I wasn't nearly as knocked out by Rainford as many when it arrived last spring. Lee "Scratch" Perry is a distinctive vocalist, but I felt the heavy emphasis on those vocals didn't serve him well. When I gave a listen to Heavy Rain, the even dubbier remix set, I was taken in.

Lee "Scratch" Perry Rainford/Heavy Rain (On-U Sound)

But why the difference? After all, Perry is a dub pioneer, and Rainford is clearly a dub album. Adrian Sherwood didn't shy away from those tendencies. But as I noted above, the "regular" album sublimated the music to Perry's vocals. And I must admit I prefer the heavy dub of the remixes.

That said, I kinda missed the boat on Rainford as well. I still don't think it is the wonderment that many folks (people much more steeped in this sound than me, it must be said) pronounced, but I also understand why Perry's vocals were front and center. He wanted to strip down his trademark dub sound, and Sherwood was a willing accomplice. Rainford is better than I gave it credit for when I chose to pass on a review six months ago.

Heavy Rain, on the other hand, is something of a dub all-star set. In many ways, it is the more "traditional" LSP album than Rainford. I do like the sonic explorations on the latter set much better, and maybe that's because Perry's vocals are used much more judiciously.

I suppose it's heresy or something to prefer less Perry, but on these songs that's the case for me. But it's also true that Heavy Rain makes less sense without Rainford as a predecessor. The two are best taken as a set. In any case, I can only hope that I will be pushing boundaries anywhere near as much as Perry when I reach my 80s. The man is a wonder.

Jon Worley