Toots and The Maytals Album: “Funky Kingston/In the Dark”

Toots is like a Jamaican Marvin Gaye and James Brown rolled into one. His voice is so real and every note is sung like his life depends on it. How you can listen to this album and not want to shake your a** is beyond me. It is virtually impossible to be sad and listen to this album at the same time. Always an uplifting experience even when he's singing about being broke or being in jail.

Toots & The Maytals make melodic reggae with beautiful vocal harmonies. Funky Kingston explores the rougher edge of the band in classic tracks like the gripping Pomp and Pride and the hypnotic Louie Louie. There's a joyous party atmosphere in the rousing choruses and the swaying beats. Daddy is a jazzy, bluesy song and doesn't sound like reggae at all, while the title track is a tour de force of funky reggae. Toots vocalises a lot throughout, whith "la la's" and "da da's" to take the groove beyond words. Rough and rootsy, this album ranks among this legendary band's finest moments.

In The Dark has a spiritual undertone and lots of soul. My favorites here include Got To Be There, the title track, Time Tough, the John Denver song Take Me Home Country Roads, 54-36 and Fever. A very accomplished set that demonstrates the band's versatility and their musical prowess that earned them an almost mythical status in Jamaica. Reggae comes in many forms - whereas there is a strong rock influence in the music of Marley and Tosh, for example, the music of the Maytals is a seamless blend of reggae and soul. Listen and enjoy.

The other reviewer is right. This issue is very bad in it's sound quality.

I love to see a clean and true copy of the two LPs.

Even one cd for one LP is OK too.

Would still be worth the buying price.

I picked this album up on a whim. I am a bit of a music geek and, having heard my other music geek friends sing the praises of this collection, I decided to pick it up. I am so glad that I did, as it has since become one of my favorite albums of all time; certainly a top-10. Toots is to reggae what Otis Redding is to soul music: tough, weathered, and deeply soulful, with a voice to match. When he howls, "It is you... oh yeah!!!!" on "Pressure Drop", you feel it in your soul. Likewise, when he pulls you closer with "Everybody don't cry... today might be a happy day!" (on my favorite song: "Pomp & Pride") you believe him. Because you can hear in his voice the hopefulness of a man who has been through hell and knows that there are better things ahead -- because there have to be.

Covers -- of "Take Me Home Country Road" and "Louie Louie" -- are equally revelatory. This is reggae music for those of you, like me, who love the music, but are so sick of Bob Marley that you think you can't stand to listen to another not from the islands. You are wrong. You won't be able to live without some island music after hearing Toots.

It's deep soul. And you need this.

This is a great roots reggae style two-for-one album from one of the top 5 reggae acts of all time: Toots & the Maytals. If you like the original Wailers, Burning Spear, Steel Pulse, etc. then you should go ahead a buy this because you won't be disappointed. Best songs are "Pressure Drop," "Time Tough," "Pomp and Pride" (my favorite Toots song), "Redemption Song" (completely different version than Bob Marley's), "Funky Kingston," and gosh there are too many to name. I'm listening to it right now and its beautiful. Get it!