I suppose I, being one of the boards biggest fan's of dub should chime in here. I have this cd, among about 20 to 30 other dub classics, and in my preference, it probably would not rank in the top 5. It's decent, for sure, and it was influential, sure. But there were others that followed who took the idea of dub to higher levels, in my opinion. KING TUBBY's is a fun record, no doubt. It has scads of Jamaican charm and spirit. But a mind-blowing dub freakout, it isn't, especially compared to records that came later by Lee Perry, Scientist, Aswad, Sly & Robbie, and the whole On-U-Sound gang, Dub Syndicate, Creation Rebel and Adrian Sherwood.

But to add one other item...

One band that has not been mentioned in this discussion (unless I missed it), is the Clash. LONDON CALLING tops almost every list of influential and great rock records. Just about all their records are considered classic. Without Jamaican Reggae and Dub, there WOULD HAVE BEEN NO LONDON CALLING (at least, not in the form that we know it, I'm sure it would have been a lot less interesting).


So, in my view, this record belongs on that list, as it represents ALL great dub records, and well, to me, dub is at least 1/50th of the story of modern rock music, if for nothing more than it's influence on The Clash (and other punk bands from Bad Brains to Stiff Little Fingers), as well as electronica, techno, hip-hop, trip-hop, jungle, IDM and other musics that millions of people all over the world enjoy today..

There.

-jar