20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Steel Pulse

Steel Pulse is perhaps the greatest reggae band from England. Their smooth, heavy rhythms, melodic tunes, and wonderfully full and tight vocal harmonies made everything they recorded a treat to hear. Add to that David Hinds' powerful lead vocals and their deeply political lyrics, and you have enough to make a case for them being right up there at the top among homegrown bands in Jamaica, too. There have been many collections of the group's work, and while 20th Century Masters - Millennium Collection: The Best of Steel Pulse isn't the most comprehensive study of the band's career it does a fine job of recapping the highlights. The disc contains three songs from their first three albums on Mango/Island: 1978's landmark Handsworth Revolution, 1979's Tribute to the Martyrs, and 1980's Reggae Fever. The songs are well chosen giving a sample of the band's political side ("Handsworth Revolution," "Ku Klux Klan," and "Drug Squad") and their poppier side ("Sound System" and the booming "Reggae Fever"). The collection continues with a song from their excellent True Democracy record cut for Elektra in 1981 ("Ravers"), then jumps to the band's late-'80s/early-'90s work for MCA for two songs: "State of Emergency" and "Taxi Driver." It also picks up the song they recorded for the soundtrack to Do the Right Thing in 1989, "Can't Stand It." These songs are a bit jarring, as they have almost nothing in common with the band's early roots sound, instead being pop-reggae replete with banks of synths and programmed drums. Still, the songs are catchy and Hinds is as great as ever. Despite glossing over the band's stay at Elektra, this disc does serve as a pretty solid intro to Steel Pulse.