Dancing with the beast
Gretchen Peters
Keywords
Reviews (3)
AllMusic
d. . undefined 20
By
By
Jo-Ann Greene
d. . undefined 20
"On this superb set, the Gladiators revisit the past and take note of the present, while simultaneously looking to the future ... For a time it looked like the Gladiators had lost their final battle, but Symbol of Reality finds the group back in top form".
Omnivore Recordings
2018
By
2018
"Albert Griffiths founded the Gladiators in 1966 after some success on his own. The group scored their first hit, produced by legendary producer Coxsone Dodd, with "Hello Carol" in 1968. During the '70s the Gladiators made their way through releases on labels like Studio One, Upsetter, Virgin, and Groovemaster. 1980 found the Gladiators working with producer, and pre-"Electric Avenue" hitmaker, Eddy Grant on the album Gladiators, which also featured members of the band Aswad lending a musical hand.On 1982's Symbol Of Reality, their first for the Nighthawk Records label, they revisited their own catalog of songs re-recording their classics ...".
Mojo
2018 August
By
By
David Katz
2018 August
"Reissue of lesser-known 1982 gem, now with bonus dubs ... "Symbol Of Reality" [was] the best Gladiators album to surface in the 1980s. The title track opens in hard-hitting fashion and the sound remains sterling through originals like "Righteous Man" and the playful "Cheater". With Channel One stalwart Barnabas on drums and Dougie Bryan on guitar, the album bears the hallmarks of late-roots Jamaica, with the trio's harmonies totally on point and the musicians conjuring tense rhythms to contrast with the vocal sweetness ... This expanded isuue makes an attractive package, even if you already own the original".