It really can’t be easy being the son of an iconic, internationally famous and, regrettably, dead musician when you’re trying to launch your own musical career – something another Julian knows all about – but Julian Marley isn’t trying to step out from his late father’s shadow here.
By his own admission, he’s simply keeping the family shop open. “Come with me/To my father’s place/Where we can be/in sweet harmony” he sings on the opening track of this excellent, hour-long, reggae-fest.
With a little assistance from the likes of Bunny Wailer, Stephen ‘Asher’ Noel and Owen ‘Dready’ Reid, he makes a pretty good fist of it too. Produced by his older brother Stephen (some other Marley siblings also contribute musically), and recorded in Kingston and Florida, Bob’s spirit and the smell of good ganga permeate the album’s 13 tracks. Although Julian’s voice is quite distinctive, there are still times when he sounds uncannily like his father. But then, this is really no bad thing.
Lyrically, he doesn’t stray far from the usual reggae themes of love going good, love going bad, God being great, and how the Man is oppressing everybody (“Systems were made to rule/Systems were made to divide and abuse you”). Again, no bad thing.
So a fairly easy and straightforward review, this. If you’re either a Bob Marley or a reggae fan – and they’re pretty much one and the same thing, anyway – then you definitely won’t regret adding A Time & Place to your collection. Julian may not be offering anything particularly new or original here but, standing on the shoulders of a giant, he admirably succeeds in not falling off.