Scrolls of the Prophet: The Best of Peter Tosh

For all Peter Tosh's great vocal texture and wonderful songwriting, he's always seemed best in a live setting. This collection of 13 well-regarded songs--as well as a live acoustic version of "Get Up, Stand Up" and one unreleased track--only shows more firmly how great Tosh was as a songwriter and singer, but it also shows why he was often at his best live. When caught in concert, Tosh reached feverish jubilance and intensity, as Captured Live attests. But these studio tracks divulge a split, sometimes overproduced, personality: half-brilliant and half-envious (or incredulous) that he hadn't reached the commercial peak of his former Wailer-mate Bob Marley. There are standout reggae champ tunes, the original "Get Up, Stand Up" and "Downpressor Man" among them, and then there are lots of middling works that beg the question of why Burning Spear or Lee "Scratch" Perry haven't reached the spotlight the way Tosh did. If you're a Tosh fan, this is a great single-CD set of works that count as catalog staples. --Andrew Bartlett