Peter Tosh

For each of the Rastamen who made up reggae's holy trinity -- Bob Marley, Bunny Livingston Wailer, and Peter Tosh -- music was The Message. All three sang for "equal rights and justice," as defined by the Jamaican-bred blend of Marcus Garvey's worldview and Old Testament fire and brimstone known as Rastafari. But Tosh, a.k.a. reggae's Stepping Razor, came the hardest and, less fortunately, proved to be the most didactic. Once the world heard "The Tosh," Jamaica transformed from a vacation paradise for the wealthy into a mecca for the disenfranchised. His urgent baritone bore a threat of danger, sharpening Bunny's and Bob's sufferahs' dreams and Rastafarian plaints into lessons for heathens and militant demands aimed at "downpressors."

Born in the rural western part of Jamaica, this lifelong foe of the "shitstem" made his way at age fif-teen to the Trench Town tenement yard in Kingston where he met musical youths Bob Marley and Bunny Livingston and formed the Wailers. After the Wailers broke up, each asserted himself as an individual crossover reggae force. Tosh won his own worldwide following with Legalize It, his first Stateside major-label release, and its followup, Equal Rights. Tosh and his crack band, featuring Santa Davis on bass, concoct a euphoric, bottom-heavy stew, with reggae's one-drop riddim leavened by an occasional guitar lead. Legalize It zeros in on Tosh's paramount cause -- free the herb! -- while Equal Rights levels his scathing attack against a range of societal offenses in "Equal Rights," "Downpressor Man," "Stepping Razor," "African," and the remade "Get Up Stand Up." All tracks exude the trademark Jamaican musical buzz, yet the take-no-prisoners messages and aggressive stance could easily suit today's politicized rap.

The Toughest collects the best tracks from Tosh's out-of-print albums for the Rolling Stones label and EMI; tellingly, it sticks to the earlier albums for soulful grooves such as "Don't Look Back" (a hit duet with Mick Jagger from Bush Doctor). Even though Tosh's voice sounds strained around the edges on No Nuclear War, his deliriously schizoid wordplay and unflagging indignation power the title cut, and there are signs of life throughout. Sadly, this inconclusive but encouraging album stands as his last testament; Tosh was murdered in 1987. Far more worthy of Tosh's biting humor and righteous rage are his posthumous box sets and compilations, including Scrolls of the Prophet, Honorary Citizen, Live at the One Love Peace Concert, Arise!, and Live and Dangerous. (ELENA OUMANO)

From the 2004 The New Rolling Stone Album Guide