17 TRACKS: 1) African Connection 2) Ghetto Is A College 3) Great Tribulation 4) Blackman Redemption 5) Excited 6) Living On The Edge 7) Do Be Down 8) Educated Fools 9) One Of Us 10) Never Desert You 11) Moses 12) Only Jah Love 13) Enemies Away 14) Jah Music 15) The Police 16) Rudeboy Corner 17) The More I Try Despite the distinctive phrasing and tone associated with each member of this trio and the fact that they all write for their own particular vocal styles, there is a Meditations sound--passionate, yearning, roots-raw, and, above all, messianic. Danny Clarke, Ansel Cridland, and Winston Watson have broken up and reunited more times than anyone can count since they first got together in the '70s, the heyday of reggae's harmony trios. Over the years, they fired the musicscape with hits like "Fly Your Natty Dread," "Rasta Shall Conquer," "Standing on the Corner," "Turn Me Loose," and "Woman Is Like a Shadow," a paradigm of male misogyny drawn from the poisonous stream that, unfortunately, runs throughout reggae history. Oh well, they know not what they do. And despite all those breakups to makeups, the Meditations sound as good as ever. Their tone remains as baldly challenging to the corrupt powers that be as those villains deserve. The harmonies strike a perfect balance between rough and polished, and the writing is surprisingly current and fresh. Though Watson takes the lead less often than the more prolific Cridland, Watson's roots from-the-gut singing style in "Living on the Edge"--reminiscent of the operatic Prince Lincoln--is a standout. And the group's bouncing covers of Bob Marley's "Blackman Redemption" and Curtis Mayfield's "Do Be Down" provide the yardsticks to measure these vets against reggae's many other trios. --Elena Oumano
