Horace Andy, Skylarking (side A)

Horace Andy's collaboration with Massive Attack increased his visibility beyond serious reggae scholars to a mass audience.  Massive Attack benefited from his beautiful voice, which they captured and mixed in a modern fashion.  His 1969 debut Skylarking sounds like a murky old reggae album from its era, with only some of the magic of Andy's voice preserved.  His vocals sound great in this context too, singing everything from his classic "Skylarking" to a forgettable Cat Stevens cover.  My reissue pressing sounds particularly primitive—I can't guess whether the original sounded any different.  I also don't know if the faded cover images were already faded on earlier pressings, but they're fantastic pictures of a young Andy.