Peter Tosh

Timing is everything, and when Peter Tosh unleashed his debut solo album,Legalize It, in 1976, it perfectly captured the militant mood of the day. Still, there was something vaguely dissatisfying about the set, a feeling reinforced when the much more coherent Equal Rights arrived later that year. Even so, Legalize It has withstood the test of time, as evidenced by its continuing reissue and the inclusion of many of its tracks on best-of sets. And in 2004 the set was re-released again in all its original vinyl glory, with the addition (yet again) of the instrumental version of "Ketchy Shuby." The title track, needless to say, remains the world's favorite ganja anthem, a song so impassioned that it never gets old. "Burial," especially in Jamaica, remains equally popular, oft-covered and versioned, with Tosh's scathing smackdown to a deceased gang lord just as relevant today as it was nigh on 20 years ago. There's no peace and love found in "Igziabeher (Let Jah Be Praised)" either, just fire and brimstone, while "No Sympathy" is equally angry, a spit-filled song of resentment and self-pity. "Brand New Second Hand," a re-recording of a song Tosh first cut for Lee Perry earlier in the decade, is just nasty, as Tosh sneeringly insults a former lover, before turning the tables to play the sad sack on "Why Must I Cry." But amidst these blistering/emotionally wrenching tracks are bouncy little ditties like "Whatcha Gonna Do" and "Ketchy Shuby," dissipating the potency of the rest of the set. Accentuated by the thoughtless sequencing, these flaws only mute the set's power. Regardless, Legalize It was a landmark album in its day, and the set has weathered the years well. ~ Jo-Ann Greene, All Music Guide