More Specials CD

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.
Less frenzied than its predecessor, but more musically adventurous, More Specials was nearly as popular in its day as its predecessor, falling just one chart place below their debut. It kicked off in similar fashion as well, with a classic cover, this time with an exuberant take on Carl Sigman and Conrad Magidson's 1940s chestnut "Enjoy Yourself." A slower, brooding version with the Go-Go's in tow brings the album to a close, taking the place of the set-sealing "You're Wondering Now," which brought the curtain down on their first set. But there the similarities come to an end. The rest of the album is comprised of originals, including a pair of instrumentals -- the Northern soul-esque "Sock It to 'Em JB" and the Mexican-flavored "Holiday Fortnight" -- as well as a duo of minimally vocalized pieces, the intriguing "International Jet Set," and the overtly apocalyptic "Man at C&A." But fans had already been primed for the band's changing musical directions by the release the month before of "Stereotypes," its spaghetti western aura filled with the group's more mournful mood. It's an emotional despair taken to even greater heights on "Do Nothing," as the group futilely searches for a future, but musically stumbles upon a cheery, easygoing rhythm more appropriate to the pop styles of the English Beat than the angrier sounds the Specials had made their own. But to prove it's no fluke, there's the equally bright and breezy "Hey, Little Rich Girl," boasting fabulous sax solos from Madness' Lee Thompson. However, it's an immortal line from "Pearl's Cafe" that Terry Hall and the guesting Bodysnatchers' Rhoda Dakar deliver up in duet that best sums up their own, and the country's pure frustration: "It's all a load of bollocks, and bollocks to it all." It was an intensely satisfying set in its day, even if it wasn't as centered as their debut. The group seems to be moving simultaneously in too many directions, while the lyrics, too, are not quite as hard-hitting as earlier efforts. ~ Jo-Ann Greene
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 incEntertainment Weekly (5/24/02, p.95) - "...A more global-pop excercise, with touches of dub and calypso...Those pining for skinny ties can view videos too..." - Rating: B+
Q (4/02, p.133) - 4 out of 5 stars - "...[Their] 1980's detached, queasy follow-up [to their debut]...Jaunty music hall, bossa nova and mariachi trumpets suggest a nominal celebration/holiday theme, but the panicked gallows feel renders everything grotesque..."
Uncut (1/03, p.97) - Included in Uncut's "100 Best Albums of the Year"