Equal Rights CD

Peter Tosh cut Equal Rights for Columbia in 1977 after walking away from the Wailers to go it alone. "Get Up, Stand Up," which he co-wrote with Bob Marley, had already appeared on the Wailers' 1973 album Burnin' before Tosh dug it back up here and hit it harder. The New York Times singled out "Stepping Razor" as one of the year's best songs, as urgent and dramatic as the punk anthems coming up around it, and the whole record drives that political charge through thick, rootsy reggae grooves.