Review of Positive by Black Uhuru
Artist: Black Uhuru
Album title: Positive
Release year: 1992
Label: RAS Records
Genre: Reggae
Rating: 4 out of 10

Track listing:
Fire City
Cowboy Town
My Concept
Space Within Your Heart
Positive
Pain
Dry Weather House
I Create
Burning Dub
Dub Town
Conceptual Dub
Space Within Your Dub

Review: 1987's POSITIVE is a transitional album for Black Uhuru. The first album released after Sandra Puma Jones left the group due to ill health--she died of cancer in 1990--POSITIVE finds Jones' replacement, a near-soundalike named Olafunke, fitting somewhat awkwardly into the harmonies. However, this is also the album where lead singer Junior Reid finally emerges from the shadow of the man he replaced, the great Michael Rose. On earlier Black Uhuru albums, Reid had unfortunate tendencies toward mimicry of Rose's angelic tenor, but throughout POSITIVE, Reid features the sassy baritone growl which served him so well throughout his solo career. Tom Tom Club bassist Steve Stanley produces the album, though former producers Sly and Robbie are still the featured musicians. Stanley's slightly more modern and electronic style suits the uniformly strong material very well, especially on Dunbar's earth-shattering Fire City.