Customer Reviews
Also consider... - By: Laurence Upton, 23 Aug 2008 
All of this classic Front Line album apart from the tracks Know Yourself Mankind & Thief In The Knight can be found on the 19 track compilation Dreadlocks the Time Is Now. This also includes the single Pocket Money & tracks from Proverbial Reggae, Naturality & Sweet So Till.
Root's Rock! - By: M. Bloxham, 07 Aug 2008 
If you're new to reggae & you find that Bob Marley has finally wore away his novelty then you can't go wrong with this album - it has to be the best, most comprehensive Roots reggae album i've heard - it is quite simply brilliant. If, on the other hand, you're a bit more "tuned in" then why the hell don't you have this album already? stop reading this & buy it now!
my favorite tracks on this album range from "chatty chatty mouth", "mix up" & "rude boy ska" butin all honesty i never find myself listening to anything less than the whole album - start finish & back again!
this album showed me that their was more to reaggae & Jamaican music than bob marley & peter tosh - you dont have top be high to like this album you dont have to like reggae its jus a brilliant pop album
buy it & enjoy it!
High and Mighty - By: Furthur, 13 Jan 2008 Even 30 years later every single Gladiators 70's albums still sound fresh & scorching. Whether it be the absolutely impeccable music or the perfect harmonies of those 3 singers, every single tune of this crucial roots reggae album will beat you down. Its brilliant lyrics offer common sense reminders that nowadays still prove unheeded by most people ("Pick sense out of nonsense - you'll get the answer") so it's still relevant.
For anyone wanting to know a little more about Reggae than Bob this is the right buy - & it will make you want to dig ever deeper. For anyone already into Reggae, well you already know this.
Vital sounds.
Essential - By: D. Thomson, 31 Aug 2007 At this stagein their career, the Gladiators had freed themselves (temporarily, as they were to return triumphantly four years later) from the contractual shackles of Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, had cut a series of driving skank tracks for Lee Perry, & were branching out into a new direction with "Prince" Tony Robinson. As always, their trademark vocal harmonies can be traced back to the Impressions, while their lyrical influences were, as with most Jamaican groups of the time, snapshots of ghetto life filtered through a Biblical morality.
In common with most of their contemporaries, it was easier to escape the walls of Coxsone's Brentford Road studio than it was to avoid itin their music; thus "Mix Up" was a re-recording of "Bongo Red", & "Hello Carol" followed the original arrangement closely, while "Rude Boy Ska" was a cover of an old Wailers tune. On the other hand, "Looks is Deceiving" & "Eli Eli" saw them stretching out from their previous style, & while their harmonic influences are obvious, their distinctively Jamaican outlook on life, coupled with the proto-rockers rhythms (on which they played the bulk of the guitar & bass parts themselves, & some stunning vocals, render this an essential purchase.
Gladiatorial irie! - By: Mr H Weldon, 19 Aug 2005 One of the very best roots reggae albums of all time. Righteous spiritual militancy, swooning harmonies, irresistible rhythms, magnificent melodies & a fine linein philosophical nuggets - "Cow never know the use of his tail, till the butcher cut it off" - seen!
