''Forces of Victory'' is the debut solo album by the

dub poet Dub poetry is a form of performance poetry of West Indian origin, which evolved out of dub music in Kingston, Jamaica, in the 1970s,

Linton Kwesi Johnson Linton Kwesi Johnson (born 24 August 1952), also known as LKJ, is a Jamaica-born, British-based dub poet and activist. In 2002 he became the second living poet, and the only black one, to be published in the Penguin Modern Classics series. His ...

. It was released in 1979 on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

. The album peaked at No. 66 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

Production

The album was produced by Linton Kwesi Johnson and Dennis "Blackbeard" Bovell. Bovell, Lloyd "Jah Bunny" Donaldson and Webster Johnson were members of Matumbi.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

wrote: "Dramatic and intense to the point of claustrophobia, ''Forces of Victory'' is not simply one of the most important reggae records of its time, it's one of the most important reggae records ever recorded." ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

'' wrote that "Johnson’s voice gains greater range and expressiveness while his poetry speaks of dire truths, and sounds increasingly complex, compact and expert."

Track listing

All tracks by Linton Kwesi Johnson #"Want Fi Goh Rave" – 4:20 #"It Noh Funny" – 3:42 #"Sonny's Lettah (Anti- Sus Poem)" – 3:50 #"Independent Intavenshan" – 4:20 #"Fite Dem Back" – 4:27 #"Reality Poem" – 4:44 #"Forces of Viktry" – 4:56 #"Time Come" – 3:28

Personnel

*Linton Kwesi Johnson - vocals *Floyd Lawson (tracks: 1, 5), Vivian Weathers (tracks: 2-4, 6-7) - bass *Lloyd "Jah Bunny" Donaldson (tracks: 1-4, 7), Winston "Crab" Curniffe (tracks: 5-6, 8) - drums, percussion *

John Kpiaye John Ogetti Kpiaye (born 1948) is a reggae session and live guitarist.Larkin, Colin (1998) "John Kpiaye" in ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, , pp. 160-161 He was a member of The Cats who had a No. 48 UK hit with "Swan Lake", a ...

- lead and rhythm guitar * Julio Finn - harmonica *

Rico The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was en ...

- trombone *

Dick Cuthell Dick Cuthell is a British musician and record producer. He plays flugelhorn, cornet, and trumpet, amongst a range of other brass instruments, including tenor horn and valve trombone. Cuthell is best known for his work with The SpecialsStrong, Ma ...

- flugelhorn *Dennis Bovell (as "The Invisible One"), Webster Johnson - keyboards, piano *Everald "Fari" Forrest - percussion *Dennis Bovell, Vivian Weathers, Winston Bennett - additional voices ;Technical *Dennis "Blackbeard" Bovell, John Caffrey - engineer * Dennis Morris - photography *Zebulon Design - design

References

{{Authority control 1979 debut albums Linton Kwesi Johnson albums Island Records albums