Ziggy Marley - One Bright Day CDs • Vinyl Records • LPs • Music Albums

Lennon sounds like John, but Ziggy has found a way to use that as a springboard: He accepts the familiarity and tries to add something new.

At his best, Ziggy displays a voice that is his alone. The new album's strongest track, "Black My Story (Not History)," is a devastating take on international perceptions of African history, buttressed by harmonies that owe as much to the Zulu vocal groups of Azania as they do to the classic Trojan harmony groups of the late Sixties. The broad evocations continue on the title track, which expands reggae to a more Americanized pop form, with fine results.

One Bright Day is satisfying and sometimes moving, but the Melody Makers still occasionally echo their father too distinctly for their own good: The new "All Love" is a virtual rewrite of Bob's "One Love." Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers have established themselves as a worthwhile band on their own: They don't need to give us throwbacks to interest us. (RS 560)

JIMMY GUTERMAN