Rebel with a Cause

A budget-priced double album, and thus skimpy on the liner notes and credits, but apparently this was someone's idea of a greatest-hits collection. And although there are indeed hits, it contains too many latter-day misses to be that. Disc one is the naughty side of Dillinger, and here we find the mighty "Cocaine," its version of "Rockers," "LSD," but oddly no "Marijuana." And as drugs and sex go together like peanut butter and jelly, make way for "Super Cock" and "Sex Me Baby." Which just leaves rock & roll, and, oh look, here's "Rock to the Music," and for those who prefer other genres with their vices, choose from "Soul Food" and "Funky Punk." The title track adds a revving motorbike to that latter song's rhythm, but forgets to include the DJ, bringing in an unidentified girl group to sing instead. Whatever. Disc two perversely contains earlier cuts, including "Killer Man Jaro," "Freedom," and "Natty Kung Fu," all cut for producer Coxsone Dodd (something the album forgets to note). While the first disc leans heavily towards the electro funk fired, the second is more roots heavy, and boasts a clutch of vocal and dub cuts overseen by Roderick "Blackbeard" Sinclair. It then continues on into more recent dancehall-flavored numbers, with "Rapping on the Bus" bringing it up to the present day. Not the best round-up on offer, and certainly neglecting Dillinger's cultural side, but it's still an entertaining set. Jo-Ann Greene.