Now the attention for the catalog of Lloyd 'King Jammy' James seems to have faded somewhat at VP Records, Dub Store Records nicely picks up where they left off with 'King Jammy's Dancehall', a quintuple compilation series they describe as a pentalogy. The first two parts each count 20 tracks and were given 'Digital Revolution 1985-1989' and 'Digital Roots & Hard Dancehall 1983-1990' as subtitles.
'Digital Revolution 1985-1989' mostly focuses on the pioneers of digital reggae/dancehall era, and even though his biggest hit ('Under Mi Sleng Teng') was this time not included in the track list, it's only natural that Wayne Smith, at that time somewhat of a poster boy for the digital revolution in reggae, also steals the show on the first part of this compilation series with no less than 4 tracks ('My Lord My God' , 'In Thing', 'Ickey All Over' and 'E20').
With excellent tunes like 'Nothing Don't Come Easy' by Cornel Campbell, Admiral Tibet's 'Victim Of Babylon', Al Campbell's 'Don't Take Your Gun To Town', Dennis Brown's 'Tracks Of Life' (over a digital version of the Swing Easy riddim) or, to mention a band we hadn't heard of before, Wackad's 'Cry For The Youths', 'Digital Roots & Hard Dancehall 1983-1990' proves the digital revolution did not mean the end for roots reggae.
What makes these sets extra fun is the fact that each disc ends with five dub versions of songs that can be found elsewhere in the track list. On to parts 3 & 4!