Megalith / Jump Up
1994
Dub 56 - 2006
About This Album
It had been a roller coaster ride for The Toasters, slogging up the ladder of success only to have their label go down, prompting three of their members to quit, and leaving the band floundering. Picking themselves up, the remaining group brought in new recruits, found a new label, Pork Pie, and new determination with bandleader Bucket setting out to turn Moon Ska into America's premier ska label. The pay-off finally came in 1993. By then, the ska scene was on the verge of breaking into the mainstream, and excitement electrified the air. No album captured the sheer exuberance of this time like Dub 56. The entire set is a rambunctious celebration of ska and, from the opening note to the closing refrain 14 tracks later, the listener is drawn into a party that just doesn't want to end. Although recorded in the studio, the band play like they're standing in front of an ecstatic hometown crowd, and eager to deliver up a set worthy of that adoration. "Direction" jubilantly sets the stage with anthemic abandon, "Mona" kicks it up a few more notches, its irrepressible melody and swing styling pulling even the wall flowers onto the dancefloor. And then up steps Skatalite Lester Sterling to send everyone into a slow-grinding "Dancin'" frenzy.
Track List

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

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

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