DS2jpg

May 2000

>>> Home | News | Albums | Books | Labels | Links | Rarities | Shop <<<

PRESENTING THE GLADIATORS2
The Gladiators (2000)

Studio One
matrix: SOL 1133

Hello Carol; Rainy Night In Georgia; Jah Almighty; Love And Meditation; On The Other Side // My Thoughts; Downtown Rebel; Stop This Fussing; My Thoughts; Downtown Rebel; Re-Arrange

Hot off the press comes this vinyl reissue of the Gladiators superlative one and only LP for Studio One. And this time around the sound quality is noticeably improved, with the bass to the fore and a clearer definition to the vocals (I had never realised before that there is an organ in the mix...). We also get a bonus track with the previously-only-released-on-single Re-Arrange. So, is this the definitive reissue of the Gladiators' album that some of us have been waiting for for the past twenty years?

Well, maybe not quite. Although this is an admirable remix - audibly stereo rather than muddily mono - in true Coxsone style there are one or two slight anomalies. My Thoughts and Downtown/Uptown Rebel are repeated on side 2, with the consequence that we lose Jah Jah Go Before Us and Easy Squeeze. And surely the sleeve is only a second generation photocopy of the original black & white cover.

But, in the final analysis I'm glad that I've got this album. It's good to hear the Gladiators in something approaching real stereo. Certainly one for the collectors, but anyone buying this and hearing the Gladiators for the first time will not be disappointed.

>>> Home | News | Albums | Books | Labels | Links | Rarities | Shop <<<