Bob Marley - 'Africa Unite: The Singles Collection' (Island) Released 07/11/05

To celebrate what would have been the great man’s 60th year, Island have done what any self-respecting, sales obsessed industry figure would do – cash in and release a greatest hits album. Of course, to differentiate it from previous Marley collections, this has been astutely named ‘The Singles Collection’ and contains all the seminal classics.

Throughout the twenty tracks, dating from 1968’s ‘Soul Rebel’ through to 1984’s poignant ‘One Love’, the man is sheer heart, soul and passion personified. From protest songs and calls to arms, like the rousing ‘Get Up Stand Up’ through to feel good blissed-out reggae gems a la ‘Sun Is Shining’ and ‘Jamming’ this album is almost flawless. Elsewhere we’re even treated to an epic seven minutes plus version of ‘No woman, No Cry’ recorded in 1973, which amazingly sounds even better than the original.

Of course, no contemporary ‘best of’ would be complete without the obligatory remix or two. At the tail end, we get a funky reworking of ‘Africa Unite’ courtesy of will.i.am, and Ashley Beadle (of X-Press 2 fame) gives ‘Get Up Stand Up’ a dubbed-up, bass-y remix – both are decent enough but add nothing to the original. But the most noteworthy inclusion is the previously unheard ‘Slogans’, pieced together from a demo, with none other than Eric Clapton doing the honours on guitars. Very nice and surprisingly true to the spirit of the man.

Listening to ‘Africa Unite…’ it’s a potent reminder of what a genius this man was and if this album turns a new generation on to his brilliant music, that’s surely a damn good thing.