Bob Marley & the Wailers Exodus Numbered Limited Edition UHQR 180g 45rpm 2LP Box Set

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Michael Fremer Rated 11/10 Music, 11/10 Sound!

By the time Bob Marley died, he was one of the world's first global superstars, famous and lauded from Europe through Africa and the Americas. Some even saw him as not just a reggae singer but as a folk hero, a sort of freedom fighter, and to this day his enduring image feels greater than the music he made, writes Pitchfork.

In the 21st century, Bob Marley is a global cultural icon and the first Jamaican inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. 1977's Exodus — recorded in London exile after a failed attempt on his life — turned out to be Marley's biggest-selling studio album. Time magazine named it the greatest LP of the 20th century.

Other Marley discs had bigger hits and still others had better album tracks, but the balance Marley strikes between politics, religion, and romance on Exodus — compare and contrast the urgent title track and the laid-back "Jamming" — shows a pop star at the peak of his powers.

Now, Analogue Productions presents perfection — Exodus in UHQR 45 RPM format on Clarity Vinyl. This Ultra High Quality Record release is limited to 5,000 copies, with gold foil individually numbered jackets.

After the success of 1974's Natty Dread and 1976's Rastaman Vibration, Bob Marley was not only the most successful reggae musician in the world, he was one of the most powerful men in Jamaica. Powerful enough, in fact, that he was shot by gunmen who broke into his home in December 1976, days before he was to play a massive free concert intended to ease tensions days before a contentious election for Jamaican Prime Minister. In the wake of the assassination attempt, Marley and his band left Jamaica and settled in London for two years, where he recorded Exodus.

Exodus represented a subtle but significant shift for Marley; while he continued to speak out against political corruption and for freedom and equality for Third World people, his skill as a songwriter was as strong as ever, and Exodus boasted more than a few classics, "including the title song, 'Three Little Birds,' 'Waiting in Vain,' and 'Turn Your Lights Down Low,' tunes that defined Marley's gift for sounding laid-back and incisive at once," writes AllMusic.

This UHQR is remastered at 45 RPM by Sterling Sound's Ryan K. Smith from the original analog master tapes. Each UHQR is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Acoustic Sounds' industry-leading pressing plant Quality Record Pressings (QRP) using hand-selected Clarity Vinyl® with attention paid to every single detail. These records feature the same flat profile that helped to make the original UHQR so desirable. From the lead-in groove to the run-out groove, there is no pitch to the profile, allowing the customer's stylus to play truly perpendicular to the grooves from edge to center. Clarity Vinyl allows for the purest possible pressing and the most visually stunning presentation. Every UHQR is hand inspected upon pressing completion, and only the truly flawless are allowed to go to market. Each UHQR is packaged in a custom clamshell box and includes a booklet detailing the entire process of making a UHQR along with a hand-signed certificate of inspection. This is a truly deluxe, collectible product.

Exodus — now a landmark production on 180-gram 45 RPM Analogue Productions UHQR Clarity Vinyl!

Exodus at 45rpm, pressed UHQR produces an explosive mix...You'll hear the depth of production and sound staging immediately as the opener 'Natural Mystic' goes from a soft whisper to a full-throated groove-fest. Bass is deep and well expressed and the percussive accents sharply presented and three-dimensionally placed. Ryan Smith absolutely nails the cut.