While neither of these albums will do much to further the cause of reggae in America, at least This Is Reggae Music Vol. 2 won't do anything to hurt it.

Like its predecessor, it is an anthology designed to give listeners a peek at the spectrum of reggae. But also like Vol. 1, it seems to have been programmed fairly randomly, with little effort expended on presenting the best available material in each genre. Under such hit-and-miss conditions, the two most satisfying cuts are the dubs.

Dub is an endlessly compelling form unique to Jamaican music. It is done by a "DJ" who shouts his own stream-of-consciousness raps over an already existing record or instrumental track. If the dub artist also knows his way around the control board, he might manipulate sounds that way, too. The best dub artists have a smart-alecky spontaneity that can't be beat. On "Skank in Bed," Scotty shouts his lascivious observations over Lorna Bennett sweetly singing "Breakfast in Bed"; halfway through the song, Scotty stops the music while he kicks an intruder out of the studio! Augustus Pablo's "King Tubby Meets the Rockers Uptown" is every bit as provocative as its title, with an echoed voice and guitar over a fast soul-reggae beat.

Burning Spear's "Marcus Garvey" represents the most purely African reggae and is just a taste of that group's fine American album; the best of the poppish material is George Dekker's "Time Hard." Somewhere between those two extremes are the Heptones with "Country Boy," and isn't it about time they got an American album to themselves?

Third World, which uses basic reggae only as a starting point, is more problematic. They call their music "progressive reggae." Their vocals have more in common with the sleek, modern soul groups (like the Chi-Lites or Gladys Knight and the Pips) than with the New Orleans and Southern country-soul singers who initially inspired Jamaicans. Lead guitarist Stephen ("Cat") Coore appears to be infatuated with early Carlos Santana, and a couple of the group's numbers ("Cross Reference," "Kumina") are rather weak imitations of the African rhythms of Olatunji.

I don't mean to imply that the record is all gimmicks; there's only a moderate amount of that, and Third World does seem to have a distinct idea (in theory) of what they want to do. Nor is it fair to advance the noble savage maxim that reggae must remain pure and simple to have integrity. But like many of the arty "progressive rock" groups before them, Third World can be awfully excessive and unfocused in practice. After one has heard Burning Spear's compact, haunting "Slavery Days," it is very difficult to pay attention to this group's 7:45 version with its meandering instrumental work and sluggish rhythm pattern. (RS 213)

JOHN MORTHLAND