Various Artists: Spirits in the Material World: A Reggae Tribute to the Police

Of all the tribute CDs, in an already tribute saturated world, this reggae homage to The Police amounts to one of this trend’s biggest no-brainers. After all, the British band titled its second CD Reggatta de Blanc — which translated means white reggae — and its breakthrough single was a reggae tune called “Roxanne”. “Roxanne” is not covered on this 13-track CD, however. Instead, political anthems, such as “One World (Not Three)”, which is sung by The Wailing Souls, are the primary order of the day. There are also a few love songs, like “So Lonely” by the smooth Gregory Isaacs. All but Joan Osborne, who sings “Every Breath You Take”, is a big name in reggae. And while most of these tracks are fairly faithful covers, Lee “Scratch” Perry’s dub version of “Invisible Sun” is a nice break from the norm. It’s only fair for the reggae world to get a shot at Police songs, as there would likely have been no Police without them.