Deep Ska

1. They are not all ska tracks. 5 of them are Rock Steady, 4 are Early Reggae, 3 are UK Reggae (by the Pyramids) and 5 sounds very modern, from the 80's or newer. This could have been acceptable if they were sequenced in an intelligent manner. They are not.

2. The mastering is poor. I have several of these songs on better compilations and by comparison these sounds harsh, like they have tried to increase the treble too much.

3. Many songs are not so great. Half of the songs are instrumentals, mostly by the Skatalities under other names (like Tommy McCoook, Roland Alphonso or Don Drummond). These songs are not the best of The Skatalites, more like the worst of. A few exceptions of course, classics like Silver Dollar, Eastern Standard Time are included. But if you like The Skatalites there are compilations with better songs and better sound quality. 'Foundation Ska' on Heartbeat and 'Guns of Navarone: The Best of' on Trojan comes highly recommended.

4. Proper seems to be a shady record label with a business concept that means they are trying to circumvent the copyright laws. They claim they have "licenced" these tracks from Enzo Hamilton, and he's often accused of being a notorious bootlegger of reggae music.

5. There would be room for all the songs on only 3CD's.

A good place to start your ska collection would instead be this: Rough & Tough - The Story of Ska (2CD's, Trojan). Good songs, good sound, and it's rather inexpensive too!


Plan and Simple - Great 60s Ska at an incredible price.   May 2, 2003
robb0117 (Seattle, WA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

Fan of third wave ska? Looking to explore ska's original roots? This is the perfect set to buy. Extensive, plentiful, Skatalite heavy and dirt cheap. This will open the doors to the wonderful world of 60s ska. You might even be surprised at how many songs you recognize considering how often third wave ska bands covered the originals. One thing, don't expect super high quality. Not that this set is 'poor.' It's that these songs were all originally produced on subpar recording equipment. Enjoy!


An absolute steal   July 20, 2001
W. A. Norris (Laramie, WY United States)
14 out of 15 found this review helpful

If you want to hear an incredible amount of first-rate Jamaican ska at an incredibly reasonable price, this is the set for you.

This collection is grounded in a lot of first-rate work by the Skatalites, including a lots of songs listed under Tommy McCook, Don Drummond, and other individual members of the band. There's also an excellent sampling of early Toots and the Maytals as well, including the classics "Monkey Man" and "54-46 Was My Number", and John Holt's original version of "The Tide Is High", which was later a big hit for Blondie, of course) is also here. In addition, there are literally dozens of outstanding songs from bands I'd simply never heard of, including Blue Rivers & the Maroons doing the ska classic "Guns of Navarone" and Nora Dean doing "Oh Mama."

There's only one song by Desmond Dekker, one by Laurel Aitken, and none by Prince Buster, so this is by no means the last word in Jamaican Ska. However, there are CDs in print from each of these artists. A lot of the songs on this collection, you simply can't find anywhere else.

As box sets go, the packaging is pretty ordinary--just jewel cases in a box with liner notes. As far as I can tell, this is the only sacrifice you make buying this set. There is an excellent essay filling the 20-plus page liner notes, but unfortunately, no details on the recording, though this could well be because this information simply doesn't exist. Still, it would have been nice to know who played on what recordings, since the lineups seem to vary so much. The sound quality is very good in most cases, though none of this music was recorded under pristine conditions, so don't expect audiophile recordings. A few songs seem to show the limitations of the source material.

Though the price on this set is terrific, this would still be a first-rate collection at twice the price. Highly recommended to anyone interested in Jamaican ska, whether it's your first CD in the genre, or you have a substantial collection.


A great bargain   June 19, 2001
3 out of 5 found this review helpful

This box set holds 80 tracks of Jamaican music from the 1960s. A detailed booklet describes the history of the style and the musicians. The music is relaxed, charming, great fun to listen to. If you've never heard Ska, get this set and try it. The price is a bargain.