More Specials
Specials
Rhoda Dakar, The Go-Go's, Rico Rodriquez
Engineer: Dave Jordan, Jeremy Allom
Chrysalis Records (USA), 2002
1 CD
Catalogue #: 37699
EAN: 0724353769901
UPC: 724353769901
You save: 20%
This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
The Specials: Neville Staples (vocals, percussion); Terry Hall (vocals); Lynval Golding (guitar, background vocals); Roddy Radiation (guitar); Jerry Dammers (piano, organ); Sir Horace Gentleman (bass); John Bradbury (drums).
Additional personnel: Rhoda Dakar (vocals); Kik Thompson, Paul Heskatt (saxophones); Dick Cuthell (flugelhorn, cornet); Rico Rodriguez (trombone); The Go-Go's (background vocals).
Producers: Jerry Dammers, Dave Jordan.
Reissue Producers: Nigel Reeve, Rob Owen.
Recorded at Horizon Studios, Coventry, England. Includes liner notes by Adrian Thrills.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
The Specials' sophomore effort boasts an even greater stylistic diversity than the band's remarkable debut. Though revivalist ska mixed with an early 1980s New Wave energy is still the keynote, as evidenced by the leadoff song, a cover of Prince Buster's "Enjoy Yourself," MORE SPECIALS also delves into cha-cha, cocktail jazz, and more. "Stereotypes," for example, brings together a lounge-ready mix of dub, mariachi, and Ennio Morricone-esque Western themes in a way that presages the post-rock revival of those genres in the '90s.
Other tracks, particularly the upbeat "Hey, Little Rich Girl" (which features sax work by Madness's Lee Thompson) and the old-school R&B-tinged "Sock It to 'Em J.B." (a tongue-in-cheek James Bond tribute), recall the Specials' first album. But it is the curveball, experimental work that is the most striking, especially the trippy dub groove (and nuclear-protest message) of "Man at C&A" and the quirky, space-age bounce of "International Jet Set." Though it's possible that the Specials' stylistic innovation confused some fans, the ambition on MORE SPECIALS is extremely impressive. The 2002 reissue includes an enhanced feature with videos for "Ghost Town" and "Rat Race" (though the songs aren't included on the album proper).
Tracklist
Specials
Leaders of ska music's second wave in England during the late 1970s and early '80s, the Specials founded the 2 Tone record label, and added like-minded bands such as the Selecter, the English Beat, and Madness to the roster. Combining socially conscious messages with jaunty, danceable melodies, the Specials (later known as the Special AKA) toured with the Clash, had their first album produced by Elvis Costello, and topped the British singles charts with ska anthems "Gangsters" and "Rudi, A Message to You." At the peak of their success in 1981, internal tensions led to the group fragmenting, with members departing to form the Fun Boy Three and, later, the Special Beat.
Related links:
SpecialsRhoda Dakar
The Go-Go's
Rico Rodriquez
2 Tone Ska
Reggae
Chrysalis Records (USA)
