" is preceded by the self-penned absolutely brilliant "All I Need Is Jah" on which the version part of the track gets a beautiful saxophone treatment by legendary Roland Alphonso, and another classic song versioned by more than a few reggae-icons gets the Junior Delahaye/Wackies treatment: Billy Stewart's "Sitting In The Park". This beautiful disc, that should be recommended to just every lover of roots, only has one weakness, as we have gotten used to bonus tracks even on regular releases, it clocks in at 35 minutes, and no matter how nice the ideas to release the another catalogue in 'original form' it's a bit short. I could stand more than an hour of this niceness, that is now cut short after the lovers tune "Movie Show" for which Junior Delahaye uses the most seductive lower ranges of his vocal register, before the final bars of its dub fade away.

am i weird for liking the heptones "party time" more than "heart of the congos"?

Not at all, I'm sure many people prefer the soulful, tuneful Heptones to the murk of the Congos. It's not a universal appeal, but the Congos just has a sort of mystical feel that's hard to nail down, and for me results in some rewarding repeated listening, both deep sessions on headphones, or just in the background. Kind of along the lines of what made Astral Weeks and Black Saint and the Sinner Lady favorites too.

Here's a dynamic list that evolves month to month:

https://rateyourmusic.com/list/jgnikkila/top_250_reggae_albums__according_to_ryms_heavy_reggae_heads_/

think i prefer police and thieves to both. heart of the congos is really frontloaded, iirc, but i should listen again.

or maybe it's just that it's impossible to top "open the gate", one of my top 5-10 reggae tunes

That Yabby You collection is monumental, and probably the straight up heaviest music I've ever heard. I passed up a decent vinyl copy a few years back and still sometimes wake in a cold sweat...

Funny that I have Jesus Dread disc1 playing right now.

Not quite sure about heaviest has had some reasonably heavy moments but there are much heavier things I've heard.

the recent Deeper Roots comps are where it's at re: Yabby You

Did anyone else pick up the 3 CD Yabby You Dread Prophecy set? It's really great, with 30 tracks you can't get anywhere else. Extensive liner notes, but stupidly it does not include the recording dates for the tracks! I know with all the ganja the exact dates of those records can be hazy, but the other comps managed it.

The RYM list I linked above is nice, but I wouldn't include comps. Conquering Lion at 16 sounds about right. Burning Spear's Social Living (Marcus' Children) -- be sure to get the Blood & Fire version with the two bonus tracks -- and Keith Hudson's Playing It Cool, Playing It Right usurp the usual choices of Marcus Garvey and Flesh of My Skin - Blood of My Blood. I pretty much agree with those choices. Speaking of Blood & Fire, I miss their deluxe treatments and attention to detail and art. Among many candidates, a nice two-fer of Horace Andy's Dance Hall Style and Exclusively would be great. They really belong together in a set, being the same session, but different approaches.

I have the Deeper Roots and Jesus Dread comps - had no idea there was 30 more tracks that's crazy

To be clear, it's 10 previously unreleased tracks and 30 tracks never previously on CD.

10 previously unreleased tracks are mostly variations of released tracks IIRC. Jesus Dread is better IMO.

Sure, Jesus Dread is more concentrated goodness. But it's missing a lot. I do wish they'd just release everything, but that just isn't being done with reggae artists, and is probably impossible for most due to the chaotic nature of varied long-gone labels and missing masters, etc.

Here's a summary of my past month's listening: http://fastnbulbous.com/choice-summer-choons-2016/

Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1212496385/playlist/0FyhuiLuajEwSoYavrxmfw
All-Time Favorite Reggae Albums: http://fastnbulbous.com/reggae/
RYM list: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/Fastnbulbous/all_time_favorite_reggae_albums/

nice, i will enjoy digging through that!

The albums I spotlighted are:

Ras Michael & The Sons Of Negus – Dadawah, Peace & Love (Trojan/Dug Out, 1974)
Noel Ellis – Noel Ellis (Summer/In The Light, 1983)
Keith Hudson – Playing It Cool & Playing It Right (Joint/Basic Replay, 1981)
Bob Andy – The Music Inside Me (Jigsaw, 1976)
Horace Andy – Dance Hall Style/Exclusively (Wackie’s, 1982)
Junior Delahaye – Showcase (Wackie’s, 1982)
Alton Ellis – Many Moods Of Alton Ellis (Makasound, 1980)
Lacksley Castell – Morning Glory (Negus Roots, 1982)
Mikey Dread – World War III (Heartbeat/Dread at the Controls, 1980)
Linton Kwesi Johnson – Dread Beat An’ Blood (Frontline, 1978)
Bob Marley & the Wailers – Kaya (Tuff Gong/Island, 1978)
Third World – 96 Degrees in the Shade (Mango, 1977)
Ijahman – Haile I Hymn (Mango/Jahmani, 1978)
Pablo Gad – Hard Times (Form, 1980)
Steel Pulse – Handsworth Revolution (Island, 1978)
Leroy Brown – Prayer Of Peace (Color Barrier) (Makasound, 1976)
Althea & Donna – Uptown Top Ranking (Frontline/Virgin, 1978)
Peter Broggs – Rastafari Liveth (RAS, 1982)
Winston Jarrett – Wise Man (Tamoki Wambesi, 1979)

Can never have too much Bullwackie's.

Wayne Jarrett – Bubble Up (Showcase Vol. 1) (Wackie’s, 1982)
Love Joys – Lovers Rock (Reggae Style) (Wackie’s, 1982)
Love Joys – Reggae Vibes (Wackie's, 1981)

100% repping for Alton Ellis - Many Moods of https://www.discogs.com/Alton-Ellis-Many-Moods/release/2802422

I mean, look at the album credits:

Backing Vocals – The Heptones, Johnny Clarke
Bass – Boris Gardner*, Leroy Sibbles, Lloyd Parks
Drums – Carlton "Santa" Davis, Sly Dunbar
Guitar – Bingy Bunny, Bo-Peep*
Lead Guitar – Ranchie McLean*, Rick-a-Backa*
Organ – Ansel Collins, Winston Wright
Percussion – Alton Ellis, Bongo Hermann*, Skully*, Sticky*
Tenor Saxophone – Headley Bennett*
Trombone – Vin Gordon
Trumpet – Bobby Ellis

Contributing factors: I bought a sealed copy in DC last year and tonight decided to break the seal. The band sound so good on every track. Reminds me that Arise Black Man is an incredible compilation.

Bit of filler on the second side, so maybe not exactly what i'd put in a top 10 list or anything.

Heh, you're probably thinking about his cover of "Loving You." But yeah, it sounds great.

RIP Bunny Wailer at 73. He had suffered a few strokes in recent years.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Bunny_Wailer_is_dead

Oh man! This is very sad indeed. RIP Bunny

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYPEsP05VJc