Simply The Best

With four albums' worth of tracks to choose from, Columbia can keep reeling out compilations for decades to come, merely juggling the contents every few years to suck up more of fans' hard-earned money. In the end, wouldn't it just be smarter and cheaper to plunk out for the original albums and burn your own fave tracks onto CD? If not, check the track listings carefully, for at first glance they look so similar you may inadvertently choose one without your fave tune on it. Simply the Best has Jimmy Cliff's big hit, "I Can See Clearly Now," but no "Reggae Night," a club fave; however, you do get the unity anthem "We All Are One." Cultural numbers include "Roots Radical" and "Peace Officer," and also featured are "Rub-A-Dub Partner" for those who want to dance close, "Special" for good-time reggae fans, and "Love Me Love Me" for the romantics. Cliff spent 1982-1988 at Columbia, quickly coming to grips with the new dancehall sounds back home as well as the synth stylings storming the clubs up north. And while the artist employed synths, he never descended down into the ragga rage that had gripped his homeland. Instead, Cliff's albums featured "real" music provided by his backing Oneness band, a group whose membership shifted somewhat over the years but always included top Jamaican musicians -- which is why it doesn't really matter how Columbia mixes up the tracks, there were only good ones to choose from, alongside an inordinate number of great ones. This compilation, like all the Columbia roundups, include lashings of both, and the rest is purely down to personal taste. ~ Jo-Ann Greene