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 enlarge | Artist: Bob Marley & The Wailers
Label: Island
Category: Music
List Price: $13.98
Buy New: $6.90
You Save: $7.08 (51%)
New (35) Used (18) from $6.90
Rating:  32 reviews
Sales Rank: 9332
Format: Extra Tracks, Original Recording Reissued, Original Recording Remastered
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4
MPN: 548893
UPC: 731454889322
EAN: 0731454889322
ASIN: B00005KB9T
Release Date: June 12, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 32
Marley on "Fire." June 6, 2003
The Groove (Boston, MA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
"Catch a Fire" may not be the first album by Bob Marley and the Wailers, but it did help put the band (and, by extension, reggae music) on the map with mainstream listeners. As with virtually all Marley albums, this 1973 CD stands tall on the merits of its tight melodies, solid instrumentation, and the often politically charged lyrics on cuts like the impassioned "Slave Driver," "400 Years" (a Peter Tosh original), and "No More Trouble," a tough jam that can be interpreted as a pro-peace/anti-war anthem. But for me, the album's high point is the catchy "Stir it Up," one of his most familiar tunes that captures the essence of a classic reggae song. Some complain that it's a bit long-winded at over 5 minutes, but for me, the groove is just fine as it is. This reissue has two bonus songs that really aren't bonus songs at all: "High Tide or Low Tide" and "All Day All Night." They were actually available on the early version of "Catch a Fire" but were later deleted from future pressings. It's good to have them back so the listener can absorb the album as it was originally released. I wouldn't exactly recommend this album as a first Bob Marley purchase, but it's still an essential recording and a definite classic that definitely shouldn't be overlooked.
great debut album February 21, 2005
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
When the Wailers were signed to island records in 1972, this marked the beginning of reggae to an international audience. The Wailers were already famous throughout the Carribbean, but worldwide they were nobody's. Catch a Fire changed all that. This was packaged as a rock album and the original album sleeve was actually a zippo lighter and when you opened the lighter the record would come out. This artwork is not original. The sound tapes were actually overdubbed with rock giutars and other instruments to make this album appeal to an American and English audience. To hear the original versions, check out Catch a Fire Deluxe Edition which has the original Jamaican versions, and the versions heard here. This is still a great recording, but the Deluxe Edition has the original Jamaican versions which are a real treat.
feel the heat April 17, 2006
uprising81 (louisville, ky)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
one ting immediately comes to mind when i listen to this disc... and that is, tight rythmn section. Aston and carlton barrett produced the heaviest, tightest rythmn section the planet has seen to date. I don't know if this album was originally released in the summer, but the beats have a lot of heat coming off them. I can only picture listening to "stir it up" and "midnight ravers" on a hot, sultry summer night. "Slave driver" is my favorite wailers song, period. That song takes one on a painful journey over the unprecendented, melodic, soulful chorus of tosh, bunny and marley. The harmonies on "concrete jungle" interspersed with marley's lead are beautiful...and even though i wasn't old enough to understand that music lost wonderful possibility when tosh and bunny left, after listening to this disc i lament the fact these guys couldn't stay together. i really don't like tosh's lead vocals as much as marley, but the harmonies on "400 years" and "stop that train" make these songs almost as powerful as the ones where marley takes the lead.
This disc is a good combination of political, biblical, romantic and sexual songs. Marley's later albums had many more conspicuous political tracks on them. This album, lyrically speaking, is like a combination of "kaya" and "rastaman vibration." There are heavy political statements like "no more troubles" and then there are songs about everyday things like "kinky reggae." I really like the lyrics on the first four tracks, because they aren't as hit-you-over-the-head as "no more troubles," ironically making their messages come across stronger. These four tracks remind me of the harlem renaissance writers, who allowed readers to transcend white u.s. culture and feel the obsurdity of the contradictions in the system ("it's only a machine that make money").
I'd have to say the two tracks added to this remaster are my favorite, except for "am-a-do", out of all the others added to the other remastered wailers albums. Once again, these melodic, expressive vocals of tosh, bunny and marley make these songs heavenly. A beautiful disc.
Incredible CD October 11, 2003
R. Baker (Madison, WI)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I want to let people know that another reviewer said that the two bonus songs on this CD are not on the Deluxe Edition of Catch a Fire but they are. THAT IS, EVERYTHING ON HERE IS ON THE DELUXE EDITION. I know because I bought them both. I prefer the Deluxe Edition because it has some excellent "Jamaican" versions of the songs but this CD is great, too. Either way you can't lose.
Catch A Fire is one HOT cd February 26, 2006
RockSteady (Atlanta, GA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Get this cd if -:
a) you appreciate Bob
b) you appreciate raw guitar sound
c) you know where the volume button is
d) all the above applies
I run into this cd as a fluke. I was browsing thru guitar music, and this cd talked about the early Bob Marley music and the extended version of Stir it up, Concrete Jungle guitar section. Given that I have 10 cd's of Bob, I decided to give this one a go, since I can never seem to have enough of Bob. I am not a rasta, or a ganja smoker...I just happen to have grown up around uncles who listened to Bob, and as it came to be, I appreciate his works.
Long story short, I put this cd in my car stereo, and boy does it stir some raw emotions. The kicker was I took my wife on a date and just when she got into the car, I tuned the cd to "Baby we've got a date", and she was hooked!! I also use this cd to make her feel good with my attempt to sing along the "High Tide or Low Tide" song.
In summary, this is the best $16 I have spent on a cd in a long, long, loooooonnnnnnnggggg! time.
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