The Harder They Come

The breakthrough album that—in conjunction with the film of the same title—burst reggae through into the mainstream with its release in England in summer 1972 and in the US, on Island’s newly inaugurated reggae specialist imprint Mango, in spring 1973.As film director and co-writer Perry Henzell said of the film, the first of its kind produced in the island nation’s first decade of independence, “There is no impact you will ever have greater than the impact of showing a society itself on the screen for the first time.”The album captured the sound of Jamaica, and remains a vital document and evergreen collection of the best in Jamaican music.