(Call it) Reggae (if you must) by 
Jimmy Dread 
Ska, rocksteady, roots, dub, dancehall, ragga... Using the term 'reggae' to describe virtually all Jamaican music amounts to sacrilege, hence why I've decided to club together a stash of essential JA albums (with a couple of others from around the globe) to let anyone interested embark on their own journey deeper into the genre commonly referred to by the 'R' word. No 2-Tone revival here - just original nuggets, old and new (with compilations generally eschewed, unless it's essential (Scratch, Marcia) or there's no alternative as with Don Drummond - Jamaica was always more about the 45 than the LP). If you're new to it all, I've added some hints as to what to expect with each album, so pick a style and enjoy. And don't be surprised at how low down the order Bob Marley is - there's a lot more to 'reggae' than getting caned to a copy of Legend. Hopefully this chart will steer you in the right direction. Irie vibes and one love - Jimmy, January 2021
- Chart updated: 01/09/2021 17:45
- (Created: 11/21/2013 11:09).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 26 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and (Call it) Reggae (if you must) has an average rating of 94 out of 100 (from 42 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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(Call it) Reggae (if you must) composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
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| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 7 | 7% | |
| 1970s | 47 | 47% | |
| 1980s | 32 | 32% | |
| 1990s | 8 | 8% | |
| 2000s | 4 | 4% | |
| 2010s | 2 | 2% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
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|
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| Junior Delgado | 1 | 1% | |
| The Frightnrs | 1 | 1% | |
| Johnny Osbourne | 1 | 1% | |
| Mikey Dread | 1 | 1% | |
| Larry Marshall | 1 | 1% | |
| Ranking Dread | 1 | 1% | |
| Bob Marley & The Wailers | 1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
(Call it) Reggae (if you must) chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 16 from 99th to 83rd I'm In Love With A Dreadlocks by Brown Sugar |
| Up 7 from 52nd to 45th Trenchtown Mix Up by The Gladiators |
| Up 2 from 98th to 96th Dub From Creation by Creation Rebel |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 10 from 88th to 98th School Days by Flick Wilson |
| Down 10 from 89th to 99th Don Dada by Super Cat |
| Down 8 from 43rd to 51st Memorial Album by Don Drummond |
| New entries |
|---|
 W/ The Artistsby Rhythm & Sound |
| African Woman Abroad by Mwanamke Mwafrika |
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(Call it) Reggae (if you must) ratings
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Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 42 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 100/100  | 04/19/2019 12:54 |  ForegroundNoise | | 87/100 |
| 95/100 | 04/15/2019 22:21 | amassini | | 85/100 |
| 100/100 | 04/15/2019 15:58 |  Repo | | 100/100 |
| 100/100 | 04/15/2019 15:15 |  LedZep | | 84/100 |
| 90/100 | 01/24/2019 01:12 | boppare | | 90/100 |
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This chart is rated in the top 1% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 93.7/100, a mean average of 95.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 95.6/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 6.1.
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(Call it) Reggae (if you must) comments
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ForegroundNoise 04/19/2019 12:56
Adore your genre charts like these, so much love and care put into them. I'm an absolute novice when it comes to Jamaican music, but at least when I take the plunge I'll have the perfect diving board ...
Graeme2 06/06/2018 19:45
Sometimes Spotifying is frustrating when they don't have many of these gems to savour. Still nice.
Jimmy Dread 11/13/2017 19:37
Marcus Garvey's in there pal. As for Tosh, never been a huge fan of any of his albums in all honesty, although I used to own the Honorary Citizen box set many moons back. I'm The Toughest is a boss track, but the version on Bush Doctor is dire compared to the CS Dodd original, and Johnny Clarke's beats both into a porkpie hat.
Dankel 11/13/2017 19:33
A bit of a roll call of who's who in Reggae - impressed that Dr Alimantado is there! I may be wrong but I couldn't see Burning Spear or Peter Tosh? I used to play a lot of Reggae in my youth and am going to investigate some of the albums on here
So I gave myself a little project towards the end of 2016 which was to listen to the whole of this wonderful chart. I'm now about a quarter of the way through and all I can say it's an absolute treasure trove of joy. Can't wait to listen to the rest. Fantastic chart and education!!!
CharlieBarley 02/27/2017 09:20
Great chart. I heard The Congo's album about 9/10 years ago after reading the Rolling Stone magazine list of top 500 albums. I have always liked Bob Marley's Exodus and Legend. They are really special. And I like a bit of Toots & the Maytals. I could easily get into Jamaican music more. Also we have a local ska band in Bournemouth called Rat Race. I saw them. They are excellent. Anyway thanks for the recommendations. I will be sure to check some out. Steven
Jimmy Dread 01/26/2017 18:19
Fixed for you Skinnyman. Although perhaps not in the way you might have imagined. One love an'ting.
Skinny 01/20/2017 20:49
The lack of "Greg'raaaay" is sacrilegious. Zero other complaints.
Great chart!
Great!
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