Heart Of The Congos

I discovered this album when Blood & Fire released it on CD in 96 and it completely blew my mind. There's absolutely nothing else like it, and is easily my top deserted island album.This particular 3xLP reissue is by far the only option if you're looking for the best pressing on vinyl, unless you can find an original sealed B&F. I personally prefer this release since it includes "Don't Blame It On I" which wasn't on the B&F version.

In my opinion the best reggae album I have ever heard. From the first listen of the original vinyl I was hooked. I played it over and over again for days. It was all I wanted to hear. The vibe of this album is just fantastic! Totally up. My personal favs are "Fisherman", "Children Crying", "La La Bam-Bam", "Ark Of The Covenant" and of course the otherworldy, transcendant power of "Open Up The Gate". Now, initially I was a bit put off by the sub-par sound quality of the original release vinyl. The opening track, "Fisherman" has very noticable drop-outs and the album as a whole has various problems with eq and tape hiss. I attempted remastering the album myself a few times but I was never quite happy with the results. The dropouts in "Fisherman" especially bothered me. Luckily, the album was professionaly remastered and re-released on cd as the "Blood & Fire" edition. Included in this edition is a thick booklet which has a detailed explaination of the limitations of the original master tapes (which were quarter inch, recorded on a Teac 4-track!). Apparently the tapes were not very well preserved. Although the mastering engineers used all the latest technology to try to eliminate tape hiss and drop-outs, in the end they still couldn't make it perfect. Most of the tape hiss was generated by Lee "Scratch" Perry's practice of bouncing tracks (mixing multiple instruments together on one track to free up the other tracks; a necessity if you are recording on a 4-track machine) and they opted to allow some tape hiss in order to preserve the original fidelity of the recording. They also claim that they couldn't do anything about the dropouts in "Fisherman" but from my estimation they cleaned them up rather well. The dropouts of hardly noticable at all on the remastered cd. The frequency spectrum has a much better balance as well. I highly recommend the remastered Blood & Fire edition! The versions of most of the songs are longer and it includes some songs not featured on the original release, plus a bonus disc of 12" remixes and b-sides. Although the sound quality isn't perfect, (compared to other Jamaican reggae recordings from this era, or earlier; like Bob Marley's original tracks for "Catch A Fire" or Mighty Diamonds "Right Time") the inventiveness of the Lee "Scratch" Perry's production style and the songwriting and performances are all incredible. Also knowing that the remastered version is as good as it can get makes it easier to accept the slight flaws in production and/or engineering. All in all it's hard to say exactly what it is that makes this album so enjoyable. It's as if everything just came together; the songs, the music, the vocals, the effects, the vibe...a perfect moment in time. In my opinion, you would be very hard pressed to find a better reggae album than this. It is sheer bliss!

Along with Bunny Wailer's Blackheart Man and Culture's Two Sevens Clash, The Heart of the Congos represents one of the monumental summits of reggae music.This is 70s reggae at its most complex, haunting and deeply heavy best. Ethereal falsetto harmonies, chanting background vocals from a chorus including Gregory Isaacs, guitar by Ernest Ranglin all amount to the perfect primer to both the glory days of Jamaican roots music and the peculiar genius of producer Lee "Scratch" Perry. Perry drew up the blueprint for dub reggae in the cauldron of his legendary Black Ark studio. This album is considered to be the masterpiece of Perry's Black Ark years.As good as this is, it must be said that the one-CD version currently sold by VP records is highly inferior to the remastered two-cd, now out of print, Blood and Fire version. Seek out the Blood and Fire version due to the expanded number of tracks it contains, including gems such as "Solid Foundation" and "At the Feast" as well as the vastly better sound quality. I am far from an audiophile, but the VP version sounds muddy whereas the Blood and Fire version sounds crisp and clean -- the instruments distinct.If it becomes impossible to find the Blood and Fire version used, the VP version may suffice, but it would be a shame to see such a shining work not presented in its full luster.

I Don't Have any more to add to the above reviews, this is one of those all-time classic Reggae albums made at Lee Perry's Black Ark studio in the 70's.... pure and simple.Unfortunately i was a little let down by this particular version of the album, the mastering could be a lot better, and i have heard better versions on CD/download that have much better clarity... a small gripe but something to consider before buying this issue of the classic album.I have since read that the definitive version is the Blood & Fire re-issue (BAF 9)Its re-mastered and has added bonus tracks... kicking myself for not getting that instead.But as classic Reggae albums go, this is one of the best. Give thanks and praises for The Congos.Keep on rowing to the higher ground!

If you collected the best cuts from all of Bob Marley's records, this one would still top it. Why? First of all, the production by Lee 'Scratch' Perry, is sheer genius even though it was recorded on a Teac 4-track machine as late as 1976! You feel like you're getting pulled into a cave by the mixture of spacy ambience and monstrously deep bass and drums. Second, the vocals by Cedric Myton and Roydel Johnson are beyond genius, they're magical, like a combination of Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye floating in outer space. Third, there's a defenite all encompassing good humor or 'postive vibration' underlying things even when the lyrics are quite serious. It doesn't try to drive its point home with a hammer but rather convinces all the more effectively with the unrelenting beauty of the music. I repeat, you cannot do better than this record if you like Reggae and Soul music.

A must-have if you are into reggae. This is a classic album and features all of the trademark studio trickery from Lee Perry's Black Ark era.The audio quality is good--despite the typical jamaican pressing flaws of 'dimples' on the record. I don't know what causes them but a lot of my Jamaican albums have them. But, as I said, it seems to play just fine.

this album is truly outstanding, but please note that at least 2 of the reviewers are commenting on the Blood and Fire reissue which is vastly superior soundwise and a work of art in itself in terms of the booklet and packaging, and with (for a change) equally good extra tracks. If its Blood & Fire its 5 stars. Bring the mackaback.

Very good

Still the best Congos album. A classic!!!

Great to hear this on Vinyl

Great album brilliant production buy it.