Long Life

Prince Far I made several fine albums for the Virgin label's Front Line imprint in the late '70s. That relationship eventually soured, leading him to record the scathing "Virgin" several years later; probably the angriest artist-to-label kiss-off since Lee "Scratch" Perry accused Island label head Chris Blackwell of vampirism and murder. But while the relationship continued, it resulted in some of Prince Far I's most powerful work. Long Life had its long-overdue CD reissue in 2002, a development that was especially welcome since none of its tracks had been included on the previous Front Line reissue compilations (Dubwise and Black Man Land). On these sessions, the rhythms are provided courtesy of a studio band made up of members of both Soul Syndicate (notably the killer bass-and-drums duo of Robbie Shakespeare and Sly Dunbar) and Roots Radics, and they are, without exception, as solid and heavy as a bag of boulders. Prince Far I himself is in top form, rebuking Babylon on "Black Star Liner Must Come" and calling his fellow Rastafarians to repentance and renewed spiritual effort on such exhortative classics as "Remember Jah Jah" and "Love One Another." Some bonus tracks would have been nice (this album clocks in at a measly 32 minutes), but no one who has been seduced by Prince Far I's gravelly chant is going to quibble; it's been a long 25 years of waiting for this reissue, and we're all just happy to have it.