Review of Toots & The Maytals: Funky Kingston

Please read Darren Scott’s pick for Toots & The Maytals: Funky Kingston before reading and listening to our reviews below.

Quick Summary: 

  • Would we recommend?
  • Influence us and our tastes?
  • Overall
3.8

Review of Toots & The Maytals: Funky Kingston

As I (Darren) stumbled upon this classic reggae album in a time I needed some brightness, I took it as a sign. I was sure glad I did. This is a very fun and bright album from beginning to end. I have to say I was surprised that two of our members confessed they never really listened to reggae. We found out some funny facts and I think Scott Gregory revealed a bit too much. Ha ha. Listen along with us and we hope you took the time to listen to this fun album.
Find out not only factoids about the album, but also find out things like:
• The sample from a popular artist that Alain identified used Funky Kingston
• What two members identified themselves as not reggae fans but still enjoyed it
• Who makes the worst bong noise impression
Listen up and please leave us a comment.
The Sonic Collective


Our Individual Review Scores
Darren Scott:
Overall opinion: 4
Would I recommend?: 4
Influenced my tastes: 3
Scott Gregory:
Overall opinion: 3
Would I recommend?: 3
Influenced my tastes: 1
Alain DuPuis:
Overall opinion: 4
Would I recommend?: 4
Influenced my tastes: 5
Scott Coates:
Overall opinion: 3.5
Would I recommend?: 4
Influenced my tastes: 2

Toots & the Maytals: Funky Kingston


Toots & the Maytals – Funky Kingston
Darren Scott
I was near Recordland in Calgary on a very cold–like -25C cold–day so I had to go in. I was just looking around at albums when I heard the Recordland staff play Time Tough by Toots & the Maytals. I was completely overwhelmed by the song as it was freaking perfect. It was a freezing day so a nice beach-inspiring reggae song like that made me feel great. But I’ve also had a tough few years career-wise, like many Calgarians, and this really hit home. It again made me feel great to realize that “The Struggle” is real and capitalized. Everyone has their own struggle and you can’t compare to others. Fortunately, music like this can understand you, speak to you, and inspire you to do something. I wanted to learn more about this album.
I bought this album as well as Black Uhuru’s Red album and The Congos The Heart of the Congos album. All three are considered to be some of the greatest reggae albums out there. Ok, I know you are screaming Bob Marley at me but you have to listen to the podcast in order to find out why I didn’t pick him.
Please join me on a month of discovering or rediscovering reggae.
Darren
Funky Kingston Album on Wikipedia

Toots & the Maytals Website – Interesting history on Jamaica here!