Battle Of Armagideon
Mr. Lee 'Scratch' Perry And The Upsetters
Battle of Armagideon (often subtitled Millionaire Liquidator) is a 1986 studio album by Jamaican producer, singer, and sonic visionary Lee “Scratch” Perry, recorded with his then-backing band the Upsetters and released on Trojan Records. Coming several years after the destruction of his legendary Black Ark studio and a period of personal and creative turmoil, it is widely regarded as a major comeback and one of Perry’s most significant bodies of work of the 1980s. The album’s core eleven tracks—Introducing Myself, Drum Song, Grooving, All Things Are Possible, Show Me That River, Time Marches On (In/Out Mix), I Am a Madman, The Joker, Happy Birthday, Sexy Lady, and Time Marches On—feature Perry on vocals, percussion, and harmonica, with the Upsetters lineup including Mark “Marcus Upbeat” Downie (guitar, synth, co-producer), Tarlok Mann (lead guitar), Russ Cummings (keyboards), Marac “Spike” Kolodzinski (bass), Kenneth “Peng” Smith (drums), and a small horn section.
Musically, Battle of Armagideon blends Perry’s dubwise instincts and chant-like, stream‑of‑consciousness lyricism with a new, mid‑1980s sonic palette rooted in live band interplay, rock‑leaning guitars, and contemporary studio processing. Tracks like Introducing Myself and I Am a Madman showcase his dense, swirling production style—bass pushed forward as a physical presence, hi‑hats ticking like clockwork, and vocals buried, echoed, or suddenly foregrounded—while Grooving and Drum Song evoke both roots reggae and the more angular, post‑Black Ark experiments he was pursuing with British musicians in the Dub Factory. Time Marches On and All Things Are Possible fold apocalyptic imagery, spiritual searching, and surreal wordplay into grooves that feel simultaneously playful and ominous, prompting critics to describe the album as a “return to form” and the Spin Alternative Record Guide to call it Perry’s best work of the decade. Later expanded editions, such as Doctor Bird’s 2CD set, add holiday singles like Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, alternate mixes, and long dub versions, further illuminating how Battle of Armagideon marked both a bold new sonic chapter and a bridge between Perry’s Black Ark past and his prolific, globe‑roaming later career.
Battle Of Armagideon
Mr. Lee 'Scratch' Perry And The Upsetters
Battle of Armagideon (often subtitled Millionaire Liquidator) is a 1986 studio album by Jamaican producer, singer, and sonic visionary Lee “Scratch” Perry, recorded with his then-backing band the Upsetters and released on Trojan Records. Coming several years after the destruction of his legendary Black Ark studio and a period of personal and creative turmoil, it is widely regarded as a major comeback and one of Perry’s most significant bodies of work of the 1980s. The album’s core eleven tracks—Introducing Myself, Drum Song, Grooving, All Things Are Possible, Show Me That River, Time Marches On (In/Out Mix), I Am a Madman, The Joker, Happy Birthday, Sexy Lady, and Time Marches On—feature Perry on vocals, percussion, and harmonica, with the Upsetters lineup including Mark “Marcus Upbeat” Downie (guitar, synth, co-producer), Tarlok Mann (lead guitar), Russ Cummings (keyboards), Marac “Spike” Kolodzinski (bass), Kenneth “Peng” Smith (drums), and a small horn section.
Musically, Battle of Armagideon blends Perry’s dubwise instincts and chant-like, stream‑of‑consciousness lyricism with a new, mid‑1980s sonic palette rooted in live band interplay, rock‑leaning guitars, and contemporary studio processing. Tracks like Introducing Myself and I Am a Madman showcase his dense, swirling production style—bass pushed forward as a physical presence, hi‑hats ticking like clockwork, and vocals buried, echoed, or suddenly foregrounded—while Grooving and Drum Song evoke both roots reggae and the more angular, post‑Black Ark experiments he was pursuing with British musicians in the Dub Factory. Time Marches On and All Things Are Possible fold apocalyptic imagery, spiritual searching, and surreal wordplay into grooves that feel simultaneously playful and ominous, prompting critics to describe the album as a “return to form” and the Spin Alternative Record Guide to call it Perry’s best work of the decade. Later expanded editions, such as Doctor Bird’s 2CD set, add holiday singles like Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, alternate mixes, and long dub versions, further illuminating how Battle of Armagideon marked both a bold new sonic chapter and a bridge between Perry’s Black Ark past and his prolific, globe‑roaming later career.