Exodus has been flawlessly remastered from the original recordings and showcases what is probably the Wailers' tightest recorded performance. The initial notes of the album's opening track, "Natural Mystic," fade up from a deep silence, giving the listener the impression that the music generates from within a continuum of the past, present, and future. The first half of Exodus bears witness to Marley's shift in focus away from the mundane problems of Babylon existence and toward a greater understanding of vital universal truths. The second half features songs such as "Jamming" and "Waiting in Vain," which take a gently wistful look at the more interpersonal aspects of human relations. --Rebecca Levine

Album Description
Limited Edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. Universal. 2006.

Album Details
Japanese Limited Edition Issue of the Album Classic in a Deluxe, Miniaturized LP Sleeve Replica of the Original Vinyl Album Artwork.

Opener "Natural Mystic" sets the tone: easy-flowing reggae sounds, with Bob's never-absent comments on the way things are, or should be. The album's title track is, at 7+ min, the "monster" track on the album, and one of Bob's best ever. The album also contains the well-known (and hits in the US) "Jamming", "Waiting in Vain", and "One Love".

One can argue that Marley was never as good in the studio as he was live (check out the live album "Babylon by Bus"), but as far as his studio output is concerned, it never got any better than this. Essential for any Marley fan.

Fun fact: Marley was always bigger in Europe than he was in the US. Of the original 10 tracks, 7 were issued as a single in the UK, a feat not repeated until Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album, just to give you a sense of "Exodus" impact in 1977.


Deserving of the title: "Most important album of the 20th Century"   February 26, 2006
John Compton III (Ithica, NY)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

This album is simply perfect. The tempo and mood flows throughout the album at an excellent pace. Every song has a messeage or meaning that is universal, anybody could and should be able to relate to it. I recommend everyone to listen to it, even if you have declared that you hate reggae give this a listen. Bob Marley was one of those unique artists who never recorded a bad song, and this is one of those rare albums where everysong is a classic in every sense of the word.
One Love


so much things to say right now...   February 21, 2005
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

Exodus (the movement of JAH People) was time magazine's album of the century, that should say enough right there. But if you are not convinced buy it and you will be for sure. This album was released in 1977, and was recorded in London England. Bob Marley and members of the band survived an attempted assination in December of 1976, and went into self imposed exile in London. Here the creativity of the band is quite good, and many of the Songs that you know by Bob Marley and the Wailers appear on this disc. Jamming, Exodus, One Love, Three Little Birds, and Waiting In Vain. All the tracks are great on this disc and you can hear for the first time in all of the Wailers recordings that the quality of the recording equipment here is much better. The dummer's (Carlton Barrett) high hat never came through so clear. This album marks the intro of Junior Marvin (lead guitar)to the band. The band was about to gain superstar status and this album marks the beginning. If you crave more Jamming, check out the Exodus Deluxe Edition, it offers a second disc with part of a concert from the Rainbow Theater, and some rare Lee Perry tracks that will surely move you. This album is the album of the cetury, and you should own it for yourself, reguardless of you liking reggae or not.


Iconic! Simply unmissable!   June 7, 2007
Olukayode Balogun (Leeds, England)
10 out of 12 found this review helpful

I watched a TV documentary the other night about the making of this album and it was a spellbinding hour and a half. Apparently, Bob had to flee Jamaica for the UK after an assassination attempt and ended up living in London for a year. It was during this year that this phenomenal album was recorded. I've owned it for over 20 years now - first on cassette, then on vinyl and finally on CD - and I had no clue that this was so.

The album was released in 1977. It was the year of the Queen's Silver Jubilee but Britain was in a very bad place, the seeds of Thatcherism and the heartless 80s had already been sown and Punk ruled the airwaves. I lived a very sheltered life as a teenager and so it wasn't until 1979 when I went away to boarding school, that I finally get to hear the album in its entirety. It was a true revelation. I heard it on (what was then) a new invention my peers and I called a "hi-fi system" owned by an older student and I remember hearing the percussion on "Jamming" and being transfixed. No exaggeration; I was literally hypnotised.

The album is faultless with pristine production by Bob and The Wailers. From the minute the first strains of "Natural Mystic" fade in, through the accusatory "Guiltiness", on to the revolutionary title track, the slow jams "Waiting In Vain" & "Turn Your Lights Down Low", on to the optimitic "Three Little Birds" and right to the end of "One Love/People Get Ready", there is not a single note out of place. Each song, a potential hit single, (7 of the 10 songs on the original album were actually hits here in the UK) has a vibrant, totally relevant message - especially for a black teenager living in 70s UK, and Bob's primary ethos of peace & love have stayed with me ever since. That being said, this is the album that began to open my young eyes to the oppression and injustice that already surrounded me. The idea that music wasn't simply for entertainment or escapism but could inspire thought, behaviour and attitude change as well as activism, was new and very appealing.

And this was also the album that turned Bob from an international reggae star into a global prophet. Setting everything about Rastafarianism (respectfully) to one side, Bob the man and the music he made, the message he spread, have always educated and enthralled me in equal measure and always will. When I think about what are for me, consummately iconic, influential and superb recordings and I think about such albums as Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, John Coltane's A Love Supreme, Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life, Michael Jackson's Off the Wall, Pink Floyd's The Wall (Deluxe Packaging Digitally Remastered) and Radiohead's OK Computer, I also, immediately, think of Bob Marley's "Exodus". My life was definitely not the same after listening to it and now that I fully understand the story behind it, I hold the album in even higher esteem.

Whether this is Marley's best piece of work or not is, I guess, a matter of personal opinion and will always be open to debate. What is beyond doubt, is that it is my favourite Bob Marley album and I am proud and honoured to make this my 200th review on amazon.com. I'm a bit of a purist so I prefer the version I have which does not have the two extra tracks (though I have both on 12" single) but they are definitely worth having. As such, this is the version to get. There'll no doubt be a '30th anniversary edition' knocking around before too long as well.



Exodus - true album of the century   June 7, 2006
Tim 'Gonzo' Gordon (Salem, OR USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

The story behind Exodus is worthy of a book - in fact there is a book on the making of Exodus. This and the follow-up 'Kaya' were recorded and assembled in London in the 18 months following the attempted assassination of Marley in December 1976. The first side of the album (old-school vinyl fans know what I mean) is pure revolutionary reggae rock: Natural Mystic, So Much Things to Say, Heathen, Guiltiness, and Exodus. Drop-dead master reggae powered by the brother team of Aston 'Family Man' Barrett on bass and Carlton Barrett on drums.

In the book 'Exodus' author Vivien Goldman takes you inside the studio in some very intimate recollections. Bob, for instance, worked the band from mid-afternoon til the wee hours of the morning. Generally speaking the band would record basic tracks for a song, and keep working on it until it was deemed 'finished,' when they'd then move on to the next track.

On several occasions he came in alone to record vocals for songs by himself, and at one point spent several hours working to get the right 'take' for a song. Of course this was before the days of digital mixing where you could drop in a word or phrase at a time, so Bob was singing each time all the way through. He would work until his voice warmed up and finally nail a take.

On to side two: Jammin', Waiting in Vain, Turn Your Lights Down Low, Three Little Birds, One Love/People Get Ready. Some of the sweetest and most intimate love songs I've ever heard, as well as the spirited Jammin' - one of the most uplifting songs ever to grace my earbuds.

Exodus is one of those rarities - a coming together of great songwriting, stellar performances, ground-breaking recording methods (read the book!), and timeliness. As a historical document of the best that Bob Marley and the Wailers had to offer, as well as a kick-ass soulful album to crank up, Exodus has it all.