Review: Roots Natty offers a treasure trove of rare tracks from one of reggae's favourite trios, The Gladiators. Recorded during the genre's formative golden era, from 1977 to 1979, the period proved fruitful for those in the orbit of reggae giants like Culture and Burning Spear, The Gladiators following among them. This battle-scorn group - Albert Griffiths, Clinton Fearon, Gallimore Sutherland, et al. - would wield piercing arrangements in reggae stadia from soundclashes to Kingston studios, complementing penetratively deep lyrics with sharper productions; long-tanged beats, atomic, needle-point drum transients. The majority of the tracks on Roots Natty are rare Jamaican singles, mixing rawer, heavier, dub-fusions than their Western-readied album counterparts. Originally released in limited quantities in Jamaica, these ones have been carefully remastered, preserving a relatively authentic energy.
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