Reggae is, undeniably, a most versatile of music forms. In the past twelve months we have had Pink Floyd's classic album Dark Side Of The Moon' re-worked reggae style to marvellous effect and more recently, there has been the release of Is It Rolling Bob', a collection of Dylan's classic songs receiving a reggae makeover with stunning results.

Now, the legendary Jamaican label Trojan Records pays its reggae tribute to the finest song catalogue of them all, that of the Beatles, in the form of a beautifully compiled 3CD set.

Trojan Records has for years released some of the most sublime reggae and dub inspired music with consistency and without prejudice. On this magnificent box set, which should not only appeal to fans of the Fab Four and reggae devotees but music lovers in general, the cream of Trojan's impressive roster of artists over the years turn out in force and confirm not only that a great song will always remain a great song but that so much of the Beatles repertoire is ideally suited to a reggae arrangement.

With any other label/genre, this project might well have turned out horribly with over-zealous producers competing to out-produce George Martin's original and inspired versions or, bands thinking they can out-musican the Beatles and add some un-needed muscle to already perfect songs. Luckily that is not the case with the Trojan Beatles Tribute Box Set'(Sanctuary) as the production is perfect and none of the bands/artists are self-indulgent in the slightest, instead they all bring a fun and crazy sound to these standards and the compilers of this set need to be applauded for unearthing a host of gems from Trojan's deep vaults.

Comprising fifty tracks over the three CDs, there really is a vast wealth of fantastic material to feast on hear as some of the great names of the reggae genre tackle both vocal and instrumental slants on Lennon , McCartney and Harrison's greatest collective and solo work , with barely a duffer in earshot. Big names such as The Maytals, The Upsetters, Desmond Dekker and Ken Boothe are represented alongside far less familiar artists but the results are consistently illuminating. The performers boldly interpret both the over-familiar standards and neglected gems such as If I Needed Someone' from the Rubber Soul' album. In some cases you get more than one version of a song by different artists eg. Let It Be', My Sweet lord' and Blackbird'.

The first two CDs are handily arranged in chronological order of release of the original Beatles tracks with the third CD being dedicated to Brit-based reggae artists and it transpires that both Jamaican and British acts generally incline towards late era Beatles in their choice of songs. Picking out highlights from the set isn't an easy task but certainly worthy of particular mention is John Holt's Hey Jude' simple, direct and allowing his distinctive Caribbean lilt to shine through, Glen Adam's I Want To Hold Your Hand', the inspired And I Love Her' by Byron Lees & The Droganaires, Ernie Smith's You Won't See Me', Marcia Griffiths' Don't Let Me Down', The Maytals Give Peace A Chance' and Sharon Forrester's superb interpretation of Here Comes The Sun'. Thankfully, Mull of Kintyre' is left untouched but overall but even Eleanor Rigby' is now rendered danceable.

Trojan BeatlesTribute Box Set' is a wonderfully eclectic mix and, just like the contents of a good box of chocolates, there should be something for everyone here. If this is reggae music, then let it be.