Legend - The Best of Bob Marley and the Wailers

LEGEND, respectably associated with reggae's most influential icon of all-time is now available for the first time on . Originally released as a compilation of 13 videos on gold-certified VHS, the release now contains a 90-minute documentary titled Time

If you are expecting just the videos for the tracks on Bob Marley's extremely successful greatest hits CD, you are going to be pleasantly surprised with this DVD. Legend is much more than a simple, video anthology. It is a historical telling of the music of Bob Marley presented in 23 videos, most of which are performances, and a 90-minute documentary. The documentary is a collage of images and video clips put to a running dialogue by Marley. Unless you are very familiar with the Jamaican dialect, it is recommended to watch this with the subtitles turned on. Interesting, but there are better documentaries out there (e.g., The Bob Marley Story: Caribbean Nights). It is the live performances, however, that make this DVD worth its weight in gold. Every person remotely interested in his music owes it to himself to witness Bob Marley perform on stage. Musically, Marley is as close to perfection as any artist can hope to achieve. But as a performer, he transcends beyond the secular pop star status to the mythic leader of a movement. Notable performances include eight tracks from the famous Live at the Rainbow recording (June 1977) and the early Wailer footage from The Old Grey Whistle Test recorded for the BBC in 1973 ("Stir It Up" and "Concrete Jungle"). They are simply hypnotic. The sound on the DVD, for the most part, is clear, crisp, and flawless ("Could You Be Loved" could have been touched up a little bit). A nice feature is the "playlist," allowing the viewer to play the videos in any order desired. All in all, a great package for a true legend. --Rob Bracco