Album-Review: Peter Tosh – Legalize It (2CD Legacy Edition)

Releasing collectors’ editions of essential reggae albums has become a welcome periodic occurrence. The most famous was Island’s 2001 deluxe reissue of the Wailers Catch A Fire, including a “Jamaican” mix – with a different track-listing minus the guitar and clavinet overdubs – that all but rendered the original obsolete. In 2009 VP issued Black Uhuru’s Jammy-produced debut with both Love Crisis and the later Black Sounds Of Freedom in one set. Now it’s the turn of Peter Tosh’s 1976 self-helmed solo entrance Legalize It and 1978’s follow-up Equal Rights.

For the former, the original release is paired with Peter’s demo on disc one. Disc two boasts a salvaged “Jamaican” rendering by Tosh and some rare dub versions and specials. The unreleased material comes from tapes archived by the collector Sam Dion after Tosh’s death.