African Holocaust

Steel Pulse's full return from The Dark Side:
By the late 80's it appeared that Steel Pulse had lost it's edge. With such horrid releases as 1988's "State of Emergency" and 1991's "Victims" the band's turn to the Dark Side (synth pop dance music) seemed to be complete and unrecoverable. It seemed as though they just simply couldn't, or refused to, try and recapture the focus that had produced their classic, and arguably best album, "True Democracy." They showed faint signs of recovery with 1997's "Rage and Fury," but their style still carried the baggage of their previous couple of offerings. With "African Holocaust," Steel Pulse has finally come full circle and have put out an album that ranks up with their powerful early works, "Handsworth Revolution," "Tribute to the Martyrs," and the aforementioned "True Democracy." Just as Anakin Skywalker finally realized the ills caused by his turn to the Dark Side in the Star Wars saga, Steel Pulse appears to have once again recognized what was good about that early work: Solid melodies with a substantial consciousness in the lyrics. To some, the message might seem a bit rough. The clear political message of such tracks as "Darker Than Blue," "Door of No Return" and the title track among others might be a bit hard to swallow, particularly to unsuspecting Babylonians. But even those folks will have a tough time keeping their feet from tapping while being scolded by David Hinds. On the other hand, true Steel Pulse fans will quickly recognize the style that first put the band on the map. With "African Holocaust" Steel Pulse emerges from their long journey into the wilderness a much more powerful band. It really seems that their long absence from roots reggae had built up so much pressure that once they decided to release it, it caused such an explosion of music and message that their return to their early form is undisputable.

Up there with True Democracy!!!:
I've been listening to roots reggae since the very early 80s when I was all of 14 yrs old. I ranked Steele Pulse at the tipy top of my list of favorite bands. I eagerly looked forward to each new release. Like most of the other reviewers here, I also became disgusted with their sell-out to pop/R & B. After Babylon the Bandit which only had a few good songs, the next few albums were much worse. I stopped buying their new releases and I stopped going to their concerts. Still, I've worn a hole through my True Democracy and Earth Crisis vinyls. Smash Hits is the CD I play the most. That one is worth every cent and then some. Discovering this new album is a thrill beyond thrills! David's voice hasn't changed at all and this album has the hard core roots reggae beat of True Democracy, plus the important messages that attracted me away from mainstream music in the first place. There isn't a bad song on the whole album! You will not be disappointed! Thanks to Steele Pulse for their glorious return to the real reggae sound!

Steel Pulse's awesome return to roots reggae:
African Holocaust brings up images of true roots regggae as soon as you listen to it. It however doesnt need to have a full track list of roots tunes to do this. With dancehall-influence from both Capleton's cameo on "Blazing Fire", and Damian "Junior Gong" Marley's brilliant toasting on "No More Weapons", the songs have a heart full of roots rock reggae, and the mind of the ever-increasing politcally aware youth. A surprise was the Bob Dylan cover, "George Jackson", which is a faithful ode to the Soledad Brother. The album also contained another song about the framing of George Jackson (and subsequent murder by a prison guard in the yards at San Quentin) which was a previous song by Steel Pulse called "Uncle George). Overall, this should be in any rock, reggae, roots, or hip hop library.

AFRICA!!!!!!!!!!!Winds of Change:
All thanks and praises be to the Glory of JAH Rastafari.That is all you need to know!!!!!!!!!!!

Simply awesome.:
This album is great roots reggae from the 21st century! If you own everything by Bob Marley, this could be your next stop (or Peter Tosh/Bunny Wailer/Burning Spear). Technically, this is a "crossover" album with some dancehall influence (with guests like Jukie Ranks, Capleton, and my favorite, Damian Marley), but its still mainly roots reggae. There aren't any bad songs. The best songs are "Global Warning," "Dem A Wolf," "No More Weapons (f/ Damian Marley)," and "George Jackson" (a Bob Dylan cover). If you like reggae music at all, buy this.