Journey to Addis by Third World

Journey to Addis, Third World's third album, came out on Island in 1978, and it's where the Jamaican band stopped playing strictly by reggae's rules. Aiming for a following far beyond Jamaica and England, they blended their reggae with soul, and the grooves here go silky and warm, the bass still deep but the melodies built to float out of any radio in the world. That new approach may not have sat well with the reggae purists.

The clearest example is their cover of the O'Jays' "Now That We Found Love", turned into a buoyant, skanking dance-floor number. It went to number 10 in the UK and 47 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Cool Meditation" followed it into the British top 20. Richie Daley, the one constant in the band since 1973, is here, with Willie Stewart on drums. The album also reached number 66 in Canada.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.