Trojan Us
2005
I Am The Upsetter (Box)
About This Album
If you're looking for that one Lee "Scratch" Perry box that does it all, the first thing you need to come to terms with is that there isn't one. Producer/maverick/icon Perry has been involved with too many labels, been in the reggae business since day one, and is the kind of guy who burns down his own studio with the master tapes still inside (the "vampires" were after him, after all), so don't expect the career-spanner anytime soon. Island's three-disc Arkology has been heralded as the best box of Perry since the day it was announced, but there's a good argument to be made that the four-disc I Am the Upsetter is just as worthy and a tad more revelatory. Arkology has the really big hits that came from Perry's Black Ark studio (Junior Murvin's "Police and Thieves," Max Romeo's "War ina Babylon") and overlaps I Am the Upsetter a bit, but Sanctuary's box makes up for it with some jaw-dropping unreleased tracks, a narrative running order that makes total sense, and a beautiful booklet with meaty essays. While Arkology went with the more academic here's-the-vocal-track/here's-the-dub style (a style that always seems to win over the reggae snobs), I Am the Upsetter uses a more exciting chronology.
Track List

Disc 1 (try tracks 1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19 and 20)

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Disc 2 (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,14,15,16,17 and 18)

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Disc 3 (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 and 11)

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Disc 4 (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14 and 15)

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