Peter Tosh's most "accessible" solo album,
Mama Africa would also be his best seller outside Jamaica, the only one of his albums to break into the U.K. Top 50 and even push into the bottom reaches of the U.S. chart. Toning down the rhetoric,
Tosh concentrated on the music, self-producing an album that sounds fantastic from start to finish. Of course, he had help from a boatload of friends, with two separate aggregates of musicians providing backing;
Carlton "Santa" Davis and
Lebert "Gibby" Morrison fuel one grouping across most of the album, with
Sly & Robbie firing the other. There's a fabulous horn section, a clutch of superb backing singers (including
the Tamlins, who accompany
Tosh on three songs), and some superb guitar work from
Donald Kinsey. The album itself revisits the past while also looking to the future. The updated songs are particularly creative, with
the Wailers'
"Stop That Train" totally revitalized through an incredible mix of styles, brilliantly blending
R&B, nods to
Motown, a faux slide guitar, and a steady
reggae beat. Even more astonishing is
Tosh's stunning take on
"Johnny B. Goode," a U.K. Top 50 hit that boasts an intricate rhythm, brass accents, sumptuous keyboards, and
Kinsey's soaring guitar on a song that builds and builds into an absolute crescendo of sound. There's also a fine revisit of
"Maga Dog," one of
Tosh's nastier songs. But that has little on
"Peace Treaty," whose laid-back beat and chirpy melody can't hide
Tosh's gloating. Yes, listeners remember his admonition that peace will only be found in the grave, and the cease-fire declared by the gangs would never last. But as gunfire echoes across the track, should the treaty's collapse really be the cause for celebration? To judge by
Tosh's triumphant I told you so, apparently it is. On a more positive note is the
urban meets Kingston sound of
"Not Gonna Give It Up," boasting
the Tamlins at their best, and more great guitar licks. The title track is even more infectious, a rocker with a Caribbean flair and a light
Afro-beat, as
Tosh muses eloquently about his beloved continent. Every track on the album is just as memorable in its own way, as the artist combines styles, genres, moods, and atmospheres across songs old and new. Not
Tosh at his most revolutionary, but an album filled with music that remains unforgettable. ~ Jo-Ann Greene