News 23 Jul 2015

Bob Marley / The Complete Island Recordings / 12LP vinyl boxes

By Paul Sinclair

This September Universal Music will release The Complete Island Recordings, a 12LP vinyl box set that collects a decade’s worth of work by Bob Marley and the Wailers.

This collection contains the nine studio albums (Catch A Fire to Confrontation) recorded for Island Records and two live releases (including the 2LP Babylon By Bus) all pressed on 180g vinyl. The records come packaged in a ‘Zippo’ lighter style rigid card box with lift-top lid, and wrapped in silver paper that simulates the brushed metal finish of a hinged lighter.

In fact, there are TWO versions of this box; the standard one described above and a ‘Collector’s Edition’ which looks similar, but is actually a metal box, numbered and lined with velvet. This version also comes with a 70th anniversary slip mat and two photos.

We are promised artwork that faithfully replicates the original pressings. This means you’ll get the poster with 1975’s Live!, the original gold metallic jacket with embossed lettering from 1977’s Exodus and the die-cut cover for Babylon By Bus.

Both boxes come with ‘Back to Black’ MP3 codes and in terms of mastering, the label have stated that “all vinyl will be cut from new 24bit/96k sources”, so that’s obviously a digital source.

All the albums are being released separately on LP on the same day as the box sets, so you have plenty of buying options. Take a deep breath, because you pay an enormous premium for opting the metal box, which is retailing for a cool £448 on Amazon UK. That’s around £300 more than the standard edition! Amazon US have currently priced these boxes the wrong way around, with the ‘Collector’s Edition‘ much cheaper than the standard – this will undoubtedly be corrected soon.

The Complete Island Recordings box will be released on 25 September 2015.

Complete Album Recordings (Rigid card box)

Complete Album Recordings Collector’s Edition (METAL box, slip mat + photos)

Track listing

Albums in the box: – Catch A Fire, Burnin’, Natty Dread, Live!, Rastaman Vibration, Exodus, Babylon By Bus, Kaya, Survival, Uprising, Confrontation

Catch A Fire
Side A
1. Concrete Jungle
2. Slave Driver
3. 400 Years
4. Stop That Train
5. Baby We’ve Got A Date (Rock It Baby)

Side B
1. Stir It Up
2. Kinky Reggae
3. No More Trouble
4. Midnight Ravers

Burnin’
Side A
1. Get Up, Stand Up
2. Hallelujah Time
3. I Shot The Sheriff
4. Burnin’ And Lootin’
5. Put It On

Side B
1. Small Axe
2. Pass It On
3. Duppy Conqueror
4. One Foundation
5. Rastaman Chant

Natty Dread
Side A
1. Lively Up Yourself
2. No Woman No Cry
3. Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)
4. Rebel Music (3 O’Clock Roadblock)

Side B
1. So Jah S’eh
2. Natty Dread
3. Bend Down Low
4. Talkin’ Blues
5. Revolution

Live!
Side A
1. Trenchtown Rock – Live At The Lyceum, London/1975
2. Burnin’ And Lootin’ – Live At The Lyceum, London/1975
3. Them Belly Full (But We Hungry) – Live At The Lyceum, London/1975
4. Lively Up Yourself – Live At The Lyceum, London/1975

Side B
1. No Woman, No Cry – Live At The Lyceum, London/1975
2. I Shot The Sheriff – Live At The Lyceum, London/1975
3. Get Up, Stand Up – Live At The Lyceum, London/1975

Rastaman Vibration
Side A
1. Positive Vibration
2. Roots, Rock, Reggae
3. Johnny Was
4. Cry To Me
5. Want More

Side B
1. Crazy Baldhead
2. Who The Cap Fit
3. Night Shift
4. War – Album Version
5. Rat Race

Exodus
Side A
1. Natural Mystic
2. So Much Things To Say
3. Guiltiness
4. The Heathen
5. Exodus – Album Version

Side B
1. Jamming
2. Waiting In Vain
3. Turn Your Lights Down Low
4. Three Little Birds
5. One Love/People Get Ready

Babylon By Bus
Side A
1. Positive Vibration – Live At The Pavillion De Paris/1977
2. Punky Reggae Party – Live At The Pavillion De Paris/1977
3. Exodus – Live At The Pavillion De Paris/1977

Side B
1. Stir It Up – Live At The Pavillion De Paris/1977
2. Rat Race – Live At The Pavillion De Paris/1977
3. Concrete Jungle – Live At The Pavillion De Paris/1977
4. Kinky Reggae – Live At The Pavillion De Paris/1977

Side C
1. Lively Up Yourself – Live At The Pavillion De Paris/1977
2. Rebel Music – (3 O’Clock Roadblock) – Live At The Pavillion De Paris/1977
3. Medley: War/No More Trouble – Live At The Pavillion De Paris/1977

Side D
1. Is This Love – Live At The Pavillion De Paris/1977
2. Heathen – Live At The Pavillion De Paris/1977
3. Jammin’ – Live At The Pavillion De Paris/1977

Kaya
Side A
1. Easy Skanking
2. Kaya
3. Is This Love
4. Sun Is Shining
5. Satisfy My Soul

Side B
1. She’s Gone
2. Misty Morning
3. Crisis
4. Running Away
5. Time Will Tell

Survival
Side A
1. So Much Trouble In The World
2. Zimbabwe
3. Top Rankin’
4. Babylon System
5. Survival

Side B
1. Africa Unite
2. One Drop
3. Ride Natty Ride
4. Ambush In The Night
5. Wake Up And Live

Uprising
Side A
1. Coming In From The Cold
2. Real Situation
3. Bad Card
4. We And Dem
5. Work

Side B
1. Zion Train
2. Pimper’s Paradise
3. Could You Be Loved
4. Forever Loving Jah
5. Redemption Song

Confrontation
Side A
1. Chant Down Babylon
2. Buffalo Soldier
3. Jump Nyabinghi
4. Mix Up, Mix Up
5. Give Thanks & Praises

Side B
1. Blackman Redemption
2. Trench Town
3. Stiff Necked Fools
4. I Know
5. Rastaman Live Up

Complete Album Recordings (Rigid card box)

Complete Album Recordings Collector’s Edition (METAL box, slip mat + photos)

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