Bob Marley - Dreams of Freedom (1997)

*** RE-RELEASE - THIS WORKS!!! ***

Dub instrumental mixes have been a staple of reggae music since the late '60s, with producers Osbourne "King Tubby" Ruddock and Lee "Scratch" Perry paving the way with the "dub style," accentuating the low end of the bass and drums and using studio atmospherics like reverb, flange, and delay to give the music a liquid, tranced-out quality.

BILL LASWELL: MAKING OF DREAMS OF FREEDOM Producer and Axiom label founder Bill Laswell draws from the dub style and more, including ethnic and electronic ambient sources, to create a dreamlike setting for eleven Wailers classics including a previously unreleased take of "So Much Trouble In The World" from the Survival sessions, and other milestones.

"Everyone understands Bob Marley as an international icon -- as a rebel, a revolutionary, a mystic," Laswell notes, "which is important, definitely, because he is all these things, as well as a songwriter and composer. He also had an ability to assemble great talent -- musicians like Family Man and Carly (Barrett) -- to make some really incredible records. I wanted this to sound as if someone had dreamed it (hence the title), where the music is there kind of floating beneath the surface of your consciousness. In the dream the songs themselves aren't quite fully formed, but the rhythms and melodies make the statement."

This historic record represents both a nostalgic look back and a future look forward at the music of Bob Marley and the Wailers and promises to re-establish the importance of Bob Marley in an entirely new area of modern music. "This was part of my inspiration," says Laswell, "as well as to maintian respect for the overall feel and spirit of the music. Bob Marley is a messenger, an example, a leader, a freedom fighter, a legend who has grown since his death into an icon to inspire generations to come."