Unchained Spirit
{{Infobox album
| name = Unchained Spirit
| type = Album
| artist = Buju Banton
| cover = Unchained Spirit.jpg
| alt =
| released = August 22, 2000
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = {{flatlist|
| length = {{Duration|h=1|m=3|s=54}}
| label = {{hlist|ANTI-|Epitaph Records}}
| producer =
| prev_title = Inna Heights
| prev_year = 1997
| next_title = Friends for Life
| next_year = 2003
}}
Unchained Spirit is a studio album by the dancehall/reggae artist Buju Banton, released in 2000.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/buju-banton-mn0000939187/biography|title=Buju Banton | Biography & History|website=AllMusic}}{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ARrDQKqFo7AC&pg=PA32|title=Reggae & Caribbean Music|first=Dave|last=Thompson|date=May 25, 2002|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|via=Google Books}} It was his first and only album to be released on the ANTI- record label, an imprint of Epitaph Records.
The album peaked at No. 128 on the Billboard 200.{{Cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/buju-banton/chart-history/tsl/|title=Buju Banton|website=Billboard}}
Production
The album contains contributions from Stephen Marley, Rancid, and Beres Hammond, among others.{{cite web |title=Buju Banton, Preacher Mon |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/08/16/buju-banton-preacher-mon/86811cf3-f514-4b04-9d1a-363c95857342/ |website=The Washington Post |access-date=25 May 2021}}
Critical reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/unchained-spirit-mw0000608470|title=Unchained Spirit - Buju Banton | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic|via=www.allmusic.com}}
|rev2 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
|rev2score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=1 |page=409}}
|rev3 = The Evening Post
|rev3score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite news |last1=Greeks |first1=Polly |title=Movies & Music |work=The Evening Post |date=31 Aug 2000 |location=Features |page=17}}
|rev4 = NME
|rev4score = {{rating|2.5|5}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews-nme-2769-343366|title=Unchained Spirit|date=September 12, 2005}}
|rev5 = (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide
|rev5score = {{rating|3.5|5}}{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t9eocwUfoSoC&pg=PA44|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|first1=Nathan|last1=Brackett|first2=Christian David|last2=Hoard|date=May 25, 2004|publisher=Simon and Schuster|via=Google Books}}
|rev6 = Spin
}}
Exclaim! wrote that "the treacle far outstrips anything resembling a tuff rhythm here ... even over the good rhythms, Buju doesn't seem to have the command he once did."{{Cite web|url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/buju_banton-unchained_spirit|title=Buju Banton Unchained Spirit | Exclaim!|website=exclaim.ca}} The Star Tribune thought that "Buju's grainy voice flows over slowly distilled lattices of rhythms and multi-part South African-style harmonies."{{cite news |last1=Preston |first1=Rohan |title=POP MUSIC |work=The Star Tribune |date=20 Aug 2000 |page=7F}} M.F. DiBella of AllMusic defined the album as a "a vital and rhythmic mix of homegrown Jamaican philosophy, biblical harmonizing, and just plain eerie dancehall".
Track listing
- "Intro" – 0:39
- "23rd Psalm" (feat. Gramps of Morgan Heritage) – 5:44
- "Voice Of Jah" (feat. LMS) – 5:01
- "Sudan" – 4:41
- "We'll Be Alright" (feat. Luciano) – 4:24
- "Pull It Up" (feat. Beres Hammond) – 4:09
- "Life Is A Journey" – 4:07
- "Better Must Come" – 4:12
- "Mighty Dread" – 5:01
- "Poor Old Man" (feat. Stephen Marley) – 4:26
- "Law And Order" – 3:51
- "Guns And Bombs" – 3:20
- "Woman Dem Phat" – 3:16
- "No More Misty Days" (feat. Rancid) – 4:01
- "Pull It Up" (feat. Beres Hammond) (live) – 2:56
- "Reunion" (feat. Wayne Wonder) – 4:06