Album review: Jimmy Cliff's influence comes full circle on 'Rebirth' Jimmy Cliff's "Rebirth." UMe / July 16, 2012 July 17, 2012, 6:10 a.m. Two cover songs on Jimmy Cliff's long-simmering comeback album "Rebirth" accentuate how deep the reggae singer's influence is, and how his vision has come full circle. Without Cliff's sweet delivery (like on his staple "Many Rivers to Cross") and steely presence (see his 1972 reggae-gangster flick "The Harder They Come"), there would have been no "Guns of Brixton" by the Clash or "Ruby Soho" by the Bay Area dance-hall punks Rancid. But both songs appear on "Rebirth," with production helmed by Rancid's Tim Armstrong, proving that the genetics of Cliff's style are now onto their fourth generation. Rarely has it sounded as pure. Much of "Rebirth" plays it close to Cliff's stylistic chest, which means tracks such as "World Is Upside Down" and "Children's Bread" are political laments with arrangements that feel as warm as a Jamaican sunrise. Compared to his roiling protest classics like "Vietnam," though, they go down a little too easily. The tougher, more noirish cuts like "One More" and "Bang" are better, drawing from Armstrong's well of street-skulking guitar lines. But for an album so indebted to artists he inspired, "Rebirth" still feels thoroughly and essentially Cliff's. Jimmy Cliff "Rebirth" (Universal Music Enterprises) Two and a half stars (out of four stars) Album review: Jimmy Cliff's 'Sacred Fire EP' Coachella 2012: Stop taunting us, Jimmy Cliff Jimmy Cliff et al make music across generations