Positive (Black Uhuru album) explained

Positive
Type:studio
Artist:Black Uhuru
Cover:BlackUhuru_Positive.jpg
Released:1987
Genre:Reggae
Label:RAS
Producer:Steven Stanley
Prev Title:Brutal Dub
Prev Year:1986
Next Title:Positive Dub
Next Year:1987

Positive is a studio album by the Jamaican reggae group Black Uhuru, released in 1987.[1] A dub album, Positive Dub, was released the same year. Positive was the final album with vocalist Delroy "Junior" Reid.[2]

Production

The album was produced by Steven Stanley.[3] Sly and Robbie, who had produced Black Uhuru on earlier albums, appear as backing musicians.[4] Puma Jones left the band before production began, and was replaced by Olafunke; Jones is still credited on the album.[5] [6]

Critical reception

Robert Christgau wrote that "Sly and Robbie won't knock you out, but on Uhuru's best records they never do—given the right songs and performances, all they have to do is make them righter." Trouser Press thought that the album "finds [Delroy] Reid coming into his own as a vocalist, and features a few songs that are strikingly original."[5] The Ottawa Citizen called the album "uplifting, yet realistic," writing that it "paints real, and often graphic, pictures of conflict in the Third World."[7] The St. Petersburg Times wrote that "at its best, Black Uhuru combines the persistent dance-inciting rhythms of pure reggae with substantial pop melodies and soulful vocals."[3] The Washington Post opined that "occasionally missing ... is the sheer tunefulness the band has displayed in the past."[8]

Personnel

Notes and References

  1. Book: Moskowitz . David Vlado . Caribbean Popular Music: An Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall . 2006 . Greenwood Press . 268.
  2. Book: Thompson, Dave. Reggae & Caribbean Music. July 1, 2002. Hal Leonard Corporation. Google Books.
  3. News: Hall . Ken . Black Uhuru keeps the reggae beat driving with `Positive' . St. Petersburg Times . 24 Jan 1988 . 2F.
  4. News: Burliuk . Greg . Positive Black Uhuru . The Kingston Whig-Standard . 20 Feb 1988 . P21.
  5. Web site: Black Uhuru . Trouser Press . 1 July 2021.
  6. Book: Simmonds, Jeremy. The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars: Heroin, Handguns, and Ham Sandwiches. July 1, 2012. Chicago Review Press. Google Books.
  7. News: Erskine . Evelyn . Black Uhuru Positive . Ottawa Citizen . 22 Jan 1988 . B4.
  8. News: Joyce . Mike . Unseasonably Warm Reggae . The Washington Post . 11 Dec 1987 . N21.