The Profound Appeal of Dub: Recommended Masterpieces and a Popular Classic
If you know the music genre called dub, chances are you’re a serious music lover who frequents record shops.
While it’s a genre derived from reggae, it’s also a production method, and its world is incredibly deep and profound.
This article focuses on classic, essential albums recommended for beginners, while also highlighting releases that trace the roots from authentic Jamaican roots dub to UK dub, as well as works in post-punk and new wave that bear dub’s influence.
Even those who usually listen mainly to rock will find plenty to enjoy—so be sure to check it out!
- The deep world of dub music: classic albums where you can experience the sonic magic born from reggae.
- What is DUB? A Beginner’s Guide to Dub Music!
- The world of rocksteady born in Jamaica — a roundup of must-hear classic tracks to get you started
- Must-Listen for Beginners: Legendary Reggae Albums You Should Hear at Least Once — A Collection of Popular Records
- [Reggae] Introducing Classic Dub Tracks | Featuring Japanese Reggae and International Reggae!
- Japanese reggae bands, plus bands that incorporate reggae-influenced styles.
- Danceable Jazz! Classic and Recommended Albums of Acid Jazz
- [For Beginners] Introducing Recommended Overseas Reggae Bands and Groups!
- [Foreign Music] A Guide to Post-Rock: Essential Classics and a Recommended Pick
- Packed with slap groove vibes! A collection of songs with cool bass
- Classic post-punk hits from Western music: a roundup of popular tracks you should listen to first
- Masterpieces, fan favorites, and new 21st-century staples for reggae beginners
- From the UK! The Allure of Grime — Essential Albums and Fan Favorites to Start With
The Profound Allure of Dub: Recommended Masterpieces and Popular Picks (21–30)
For A ReasonLifetones
This Heat were a legendary band whose experimental sound shocked listeners and stood out within the UK-born post-punk genre, despite a relatively small body of work.
Lifetones, introduced here, was a new project launched by Charles Bullen—one of This Heat’s members—after the band broke up.
Their only album, For A Reason, released in 1983, long circulated as a hard-to-find rarity, but it was remastered and reissued on CD and vinyl in 2016.
The record has a fascinating feel—electronic dub as filtered through the UK post-punk/new wave side—rich with an exotic sense of rhythm and melody, near-dissonant chord progressions, and sonic treatments that thickly evoke the atmosphere of the underground at the time.
It’s a record I highly recommend to anyone who’s already delved into the more classic end of dub and is ready for a challenge.
Ten Feet tallJoe Gibbs All Stars
Joe Gibbs, a reggae producer from Jamaica.
He produced albums that became bestsellers in Jamaica and has dedicated himself to creating new reggae sounds since the 1970s.
This track was released as a single in 1970.
Take 5 DubKing Tubby
King Tubby, born in 1941 in Jamaica, was a sound engineer and music producer, and is known as one of the inventors of dub.
He contributed to the development of dub throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
“Take 5 Dub” is a track that mixes the famous jazz piece “Take Five” in a dub style.
It appears on the LP compilation released in 2004 by the UK label Jamaican Recordings, titled “King Tubby – Dub Mix Up – Rare Dubs 1975-1979.”
Roast Fish & Corn BreadLee Perry
Lee Perry is a dub engineer, music producer, and reggae musician born in 1936 in Kendall, Hanover Parish, in northwest Jamaica.
In the early 1970s, his numerous experiments at the mixing board made him one of the producers who helped create dub.
He began his career in the late 1950s and is currently 81 years old.
Roast Fish & Corn Bread is a track from an album released in 1976.
EgoWILLY WILLIAM
Willy William is a French DJ, producer, and singer who has been active since 2003.
He is known for collaborations and remixes with dance music artists.
This track was released in 2015 and reached No.
3 on the Belgian charts.