Mystic Eyes

Mysterious

Long-overdue reissue of classic roots reggae LP. Mysterious was an appropriate name for the debut album by the Mystic Eyes, because when it first surfaced on Burning Sounds in 1979, very little was known about the group. Formed in western Kingston in the late 1970s, the harmony trio cut its earliest work at Lee Perry’s Black Ark, their singles crediting ‘Mystic I’ in Jamaica and ‘Mystic M’ in Britain; then, after linking with singer-turned producer Linval Thompson, the group cut what is arguably their strongest work at Channel One with the Revolutionaries band. Linval was then approaching the peak of his production powers, so all of the material is of high standard, with the mournful Judgement Time the most outstanding, and the harmonic brilliance of Life Is Not Easy and Must Eat Bread is also mighty impressive. Better still, the LP reissue comes on hefty 180-gram vinyl. David Katz