Two sevens clash

"Album pick" - "One of the masterpieces of the roots era, no album better defines its time and place than Two Sevens Clash, which encompasses both the religious fervor of its day and the rich sounds of contemporary Jamaica".

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"Proudly pronounced "one of the ten best reggae albums ever cut" in 1987, when it was released stateside a decade late, Two Sevens Clash may even be the very best. Never did Kingston hillsman Joseph Hill approach Bob Marley's ambition or sophistication. But never did Marley construct an album as perfect beginning to end ... This was Jamaican drum titan Sly Dunbar's first major session, with Lloyd Parks on bass and Robbie Shakespeare on guitar, and the tunes - all, Steel Pulse's David Hinds has admiringly noted, in major keys - are memorable and uplifting without exception ... There are few voices like this anywhere - Winston Rodney of Burning Spear comes closest. Imagine it's how a prophet might sound if the prophet believed in black starliners. You have to hear it to believe it".

"One of the masterpieces of the roots era, no album better defines its time and place than Two Sevens Clash, which encompasses both the religious fervor of its day and the rich sounds of contemporary Jamaica ... "Clash" is filled with a sense of joy mixed with deep spirituality, and a belief that historical injustice was soon to be righted. The music, provided by the Revolutionaries, perfectly complements the lyrics' ultimate optimism, and is quite distinct from most dread albums of the period ... "Clash" remains forever in a class all its own".

"For all its Biblical heft - the title was taken from a Marcus Garvey prophecy about chaos erupting on 7/7/77 - Culture's reggae classic Two Sevens Clash, like Funkadelic or gospel, took suffering as a means for uplift ... Though it's considered a classic of roots reggae (...) Two Sevens Clash generally sounds a lot brassier than most of the records in its category. The rhythms, if not always dance-oriented, are springy and uptempo, the harmonies are major, and Joe Gibbs's production is bright (contra, say, dub's intoxicant muddiness). And Hill is ultimately the catalyst reveling in the middle, a wily, lemony voice, never shying away in melody or delivery, never letting harsh reality cancel out his hope, but never pretending things are any less miserable than they actually are ... The title track was released as a single in March and became so massive that when July 7th arrived, businesses closed, the military perked up, and, reportedly, most people stayed indoors ... Culture was signed by a subsidiary of Virgin (with the help of Johnny Rotten - Two Sevens Clash was considered a classic amongst the punks), and Hill performed around the world until his death last August. That July 8th came never mattered".

"This 30th anniversary edition adds five obscurities to the original 10 songs of one of the most potent reggae albums in creation, right up there with Burning Spear's Social Living, Bunny Wailer's Blackheart Man and a couple more masterworks".