Sly and Robbie, along with featured collaboratorDean Fraser, are all ,deserving of the title "Dub Revolutionaries," but the album they produced together does not live up to the creative risks they have all taken in the past.
Sly and Robbie have been one of the most influential studio duos since 1975, and have collaborated with just about every successful Jamaican musician of the past thirty years. Dean Fraser a.k.a Mad Professor, is the prot??g?? of the famous Lee "Scratch" Perry and, as a producer, has always pushed the limits of studio technology whether producing a hit single or working on an original Dub (instrumental remix of a reggae track highlighting the creativity of the producer and dj) or Remix project.
Three influential Dub masters together seems like an intense combination, but the album does not do much that is "Revolutionary" -- the melodies often border on cheesy, as does the tone of the saxophone on many of the tracks, and there aren't many creative risks taken in the production -- the same sort of echo, reverb and delay is present and used in similar ways that Dub is already known for. What they do well on the album is reach back to the roots of "70s "rockers" Dub and capture some of the essential elements of writing and playing in a six piece Dub band, such as integrating repetition of the rhythmic phrases and highlighting improvised solo sections with production effects. Overall this is a solid dub album and a good listen, but it may not be as exciting as some dub fans would expect.
