Conversation

Artists

Album Info

Release Date: 1998

Label: Totem Records

ConVersation was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.

1995's Conversation is a live release that's pretty typical of this long running and much-beloved reggae band's '90s repertoire. It's at least as much a pop collection as it is a reggae album.

Most of the set consists of extended versions of Third World hits like the anthemic "Open Up Your Eyes," but there are also a good-sized handful of reggae-fied pop covers, like versions of Eric Clapton's "Layla"--closer to its '90s acoustic remake than the electric '70s original--and the Temptations' "Papa Was a Rolling Stone." The latter works exceptionally well, with its loose, ominous groove given an infusion of good old-fashioned Rasta dread. The originals range from relatively early roots material to the more R&B-influenced pop tracks that became Third World's stock in trade in the '80s and '90s. Reggae purists occasionally scoff at Third World's pop leanings, but Conversation proves that they're a more than worthy band.

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