Ub40

While the two previous Best of UB40 collections neatly divided the band's output between their more political early period and their later, covers-oriented pop success, they were also only ten tracks apiece. The Very Best of UB40 1980-2000 is the first comprehensive single-disc overview of the band's career, and it's a lot more generous at 20 tracks. It isn't arranged chronologically, which actually helps the programming by splitting up the covers over the course of the running order. There's a bit more toughness to the earlier songs, both in the lyrics and the punchier performances. Yet in the end, the sonic differences are subtle enough that casual fans should still be able to enjoy them (unless they only want to hear the band performing reggae-pop versions of oldies they already know).

For the Many is the twentieth studio album by English reggae band UB40. It was released on 15 March 2019 on the Shoestring record label. The album cover was designed by the band's saxophonist Brian Travers and depicts a silhouette of tower blocks, following the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire. The album's name has been associated with the Labour Party and its leader Jeremy Corbyn's use of the slogan "For the many, not the few". Travers commented on the connection in an article published in a Birmingham Live article, stating, "We're all socialists and Labour supporters". For the Many is the band's first album of original material to feature vocalist Duncan Campbell and drummer Jimmy Brown.

UB40 was the first indication that the band was abandoning the political inclinations of their earlier work and concentrating solely on pop-reggae. Of course, pop informed all of their albums since Labour of Love, but on UB40, the group concentrates solely on the grooves, from the instrumental "Dance with the Devil" to a sultry cover of "Breakfast in Bed," featuring Chrissie Hynde on vocals. Even though the album and all of its mellow grooves are thoroughly enjoyable, it's hard not to long for something a little deeper, whether it's the tributes of Labour of Love or the edgy Rat in the Kitchen.

UB40’s new collaborations album Bigga Baggariddim is the follow up to the band’s critically acclaimed and internationally successful 1985 release Baggariddim. Bigga Baggariddim is an international celebration of Reggae, featuring New Zealand’s House of Shem, India’s Reggae Rajahs, reggae veterans Inner Circle, Tippa Irie, and Winston Francis, and up-comers Gilly G, Kioko, BLVK H3RO, and Leno Banton. The album also includes tracks with Pablo Rider and Slinger, who both featured on the 1985 Baggariddim album.

UB40 was faced with following up the surprisingly successful covers album Labour Of Love (which had topped the U.K. chart, and become their U.S. chart debut) with this album of original material. Their own songs were good, but no match for what then seemed a one-of-a-kind collection. "If It Happens Again," which went to Number Nine in Britain, sounded like a song by The English Beat, while the second single, "Riddle Me" (at Number 59), was a deeper reggae groove tune. It was a good set, but without a classic like "Red, Red Wine," it suffered from a certain anonymity, especially in the U.S.