Review:

on 2011-12-20 CharlesMartel Said:

Lest we forget, Bob Marley's music was so often about the politico-religious framework in which Marley was rooted and converted to, if that is the right phrase. Rastafarianism is frequently seen as more of a political movement than a faith, but whatever, Marley cannot be divorced from that context. "Exodus" was one of the strongest affirmations of that in his catalogue. Yet I always have to put aside the extremely dubious geo-political historical geography which underpins the song as part of the process of listening to it. Haile Selassie was not the fountain of Africanism - he was an autocrat who lived in splendour while his people lived in abject poverty. And the black population of the Caribbean had no link with the Ethiopians of East Africa.

There is no doubt that the song contains one of Marley's most compelling rhythms. The start is the key, as the various disparate sounds meld together into that syncopated sound which keeps going throughout the song and eventually keeps up such a momentum of its own that it is hard to see how the song can actually come to an end.
Rating: 7/10