Greatest Hits: Smash Hits [Remaster]

Performer: Steel Pulse
Producer: Jimmy "Senyah" Haynes; Steel Pulse; Karl Pitterson; Elaine Valentine (Compilation)
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Compiles tracks from the TRUE DEMOCRACY, EARTH CRISIS and BABYLON THE BANDIT. Nothing on this 1993 compilation was actually a smash hit for Britain's Steel Pulse, a roots reggae outfit who started out with a rasta-righteous punk fervor in the late '70s but grew increasingly sleek and pop oriented as the '80s dawned. Drawn from the group's three '80s albums for Elektra Records, 1982's True Democracy, 1984's Earth Crisis and 1986's Babylon the Bandit, Smash Hits lacks anything from Steel Pulse's earlier impressive peak with Island Records when tracks like "Ku Klux Klan" made them a truly focused, politically committed and even dangerous band. Aside from a few scattered cuts like the wicked "Not King James Version," little of that early fire is on display here. [Rhino reissued this set in 2007 with the original sequence, album graphics and title intact but added a slipcover over the jewel case that listed the title as Greatest Hits.] ~ Steve Leggett Nothing on this 1993 compilation was actually a smash hit for Britain's Steel Pulse, a roots reggae outfit that started out with a rasta-righteous punk fervor in the late '70s but grew increasingly sleek and pop-oriented as the 1980s dawned. Drawn from the group's three 1980s albums for Elektra Records, 1982's True Democracy, 1984's Earth Crisis, and 1986's Babylon the Bandit, Smash Hits lacks anything from Steel Pulse's earlier impressive peak with Island Records, when tracks like "Ku Klux Klan" made them a truly focused, politically committed, and even dangerous band. Aside from a few scattered cuts like the wicked "Not King James Version," little of that early fire is on display here. ~ Steve Leggett

Along with Black Uhuru, England's Steel Pulse was one of the most powerful and influential reggae groups of the 1970s and '80s. As a highly political outfit starting out in late '70s Britain, Steel Pulse naturally fell in with the punk movement, sharing the bill with punk and New Wave groups at the famed Rock for Racism concerts. The band's late-'70s and early-'80s albums, particularly HANDSWORTH REVOLUTION, are among the key recordings in the reggae canon. As the '80s progressed, the Steel Pulse sound grew slicker and more polished, moving further from the roots reggae sound of yore, but the band's political fire remained undiminished.

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