Various Artists - Strictly The Best 52 & 53 (VP Records)

Just preceding the publication of this review, Billboard sparked a storm of outrage on the internet after declaring Joss Stone's 'Water For Your Soul' bestselling reggae album for 2015. Stone, who for 'Water For Your Soul' among others collaborated with Dennis Bovell, of course had no hand in this, but we could understand the commotion. If we were to opt for an outsider, this year we would rather have gone for Eddie Murphy. Earlier this year he surprised friend and enemy with the conscious 'Oh Jah Jah', and ska-tune 'Wonna Deez Nights', a duet with Beenie Man, is the opening track of this year's 'Strictly The Best' compilation.
 
The first disc of this double album contains a striking number of lovers tunes; in fact it wasn't until Jah Vinci's 'Jahliluyah', the ninth song in the track list, before we were finally served some conscious vibes. In the aforementioned category it were especially Christopher Martin's 'Helpless' and Etana's 'Love Song' that drew our attention. Toian's 'Next To Me' can hardly be regarded as a reggae song, but should this tune have been recorded by Etana, it would probably have ended up somewhere at the top of the charts. Ikaya's 'Good Man' unwittingly reminded yours truly of Michael Jackson and a bit of an oddity in the track list is Freddie McGregor's 'What You Gonna Do', a song over the classic Try A Little Smile riddim, which could already be found on Freddie's 2000 'Signature' album! The absolute smash in the track list is Shuga's version of 'Every Tongue Shall Tell', a cover of the classic Horace Andy tune, lifted to a whole other level by veteran deejay Lone Ranger and the master himself.
 
As usual, the second part of 'Strictly The Best' is more dancehall inclined. Among others, the track list contains contributions by Dexta Daps, Popcaan, Aidonia and Vybz Kartel, but in the meantime you might be familiar with our feelings concerning the genre, so we'll spare you our thoughts!
 
For the cover illustration of 'Strictly The Best', VP Records this year opted for a rather psychedelic looking design by American graphic designer Kristina Collantes. Fans of her work should definitely check the accompanying liner notes as they fold out into a mini poster.