Uncut - "There are plenty of good-to-great tracks here that balance the various threads feeding into Nigerian rock at the time -- early experiments with Merseybeat, the nascent grind and sweep of Fela's Afrobeat, the sensual cathexis of soul -- but it's the turn towards psychedelia and acid rock that gives certain cuts here an almost indefinable `x factor'."

Rovi

There have been several excellent Nigerian rock and psychedelic music compilations issued by fine record labels that have gone to great lengths to assemble tapes and/or rare pressings of exemplary recordings. That said, Now Again's Wake Up You! The Rise and Fall of Nigerian Rock goes a step further: it attempts to tell this music's entire story between 1972 and 1977 in the aftermath of the three-year civil war. The music is contained inside a sleeve placed between the covers of a hardbound book with a narrative essay written by musicologist and researcher Uchenna Ikonne (who assembled Who Is William Onyeabor?). This first of two volumes offers 18 burning cuts released between 1972 and 1977. Well-known acts from the Hykkers and the Funkees to Ify Jerry Krusade, the Strangers, and others are represented -- though the choices are not always obvious and add another layer to the already complex dimensions of the Afro-rock portrait already available. One example is the inclusion of "Stone the Flower," the B-side of the Hykkers' "God Gave His Only Son" single from 1972 -- it's wonderful, but nowhere near the best cut here. Arguably, that honor is split between Ofo the Black Company's "Beautiful Daddy," the B-side of their "Allah Wakbarr" single, and "Graceful Bird" by War-Head Constriction, both frantic psychedelic scorchers with screaming guitars, rumbling basslines, and tom-tom-heavy polyrhythms. For rock guitar freaks, the Apostles' "Never Too Late" from 1976, deeply influenced by Fela Kuti's Afro-beat, is another excellent choice. There are plenty of funky grooves here too, from the Motown inspiration of the Formulars Dance Band's "Never Never Let Me Down" (1973) to the psychedelic soul in the Strangers' Temptations-influenced "Onye Ije" (1972) and the wailing Farfisa and bubbling conga rave-up in "Groove the Funk" by Aktion (1975). There isn't a dud in this bunch, even though the music is all over the rock and funk map. This set's ultimate achievement, however, doesn't only lie in the recordings presented (all of which were officially licensed). Instead, it's in the way they offer a soundtrack to Ikonne's essay, which is exhaustively -- even painstakingly -- researched and vastly illustrated (truly amazing photographs), containing quotes from artists, label heads, managers, etc. It also offers an informed opinion near the end that many -- particularly in the white world -- may find shocking (though it's tough to argue). On the other side, Ikonne's narrative posits another thesis that contradicts some popular Nigerian historical thinking on just how lasting the cultural and artistic import of the period is. If you want to know what they are, buy it. Sure, you pick this set up just for the music and it would be worth it. But when music and visuals are combined, the story is so exhilarating, heartbreaking, and revelatory, it eclipses that intention. Wake Up You! The Rise and Fall of Nigerian Rock is essential for anyone even casually interested in the era of Afro-rock. ~ Thom Jurek

Rovi