Bob Marley: Survival [ISLAND]

Why you'll love it

This 180g remaster was mastered at Sterling Sound and comes with a printed inner sleeve of lyrics and credits. Survival carries some of Marley's most rousing songs, and "Zimbabwe" was performed at that country's independence celebration in 1980.

This edition

• 180g vinyl
• Remastered
• Mastered at Sterling Sound
• Printed lyric inner sleeve
• Pressed in the Netherlands

About the album

Take a look at the cover before the needle drops: 48 African flags and one from Papua New Guinea, set out like a roll call. Bob Marley originally wanted to call the album Black Survival to underline the call for African unity, then shortened it so nobody could mistake the message.

Recorded and mixed at Tuff Gong in Kingston with Alex Sadkin co-producing, Survival is one of the Wailers' toughest, most focused records. "So Much Trouble In The World" opens with a steady, rolling groove, "Zimbabwe" is an anthem written for a nation about to be born, and "Top Rankin'" and "Babylon System" keep the pressure on. Side B starts with "Africa Unite," a pan-African rallying cry, then the bubbling "One Drop," "Ride Natty Ride" and "Ambush In The Night" before "Wake Up And Live" closes with a horn-driven call to get moving. The I Threes, the Barrett brothers' rhythm section and a deep horn line-up give it a full, rich sound.

It's the record where Marley's message and his band's power line up perfectly. Forty-nine flags on one sleeve also makes it the most diplomatic object in our reggae section, by some distance.

Also at Kops: more Bob Marley on vinyl · browse Reggae & Caribbean

Tracklist

Listen

On Island / Tuff Gong, a reissue of the 1979 album.