Rate it!
Average: 4.5 (22 ratings)




- Date Released: June 8, 1999
- Genre: International
- Style: Roots Reggae
- Label: Blood And Fire / Virtual
A Romeo obsessed not just with Marley and Marx but also with Manson.
-
We Say...
Randy rude boy (and pretty boy) Max Romeo started off spouting X-rated skanks before growing out both his dreads and beard, putting down the lad mags for Marx's Das Kapital. Righteous Rastafarianism aside, Iron Gate encompasses the two Romeo records that bookend his outright classic, War Ina Babylon, but are fantastic in their own right. Communist dogma ("Revelation Time"), cries for repatriation and an outlook that's both F*#$ tha Police and f*$# the Pope ("Fire Fe the Vatican") brunt up against a Romeo obsessed not just with Marley and Marx but also with Manson. Hear how he prophesizes the blood of the rich flowing freely down the hill on the violent "Warning Warning" and shiver at its smoothly crooned cry for Helter Skelter.
-
They Say...
For reggae neophytes who first encountered Jamaican music in the punk '70s, Max Romeo seemed like kind of a one-trick pony who rode the big-time rep he deservedly got for the 1976 classic War ina Babylon to legendary status in reggae circles. Open the Iron Gate 1973-1977 shows there's more depth to that reputation, because these tracks largely drawn from his 1975 Revelation Time are prime examples of simple but creative roots reggae marked by Romeo's expressive, unadorned singing and further enhanced by exceptional sound restoration that even surpasses Blood & Fire's usual superb norm. "Every Man Ought to Know" is a Jah-praise song with a nyabinghi tinge and sweet singing with great backing vocals, an unusual bubble-up bassline, plus hints of "By the Rivers of Babylon" and a direct quote from "What a Friend I Have in Jesus" in the melody. The "la-la-la" tag Romeo throws in after singing the title to the sweet soul-styled "Revelation Time" is pretty great, and he clearly delivers a very understated, very pointed critique of Jamaican society: "They should not trim dreadlocks in prison/Liars and thieves should not be cops," anyone? "No Peace" and the clipped chords opening "Tacko" are a reminder that roots reggae, so often dismissed as one-dimensional, was still elastic and being forged in 1975, because every song worked off different melodic or rhythmic ideas. "Blood of the Prophet" isn't the best thing here, but it gets a lot more mileage than you first expect -- big respect to Blood & Fire's sound techs because that rhythm guitar just skanks on through crystal-clear as the drums lock down the groove. The title track deals on repatriation with sharp guitar, lurching drums, and prominent organ, while "Three Blind Mice" (yes, the melody is scurrying around here) and "Warning Warning" are thoughtful lyrical plays on the Babylon time coming theme. The latter's dub section adds and subtracts elements in increments so you hear the process at work, and the dub of "Valley of Jehosaphat" is strong too with prominent horns and vocal harmonies. "Melt Away" offers a nice rising guitar line -- Romeo has a definite knack for crafting melodic hooks -- and the horns again are strong and the rhythm guitar chop nagging. "Fire Fe the Vatican" merely reprises "War ina Babylon" with different lyrics, but it's hard to argue with, since it's such a perfect fit of singer and backing track. And it's not a bad reminder that the excellent Open the Iron Gate 1973-1977 shows Romeo was building from a very substantial creative foundation en route to crafting what became his career-defining work.
-
You Say...
Write a ReviewI would like to say...
“ The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.”
Rolling Stone
Find a problem with a track? Please let us know.
12 Total Tracks, 54:32 Total Length
We will send an email to with the tracking ID for this issue.
Before reporting defective tracks, please note that you can re-download all of your tracks without losing credits. Please try to re-download your tracks in case a temporary issue caused your problem. If, after re-downloading your tracks, you are still experiencing issues, report them below.
Note: This form is for reporting defective tracks only.
For all other issues (billing, trouble downloading, etc),
contact Customer Support.
Credits
- Max Romeo - Vocals // Max Romeo - Producer // Max Romeo - Main Performer // Aston Barrett - Bass // Carlton "Carlie" Barrett - Drums // Tony Chin - Guitar // Geoffrey Chung - Bass // Geoffrey Chung - Keyboards // Glen DaCosta - Sax (Tenor) // Santa Davis - Drums // Tyrone Downie - Harmonica // Tyrone Downie - Keyboards // Bobby Ellis - Flugelhorn // George Fullwood - Bass // Vin Gordon - Trombone // Dirty Harry Hall - Horn // Bernard Touter Harvey - Keyboards // Clive "Azul" Hunt - Bass // Clive "Azul" Hunt - Percussion // Clive "Azul" Hunt - Keyboards // Earl Lindo - Organ // Earl Lindo - Clavinet // Robert Lyn - Keyboards // David Madden - Trumpet // Lee "Scratch" Perry - Percussion // Lee "Scratch" Perry - Percussion // Lee "Scratch" Perry - Percussion // Lee "Scratch" Perry - Percussion // Ernest Ranglin - Guitar // Earl "Chinna" Smith - Guitar // Keith Sterling - Piano // Keith Sterling - Keyboards // Uziah "Sticky" Thompson - Percussion // Winston Wright - Keyboards // Derrick Stewart - Drums // Mike Murray - Guitar // Mike Murray - Percussion
Choose from over 4 million
music downloadseMusic features legendary and emerging artists in every genre: classic rock to classical,indie to international, soundtracks to spiritual, jazz to country and many more.
MP3 downloads work on any digital media player
With eMusic, you OWN your music without any restrictions. Burn music to a CD, play it on your computer, mobile phone or any digital media player - including iPod®, Zune® and Walkman®.
Songs as low as $0.25
eMusic subscriptions start at just $11.99 a month for 30 downloads - that's less than $0.40 per song! And it gets better from there - our plans go as low as $0.25 per song!
Music Discovery
eMusic is about discovery. We make finding new music fun again with music recommendations from our award-winning team of music experts, member playlists and new music features.
Cancel anytime
With all the great music and site features we're pretty sure you will love eMusic. If not, no problem. You can cancel at any time and keep the music you have downloaded.




