Specials

The Specials - Specials (1979) {Chrysalis Japan CP28-1027 rel 1988}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 287 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 108 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 27 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1979, 1988 Chrysalis / Toshiba EMI Japan | CP28-1027
Ska / Rocksteady / Reggae / New Wave / Ska Revival

The Specials are still the heavyweight champions of both waves of ska revivals (in the UK and later in the USA). I saw the Specials just before this album was released in 1979 at a Rock Against Racism concert in London's Hyde Park. I was warned by my two British hosts that the Specials would "blow my mind."… but nothing could have prepared me for the inspired anarchy of this young racially mixed Brits playing music that sounded like reggae on steroids. The two manic singers Terry Hall and Neville Staples bounced around the stage and banged their heads together in time to the music.

The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English 2 Tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude". Lyrically, they present a "more focused and informed political and social stance"…

Rare 1993 UK 68-track 4-CD collection including The Specials, Madness, The Selecter, The Beat, The Bodysnatchers, Rico, Elvis Costello and many more. This 4 CD box set collects the A-side and B-side of every single released on the label. Both sides of the Dutch Concrete Jungle single plus both tracks from the free single which accompanied initial copies of More Specials are also included. The Bodysnatchers live version of 007 is the only unreleased track in the set, however it did previously appear in the film Dance Craze but failed to make it on to the films soundtrack album. Jerry Dammers was less than impressed with its release and had this to say about it: "It's real train spotters stuff with every B-side from every free single and I wasn't even consulted about it. In some ways that (The Compact 2 Tone Story) is the worst." (Uncut Magazine interview 1998).