Original Sounds of The Zion (Universal Egg) 2002
Little did we know at the time of its release that this would be the last time Colin and Molara would record with the mighty Zion Train. But what a farewell, this is truly a monster of an album. It is not really fair to compare it with the early dubby outings, but of the up tempo albums, this is probably the best of the lot…. Yes even better than ‘Home Grown Fantasy’! Lots of friends drop by, Ed from Headmix throws in some bass, Dave Ruffy from The Ruts adds some live drums, the ever faithful Crispy Horns throw in some brass, Levi Roots and Jonno from Nucleus roots add some vocals, as does Pat Fulgoni of Kava Kava. Ah yes, Pat Fulgoni. He sings on ‘Do You See Love’, the incredible highlight of the album, a floor filler if ever there was one, with Pat adding his unique blend of soul to the proceedings. Not to be outdone, Molara adds some love vibrations to the stomping ‘Beautiful Children’ and bounces off Jonno for the inspiring ‘Love Revolutionary’. The perfect way to end the second phase of the Zion, and a must have album.

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Live As One (Universal Egg) 2007
It was with both excitement and apprehension we slipped this disc into the machine and pressed play, for this, the ‘Train’s ninth release, is the first album to hit the world since the departure of long time core members Molara and Colin. The apprehension soon faded though, the Train may now have a different crew and is indeed travelling on a different line, but it is still headed for the same destination… Grand Dub Central.

Stepping up to the mic we have a host of talents, including Earl 16, Tippa Ire and Dubdadda (AKA Jonno of Community Charge/Nucleus roots). There are even guest appearances by Ronald Regan, George Bush Senior, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Martin Luther King (OK, so the last four are sampled). Add to this contributions from more musicians than you can shake a stick at; including guitars, additional keyboards and proper drums; from all over Europe, and we have a full sound that fills the room.

The blueprint is ripped up after each number, creating a rich diversity of tracks, from rootical dancehall floor shakers to laid-back dubbyness. ‘Terror Talk’ touches on the Orwellian creation of fear to justify the actions of the state both here and in the middle east; ‘Animus Mundi’ is a dub featuring the Roosevelt sample “The only thing to fear is fear itself”; the title track ‘Live As One’ features the sweet harmonies of Lua whose beautiful feminine voice contrasts nicely the ghetto toasting of some of the other contributors. Her contribution to ‘Forward ever’ gives us one of the highlights of the disc; Likewise Marlene Johnson brings some class to the joint on ‘Why’.

The pace is turned up for tracks like ‘Tribute to Keng Keng’, which should get even the most miserable listener shaking; Earl 16 asks us to ‘Give me good sensimelia’ and his request is so beautiful we feel we ought to oblige, but unfortunately we here at the Iguana have no idea what he is talking about officer; on ‘Bloodlines’ Dubdada demonstrates that he has more than one string to his bow by giving us a much softer vocal than we are used to from him.

There is more, much more. We aint gonna compare it with the old line up and previous albums but we will say that although this might alienate some of the old fans, it wont be many, and no doubt it will bring in some new fans. Given that it is the first album since 2002, no doubt the sound would have changed whatever happened. Onward and upwards.

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