Bob Marley and the Wailers

Since the death of Bob Marley, May 11, 1981, literally hundreds of albums have appeared that were comprised entirely of the pre-Island Records Wailers recordings. The majority of these albums have the wrong song titles, no information and give no credit to any songwriters or even any musicians besides Marley. Lively Up Yourself is no exception. This disc, however, surpasses the other imitation Marley albums in sheer volume and quality of songs. With 24 tracks, including early versions of "Kaya," "Satisfy My Soul" and "400 Years," this CD provides an accurate picture of the early sound of the Wailers. Lead vocal contributions by Peter Tosh are also represented on Lively Up Yourself to a much greater degree than on most of the cheap imitations. Despite the quality and dubious authenticity of Lively Up Yourself, the songs on this CD rivals some of the officially sanctioned "classic" Wailers albums. Although I would recommend this album to Marley fans young and old, my advice is to stay away from the unlicensed Wailers material entirely. Lively Up Yourself will probably be indistinguishable from its countless clones, and you'll be stuck with an inferior product.