The first thing to note on this release is that the fold out cover has been given a nice, glossy finish (unlike the others so far in the series), providing a nice miniture replica of the albums original gate-fold sleeve. The accompanying booklet features all the original pictures, the full album lyrics, and a nice four-page essay written in July 2004 by Scott Schneider.

The remastered version of the album is the same as issued in 2001, with the addition of another two bonus tracks, bringing the total of extra tracks on disc one to five. Bunny Wailer's Reincarnated Soul was originally ear-marked as the title track for the album before it was dropped from the running order. This version was previously issued on the B side of the Concrete Jungle 7".

The Opressed Song was never released at the time, although an alternate mix has been circulated on trade tapes. Bunny recut the song for his 1976 solo album Blackheart Man. Peter Tosh's No Sympathy has also been circulated on the trade scene, and is given a different flavour from the version on his later solo album Legalize It thanks to a sweeping synthesizer.

The sound quality is improved, with a noticable difference on the intro to Pass It On, where the stereo seperation is much better, with no bleeding of the electric piano onto the opposite channel (as was the case with the previous CD edition).

The two bonus tracks exclusive to the deluxe edition are previously unreleased alternate takes of Get Up Stand Up. The first is an alternate take from the original Burnin` sessions, with alternate, although not necessarily inferior, lead vocals from Bob and Peter, although the whole track has a more sluggish overall feel than the released cut - probably due to the fact it runs slower than the release version.

The second version is an un-used single mix, with alternate vocals recorded at A & R studios during the bands week-long residency at Max`s Kansas City, New York while on the US leg of the tour. Bob is very animated on this cut, ad-libbing right from the intro, singing "stand up for your life." Unfortunately sound quality isn`t as sharp on this track, suggesting an inferior source or poorly stored master, but it is definately worth it`s place on the release. Incidentely, this version runs a semi-tone sharper than the original released cut, whether this is intended or not, it rather jars when listening to the previous unreleased version, which is a whole note slower. In retrospect, while both these un-issued tracks are good, they made the right choice by using the version picked on the original album.

LIVE AT LEEDS (The Bonus Disc)
Right from the opening, Bob sounds in a very animated and playful mood, making light improvisations of the phrasing during Duppy Conqueror, which is given a splendid, jumpy 6-minute workout . A concentrated version of Slave Driver follows, with Bob throwing in some very neat ad-libs around the four-minute mark, which link very nicely to the final fuzzed guitar solo from Peter.

A similar mood prevails over Burnin` And Lootin`, where an intense lead vocal from Bob developes to an ad-libbed close with stern proclaimations that "it`s a curfew" repeated with cutting diction. Wya`s glorious organ sweeps through the mix, adding both sweetness and bite in equal quantities, being neither too imposing or softening the edge of each rendition. Bob and Peter`s guitars are neatly split across the stereo field, allowing a nice sense of space to develope on the recording.

Peter Tosh leads the next two numbers, the sorely over-looked Can`t Blame The Youth and Stop That Train. The former is a steady if unspectacular version with nice clavinet from Wya, and Bob filling out the sound on harmony, before coming to the fore with more ad-libs over the play-out. Tosh sounds a lot more confident on Stop That Train, where Bob forgets his harmony duties and is happy to take a backseat as Peter leads a nice raw-edged rendition.

The absence of Bunny is very noticable on this show. The sweetness of the harmonies is certainly lacking, although Peter Tosh does his best to fill the gap that had been temporarily filled by Joe Higgs on previous dates, but who failed to make the return to England for this performance. As a result of this, the performances here have a rougher edge than other shows, but are certainly no less enjoyable.

The lengthy opening of No More Trouble finds the band actually over doing the improvisations, as both Wya, and then Peter make mistakes leading the band into the song, before they finally make their way out of the situation. Kinky Reggae is a perfectly placed moment of light relief in the set, where Bob even incorporates the line "easy on my pony," from Bunny`s Tread Oh number. Get Up Stand Up opens with another slightly over-improvised intro, but both Bob and Peter come in sounding very comitted on the first verse, getting things firmly back on track.

There is nice musical interplay from Bob and Wya on the intro of Stir It Up, which builds slowly into a sweet seven-minute jam, while Put It On demonstrates the missing third vocal most markedly, although the rendition is still totally comitted with the Barrett brothers providing a solid backbone as they do throughout the whole show.

The Leeds show closes with a thirteen-minute storm through Lively Up Yourself, which opens in strictly drum and bass style, commanded expertly by Carly and Fams, which even Peter`s loose guitar chords fail to de-rail. Wya paraphrases Tommy McCooks horn line from the original studio version during the opening chorus, and the band gradually up the pace after a few minutes.

Drawing to a close, Bob begins to improvise lines from Rastaman Chant, concluding with "fly away home, to the place where your mind is contented...if you get there before I do, don`t cry, just tell your neighbours up there, I`m coming up there too."

MARLEY THE MUSICAL
Get up, Stand up: now Marley the musical heads for West End
By Cahal Milmo
From The Independant On-Line
13 November 2004