Tougher Than Tough: The Story Of... [Box]

Rolling Stone (5/13/99, p.52) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's." Rolling Stone (12/23/93, p.148) - 5 Stars - Classic _ "...On the face of it, condensing the whole of reggae history into a four-CD set would seem an impossible task, and yet this set does it...it traces Jamaican music from blue beat, ska and rock steady to the dance-hall hits of Shabba Ranks and Buju Banton...." Spin (2/94, p.71) - "...Jamaica has the highest per capita rate of musical output in the world. Inevitably, as massive as it is is, [TOUGHER THAN TOUGH] could only scratch the surface. Which it does quite superbly...." Vibe (12/93-1/94, p.149-150) - "...Don't try to make sense of [TOUGHER THAN TOUGH]--just cool out and enjoy the sounds..." Village Voice (3/1/94, p.5) - Ranked #6 in the Village Voice's list of the 10 Best Reissues Of 1993. Melody Maker (11/6/93, p.30) - "...a truly mighty diamond....an impressive legacy for an island with a population of only around three million...." Entertainment Weekly (12/3/93, p. 74) - "...this instantly essential set touches on all the major movements, from effervescent ska, through darker rock-steady, classic reggae, spacey dub, silken `lover's rock,' and into the pinball machine of modern dancehall..." - Rating: A

If a story of a music as expansive as Jamaica's can be told over four CDs, then TOUGHER THAN TOUGH is as close as you'll ever likely get. Bookended by the unrefined charm of the Folkes Brothers' 1960 "Oh Carolina" and Shaggy's 1993 dancehall adaptation of the same tune, this collection attempts to chart the music's diversity and development through ska, rock-steady, reggae, and dub, to dancehall and ragga.
If there's one strand under-represented here, it's dub (in particular King Tubby), and the selection of Lee Perry's productions for Max Romeo and Junior Murvin only hints at the enormity of its influence. Then again, with 95 tracks chronologically capturing Prince Buster, the Skatalites, Desmond Dekker, international successes of Bob and Marcia, Ken Boothe and Bob Marley, and rootsier offerings by I Roy, Barrington Levy, and Jacob Miller, it's difficult to argue with the sheer breath of this collection.|