Bob Marley's 30 greatest songs – ranked!
30. Rude Boy (1965)
The ska-era Wailers launch themselves into the 60s Jamaican vogue for singles either praising or condemning the violent Kingston “rude boy” youth cult. Tellingly, given the socio-political songs that lay ahead of him, Marley focuses on the deprived circumstances that birthed the phenomenon: “Want it want it – can’t get it, get it get it – no want it.”
29. Selassie Is the Chapel (1968)
Selassie Is the Chapel is like nothing else Marley recorded, in effect a doowop song given a Rastafarian twist. It is set to a lo-fi backing consisting of noticeably out-of-tune guitar and drums, which only serves to make the Wailers’ high harmonies more powerful. It’s both faintly creepy and fabulous.
28. Punky Reggae Party (1977)
Marley was not initially convinced by punk, but eventually recognised the denizens of the Roxy as kindred spirits – “rejected by society” – and threw in his lot on the exuberant Punky Reggae
Party, which namechecks the Clash and the Damned and promises “no boring old farts will be there” at the titular event.
27. Natural Mystic (1977)
There’s something genuinely thrilling about the way Exodus’s opening track slowly creeps into view – it takes a full 30 seconds to fade in – and something chilling about its mood, the lyrical references to Revelation and insistence that “many more will have to suffer, many more will have to die”.
26. Concrete Jungle (1973)
Producer Chris Blackwell might have sweetened their sound for white ears, but you could never accuse the Wailers themselves of sugaring their message. Exhibit A: Catch a Fire opener Concrete Jungle’s powerfully bleak reportage, allegedly written not about Kingston’s ghettoes, but Marley’s mid-60s stay in the US.
25. Could You Be Loved? (1980)
The Wailers were always musically open-minded – in the 60s they covered everything from Bacharach and David to the Archies’ Sugar Sugar, while 1971’s Lick Samba dabbled in Latin-American music. Could You Be Loved?, meanwhile, allied Marley’s sharp pop instinct to disco, with backing vocalists the IThrees on particularly fine form.
24. Caution (1971)
Marley’s pre-Island discography can be baffling – umpteen releases, umpteen labels – but the 00s box sets Fy-ah Fy-ah, Man to Man and Grooving Kingston 12 do a good job of sorting through it, revealing gems such as Caution: an odd, tremulous lead guitar, eerie harmonies on the chorus and a winning refrain of “hit me from the top, you crazy mother-funky”.
23. Johnny Was (1976)
Marley’s great musical inspiration was Curtis Mayfield – the young Wailers even copied the Impressions’ poses in photos. It’s tempting to call Johnny Was his answer to Mayfield’s Freddie’s Dead: an empathic examination of an accidental death (“from a stray bullet”) that nevertheless has wider implications, the lushness of the harmonies at odds with the lyrics.
22. Smile Jamaica (1976)
Smile Jamaica was the theme song for the Kingston concert that almost got Marley killed – he was shot by gunmen two days before the gig. It’s tempting to suggest the track itself is oddly prescient: despite the title, there’s something brooding and overcast about its sound, as if Marley didn’t