Conscious Party – Ziggy Marley And The Melody Makers

“Conscious Party” was the third album by David “Ziggy” Marley and his siblings: Stephen, Sharon & Cedella, known collectively as The Melody Makers. The album was originally released in 1988 by Virgin Records and featured input from Talking Heads members David Fritz and Jerry Harrison, as well as few guitar licks, which came to us courtesy of legendary Rolling Stone, Keith Richards. Such musicians were called into the studio (most probably) in an effort to give the LP a much more “accessible” type of sound, as opposed to just a straight up reggae type of vibe. Personally, I never heard the album until towards the end of 2007, when I found a used copy on vinyl, almost twenty years after its initial release date. Also, I discovered that the CD version had a slightly different line-up of tracks, as well as a couple of other songs that didn’t even appear on the record! What’s good though, is that the album still sounded quite fresh to my ears, and not stale or dated by any means. Here’s the review:

Conscious party: If it’s one thing that I’ve definitely learned from listening to reggae, it’s that there always seems to be a very positive vibe going on throughout some of the lyrics. This title track is certainly no exception, as it deals with everybody getting together & just being happy, therefore creating a very socially conscious type of party atmosphere. Even when we don’t try too hard to look into the lyrics, we’re still left with an excellent opener. No doubt.

Tumblin down: This song, for me personally, was very hard to interpret lyrically. I’ll give it my best shot and say that it’s all about how certain organisations, such as fast food outlets and other people who have very powerful positions in the world, are more or less out to take control of our bodies, souls and overall worlds. He compares this to an eagle and bear fighting over their ability to dominate the animal kingdom, along with the lion, which is of course, the leader of the pack, so to speak. Musically it’s more of a rock/pop type of tune, with a slight reggae slant. The remix, released one year later on the B.Side of their “Look Who’s dancing” single, however, was much more smoothed out, or very “urban sounding” if you like. Both versions are nice though.

New love: I suppose it would be fair to say that this is pretty much a Jamaican love song. Or a reggae-based love ballad, if you like. Thankfully it’s not at all cringeworthy and mushy as you would normally expect it to be. Instead it’s very upbeat, and judging by the way some of the instruments are credited, just a little sensual. I can’t say I’ve ever picked up an album & read such creative descriptions as “breathy Rhodes piano” and “tongued clarinet.” The lyrics are a little on the sexy side too, with lines like: “girl you satisfy my flesh, just give up your love and I’ll give the rest.” Overall it’s very good.

A who a say: The first time I heard this album, I was instantly intrigued by this very song. In fact, it spoke directly to me. On so many levels. Why? Because the first thing you hear coming out of a very young – in fact, an adolescent, Stephen Marley’s mouth, is the question, “Who a say there ain’t no Jah?” Those of you unfamiliar with your Rastafarian/Jamaican slang, that more or less means, “Who says there is no God?” Sad as it may seem, there are actually some folks out there who in fact, don’t believe that there is a higher power all the way up there in the clouds. I was understandably quite angered and offended by those people’s comments. “Who A Say” was even the most played song on my iTunes library at one point. My only real complaint here is the lyric that says, “soon man will know only Jah to fear,” because I, personally, don’t believe that God should be feared, but each to their own.

Have you ever been to hell?: No. But I do think it was very cool of whoever was in charge of sequencing the album to put this song directly after another one all about folks doubting God’s existance. Ziggy is just talking to all of the liars, drug dealers & murders of the world, as well as the folks who are too rich to donate their unwanted belongings to those in need of such items. He wants to know if they’ve “eva been ta ‘ell?” According to the credits, this song features “ghost” and “hell” synths. It’s a very cool song, and obviously it’s one of my favourites off the record, cos I keep going back to it. “The heat is on, so arm ya soul….guiltiness.”

Lee and Molly: The lyrics to this song are pretty straight forward and to the point. There’s a couple who are very much in love with one another, except one’s black and one’s white. Or rather to quote Ziggy himself: “Lee and Molly. White guy, in love with black beauty.” As a result of this situation, both “Lee” and “Molly” wind up having to hide their strong feelings for each other, but worst of all, “Lee” gets brutally beaten up by “Molly’s” father. Of course that’s quite an unfortunate and tragic thing. At the end of the song, Ziggy encourages all to “let love be free!” And why shouldn’t he? I mean who really cares who other folks are attracted to – it’s nobody else’s business at the end of the day. Mister Marley also leads the audience into that particular chant on his (at the time of writing) latest live DVD.

Tomorrow people: Ziggy’s first and biggest hit still sounds as fresh as it did all the way back in 1988. Features the lyric, “If there is no love in your heart, so sorry there is no hope for you.” Wow, and here I was thinking that reggae was a very positive form of music. Doesn’t sound like a very nice thing to say, does it? It’s still an excellent tune though, despite its seemingly negative message. While we’re still on that subject, at one point in the song, he remarks, “How long will you last? Ten years!” This is something that I didn’t pick up on until I watched a live performance of the song from 2000, where he actually asks that very same question, in…..what I’m guessing is Jamaican!

We propose: Here’s another killer slice of good ole wholesome reggae music. Makes me feel like I’m on a Caribbean island stompin through the sand to its hard hitting rhythm. Those are definitley the key words here – “hard hitting.” It’s clearly a very angry song all about black folks wanting to fight for a free Africa and therefore a whole gang of African people in general. He’s even singing about wanting to live there. As far as Ziggy was concerned, when he wrote this song, the government (presumably in Africa) was run by a bunch of folks who treated the people like they were in a puppet show. Okay I think that’s just a little too much politics there, but it’s still a cool song.

What’s true: For a while there, I didn’t really understand where Ziggy was going with this song, but now I think I finally get it. He was saying that he’d read many ’stories’ in history books and what not, but he never really figured out what was really true. In particular, the way in which America was discovered, which, by the sounds of things, is something that Ziggy flat out refuses to believe: “Christopher Columbus, discovered whom? If their leader is closer to God, who is for who?” It’s a terrific song though.

Dreams of hope: Overall this track has a very African type of feel to it, which would then make it the most drastically different song on the entire album. It’s also a very stripped down type of song musically, featuring only a drum, an acoustic guitar & an electric guitar….of course, there are vocals too, some of which are actually performed in an African language. Specifically the backing vocals. He sounds quite a lot like his late father on this track as well…..or at least like a younger Bob.

Verdict: Before I bought this album, I thought that Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers was basically all about Bob’s first born son, and that the Melody Makers were just his backing band. Boy, how wrong was I. So, it is quite fair to say, that “Conscious Party” was my first real introduction to this particular band. And ever since then I’ve somehow managed to get my hands on a few of his other albums, most of which I also thoroughly enjoyed……but anyway, this album is really great from start to finish. Open your mind, find yourself a copy of this album……and get CONSCIOUS.