Having watched the Live Show myself Live in Cape Town South Africa, This CD not only brings back the unique experience of that unforgettable night, but appeals to all reggae lovers and followers of Culture specifically. Joseph Hill defies his age by giving a vibrant and inspired performance so relevant to the songs he sings about. "Jah Jah see dem a come", "Addis Abbaba" and "International Herb" are delivered in such hyped up versions that you can only imagine what the set was like. A must have for Joseph Hill and Culture fans.

 - Brian F. Venge from East London, Eastern Cape South Africa

Culture began as one of the best reggae harmony trios of the seventies, peaking early with the archetypal "Two Sevens Clash" album. Though the band has never quite matched the apocalyptic power of that first release, it has been making consistently fine reggae in a strict roots style ever since, and this latest effort, is one of the best.

It's always been Culture's unique ability to deliver serious, even ponderous, roots reggae that is, nevertheless, completely modern in sound. Joseph Hill sings in a reedy, declamatory style that manages never to sacrifice melody for message. Culture has been Hill's band from day one. But now more than ever it is his voice and his vision that give the music its weight and direction, while the two other vocalists (only one of whom, Albert Walker, remains from the band's early days) have retreated farther and farther into the background, stepping up to the mic only sporadically to provide rather half-hearted vocal harmony. As on all of their previous efforts, though, the singers are supported by bottomless grooves (provided this time by a band called Dub Mystic). On ONE STONE Joseph Hill again proves that he's not only a gifted singer and songwriter, but one of the better reggae producers around as well.

The only fly in this rich ointment is the somewhat muddled and sometimes painfully misogynistic philosophizing in which Hill tends to indulge. While he decries Babylon's sectarian and racial violence in "Tribal War," he's not sure that the youth are to blame for their own in "Blood A Go Run." He sneers at women who "[Say] they're not getting any justice in the kitchen/So they plan to make a big war with their big spoon." When I say that he sneers, I'm not being figurative -- in the same stanza he literally snickers at the woman who says "I'm going to stand up and fight for my rights." In "Girls Girls Girls" he lets slip that in his view pregnancy is the "natural" result of a man showing "respect" to his companion. Reggae has never been exactly rife with rigorous, linear political thinking or, Jah knows, with enlightened views on gender. Still, there's no denying the deep musical pleasures to be had here, and I recommend the disc highly. Those too sensitive to deal with Hill's attitudes probably don't listen to much reggae anyway.






 by Quatty, ReggaeTrain.com
 E-Mail: info@reggaetrain.com

Proudly pronounced "one of the ten best reggae albums ever cut" in 1987, when it was released stateside a decade late, Two Sevens Clash may even be the very best. Never did Kingston hillsman Joseph Hill approach Bob Marley's ambition or sophistication. But never did Marley construct an album as perfect beginning to end. Although Two Sevens Clash was the first of many LPs from this harmony trio, at the time Hill wasn't sure there'd ever be another. Following Marcus Garvey, he believed worldwide conflagration was due in 1977, the year the two sevens clashed. Much is made of the political content here, but Two Sevens Clash is basically a Rastafarian gospel album. "The wicked must fall," Hill declares right off, and "Pirate Days" attributes Babylon's power to its lawlessness. But its most striking line, "The Arawak, the Arawak, the Arawak were here first," suggests that black men don't belong in Jamaica, arguing instead for the promised return to Africa. Celebrating Blackstarliner -- the shipping line intended to help fulfill Garvey's back-to-Africa dreams -- Hill avers: "I meekly wait and murmur not." Meanwhile, the surest guarantee of deliverance is the music. This was Jamaican drum titan Sly Dunbar's first major session, with Lloyd Parks on bass and Robbie Shakespeare on guitar, and the tunes -- all, Steel Pulse's David Hinds has admiringly noted, in major keys -- are memorable and uplifting without exception. Yet even on the childish "Jah Pretty Face," the flinty, soursop edge of Hill's incantation abrades what's left of the singsong after the harsh close harmonies have done their work. There are few voices like this anywhere -- Winston Rodney of Burning Spear comes closest. Imagine it's how a prophet might sound if the prophet believed in black starliners. You have to hear it to believe it.

 by ROBERT CHRISTGAU, Rolling Stone Magazine

One of the masterpieces of the roots era, no album better defines its time and place than Two Sevens Clash, which encompasses both the religious fervor of its day and the rich sounds of contemporary Jamaica. Avowed Rastafarians, Culture had formed in 1976, and cut two singles before beginning work on their debut album with producers the Mighty Two (aka Joe Gibbs and Errol Thompson). Their second single, "Two Sevens Clash," would title the album and provide its focal point. The song swept across the island like a wildfire, its power fed by the apocalyptic fever that held the island in its clutches throughout late 1976 and into 1977. (Rastafarians believed the apocalypse would begin when the two sevens clashed, with July 7, 1977, when the four sevens clashed, the most fearsome date of concern.) However, the song itself was fearless, celebrating the impending apocalypse, while simultaneously reminding listeners of a series of prophesies by Marcus Garvey and twinning them to the island's current state. For those of true faith, the end of the world did not spell doom, but release from the misery of life into the eternal and heavenly arms of Jah. Thus, Clash is filled with a sense of joy mixed with deep spirituality, and a belief that historical injustice was soon to be righted. The music, provided by the Revolutionaries, perfectly complements the lyrics' ultimate optimism, and is quite distinct from most dread albums of the period.

Although definitely rootsy, Culture had a lighter sound than most of their contemporaries. Not for them the radical anger of Black Uhuru, the fire of Burning Spear (although Hill's singsong delivery was obviously influenced by Winston Rodney), nor even the hymnal devotion of the Abyssinians. In fact, Clash is one of the most eclectic albums of the day, a wondrous blend of styles and sounds. Often the vocal trio works in a totally different style from the band, as on "Calling Rasta Far I," where the close harmonies, dread-based but African-tinged, entwine around a straight reggae backing. Several of the songs are rocksteady-esque with a rootsy rhythm, most notably the infectious "See Them Come"; others are performed in a rockers style, with "I'm Alone in the Wilderness" an exquisite blend of guitar and vocal harmonies. One of the best tracks, "Get Ready to Ride the Lion to Zion," is a superb hybrid of roots, rocksteady, and burbling electro wizardry; its roaring lion (created who knows how) is a brilliant piece of musical theater. "Natty Dread Take Over" twines together roots rhythms, close harmonies, and big-band swing, while even funk and hints of calypso put in appearances elsewhere on the album. Inevitably, the roots genre was defined by its minor-key melodies, filled with a sense of melancholy, and emphasized by most groups' lyrics. But for a brief moment, roots possibilities were endless. Sadly, no other group followed Culture's lead, and even the trio itself did not take advantage of it, especially after parting ways with Gibbs. When Culture re-emerged in the mid-'80s, they swiftly moved into a reggae lite/world music mode a world apart from where they started. Thus, Clash remains forever in a class all its own. [Shanachie issued a 30th anniversary edition of the album in 2007 that adds expanded liner notes and five extra tracks made up of dubs and 12" mixes.]

Bottom line.........Culture is reggae's greatest harmony group. Two Sevens Clash is a historic reggae recording which literally brought the city of Kingston, Jamaica to a standstill and inspired a whole generation.






 by Quatty, ReggaeTrain.com
 E-Mail: info@reggaetrain.com

Joseph Hill is one of reggae's greatest living songwriters and survivors. With an amazing thirty albums in over a quarter of a century to his credit, the leading force behind harmony group Culture still continues to enlighten us with his battle-song anthems against the ills of global war, poverty and injustice. Sounding as strong as when Culture began some twenty-seven years ago, Hill's unmistakable husky rasp draws you in to this self-produced release and keeps your attention throughout. A master at writing sing-a-long chants in a hymn-like manner, Hill's catchy, arm-waving choruses are all revealed on 'World Peace.'

From the cries of "Some of them a holler, some a ball" on 'Time Is Getting' to the persevering restraint shown on 'Never Get Weary,' Hill's hypnotic hooks grab hold and never want to let go. Whether he's inviting George Bush to reason by his side (bible in hand) under a marijuana tree (as on the title track) or chanting alongside niyabinghi drums on the exceptional "Babylon Falling," Hill captivates as well as he does communicate. "There's enough (freedom) to satisfy a mans need, but not enough to satisfy his greed. Hill declares on. "Sweet Freedom."

The delightful harmonies and anecdotes on 'World Peace' are enhanced by the inclusion on three tracks ("Bad A Bawl", "Dog" and "Holy Mount Zion") of Jamaica's leading roots band, The Firehouse Crew. These tracks are by no means superior as "Babylon Falling" will a-test, but certainly help solidify the album.

Regardless of the fact, Joseph Hill has left us with another sublime piece of work for us to think about, repeat and respond to. Let's hope that he, Albert and Telford Nelson continue to walk in Jah light and soldier on toward world peace until all of life's tribulations "come down."



 by Trevor Holland, ReggaeWriter.com
 E-Mail: reggaewriter@mindspring.com