Wet Dream: The Best Of Max Romeo CD

Although Max Romeo's early career was defined by this collection's infamous title track, the accent of most of this material from the late 1960s and early '70s is on the religious and political beliefs that were later to be highlighted on his Lee Perry-produced WAR IN A BABYLON album. WET DREAM documents this complex and talented Jamaican artist's journey from notorious to beloved.

The Afro-centric "Macabee Version" and the heartfelt "I Man a African" display Romeo's lyrical depth, while the elegant bluebeat outing "Walk Into the Dawn" demonstrates the singer's smoothly expressive vocal skills, already fully developed well before the randy title track captured the British public's imagination. Rastafarian philosophy effortlessly combines with Eric Donaldson's "Cherry Oh Baby" rhythm on "Public Enemy Number One," while "Natty Dread Take Over" is a reworking of Johnnie Clarke's "Move Out of Babylon" backing track. But Romeo isn't all dreadlocks and ganja--his patriotic "We Love Jamaica" sounds like a contender for the Jamaican national anthem, and his Wailers soundalike rhythm "Let the Power Fall on I" was adopted by the island's People's National Party as its 1972 campaign song.