Ska Madness 2, Another 20 Reggae Classics Which Inspired A Generation (Spectrum Music/Universal) **** (From York Press)

Ska Madness 2, Another 20 Reggae Classics Which Inspired A Generation (Spectrum Music/Universal) ****

10:41am Friday 27th January 2012 in CD reviews By Richard Catton, richard.catton@thepress.co.uk

THE second release in the Ska Madness compilation series shows little sign of running out of inspiration.

Compiled and sequenced by Rhoda Dakar, most of the tracks here will be familiar to anyone with even a passing interest in a sound which is surely Jamaica’s biggest cultural export.

The 20-track album (plus two download bonus tracks) contains favourites such as Jimmy Cliff’s Wonderful World, Beautiful People and the uplifting Young Gifted And Black by Bob & Marcia.

In fact, to say this is the second Ska Madness album and we have only just got round to including Desmond Dekker & The Aces’ Israelites, tells you something of the rich seam of quality this series has to mine, should it move to a third release.

If you have the first Ska Madness, which featured much from the classic Two Tone era of the late Seventies and early Eighties, the second release is chance to hear the originals which influenced a generation. Toots & The Maytals, The Paragons, Dave & Ansell Collins, The Upsetters and John Holt are all here, and so is Millie Small’s Enoch Power, a bonus track whose title will surely raise your curiosity.