| Mystic Man | |
| Type: | Album |
| Artist: | Peter Tosh |
| Cover: | PeterTosh-MysticMan.jpg |
| Released: | 1979 |
| Recorded: | Dynamic Sound Studio, Kingston, Jamaica |
| Genre: | Reggae |
| Length: | 44:24 |
| Label: | Rolling Stones Records / EMI / Intel Diplo |
| Producer: | Peter Tosh, Word, Sound and Power (Keith Sterling, Mikey Chung, Robbie Lyn, Robbie Shakespeare, Sly Dunbar) |
| Prev Title: | Bush Doctor |
| Prev Year: | 1978 |
| Next Title: | Wanted Dread & Alive |
| Next Year: | 1981 |
Mystic Man is the fourth studio album by Peter Tosh. All songs were composed by Peter Tosh. It was released in 1979 by Rolling Stones Records (his second album for the label), EMI, and Intel Diplo (in Jamaica).
The album's cover photo, by Annie Leibovitz, shows Tosh's head in profile, with his head cupped in his hands, as if in prayer.[1] Sw. Anand Prahlad, in his book Reggae Wisdom, suggested that on this and previous album Bush Doctor, Tosh was seeking to portray himself in the role of "healer and prophet".[2]
The album peaked at number 6 in Italy, 17 in Germany, 25 in Austria, 27 in Sweden, 44 in the Netherlands, and at 123 on the Billboard 200.[3] [4]
The album was reissued in 2002 with five bonus tracks.[5]
Lester Bangs, reviewing the album for Rolling Stone, saw Mystic Man as an improvement over Bush Doctor and viewed the 9-minute disco-driven "Buk-in-Hamm Palace" as the album's strongest track.[6] Jonathan Daümler-Ford, for the Birmingham Daily Post, thought it lacked the immediate impact of the previous album, but "sneaks up from behind" with what he described as "one of the best reggae tracks I have heard ("Can't You See") and several close contenders", calling it a "slow starter but a strong stayer".[7] Ralph Heibutzki, for Allmusic, saw the album as Tosh reasserting his "cranky contrarian militancy", "a proud declaration of Tosh's lifestyle, which he pointedly contrasts against Western consumerist decadence", viewing "The Day the Dollar Die" as a roots reggae classic.
Dave Thompson saw the album as a disappointment, picking out "Jah Seh No" and "Rumours of War" as highlights.[8] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau wrote: "Mysticism should keep its own counsel; boast about it, translate your supposed experience of the ineffable into any but the most simpleminded ideology, and ninety-five times out of a hundred you'll sound like a smug asshole. Tosh's ever more preachy vocal stance does nothing for his dopey puns ('shitty' for 'city,' far out), his confused political-economic theories, or his equation of hamburgers with heroin. And his musicians sound like the bored pros rockers so often turn into."
All tracks composed by Peter Tosh
10. "Buk-In-Hamm Palace" (12" version)
11. "Mystic Man" (long version)
12. "Fight On" (instrumental)
13. "Recruiting Soldiers" (version)
14. "Dubbing Buk-In-Hamm" (from 12" single)
| Chart (1979) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[9] | 72 | |
| United States (Billboard 200) | 104 |