you can't go wrong with any of those choices and one will probably lead you to another, I'd rank as the following:

Burnin'
Catch a Fire
Natty Dread
Live!
Exodus

"Soul Shakedown Party" is not on those, but a great tune.
"Duppy Conqueror" is another great song off Burnin.'

I'm surprised at the number for Catch A Fire. Its my favorite but I like his early period compared to later. Soul Rebels is also worthwhile if you dig the era.

I blame it on groupthink...not in the sense that people can't think for themselves but that its THE one that gets the most critical acclaim since its the most important of his albums -- his major label debut which helped not just put him on the world radar screen but help broke reggae beyond Jamaica. I think it gets more historical accolades as a result and when people dip their toes in the Marley catalog (at least beyond Legend), this is a natural starting point. I think it gets the highest % of votes because its the one that people are most familiar with. I'd be curious how many people here are familiar with all of Marley's catalog. I'm not saying Catch a Fire isn't a worthy choice of a favorite, but given the strength of his entire catalog, I'd expect people's favorites to be more widely dispersed if something else wasn't at work.

I think the same is probably true about Van Morrison "Astral Weeks" and Ramones' debut. Its very understandable to me why those albums should be the critic's darlings as the most important albums for each band, but much less clear to me why they should be the almost universal personal favorite of indie hipsters.

For the record, Natty Dread has a slight edge at acclaimedmusic.net, but Catch a Fire is right up there.

I partially agree. For me, Catch a Fire is the only proper studio album I own. I should probably fix that.


For the record, I think Rocket to Russia kills the Ramones debut.

I wouldn't say it kills it, but Rocket to Russia is my favorite and most-listened to Ramones album as well.

"got to have kaya, mon. got to have kaya mon!"