The Specials – More Specials (1980/2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

The Specials – More Specials (1980/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 42:29 minutes | 946 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Chrysalis Records

More Specials is the second album by ska band The Specials, released in October 1980. The album expanded the 2 tone sound of their self-titled debut to include lounge music and other influences.

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

Tracklist:
01. The Specials – Enjoy Yourself (It’s Later Than You Think) (03:39)
02. The Specials – Man At C&A (03:37)
03. The Specials – Hey, Little Rich Girl (03:36)
04. The Specials – Do Nothing (03:44)
05. The Specials – Pearl’s Cafe (03:09)
06. The Specials – Sock It To ‘Em J.B. (03:00)
07. The Specials – Stereotypes/Stereotypes – Pt. 2 (07:24)
08. The Specials – Holiday Fortnight (02:46)
09. The Specials – I Can’t Stand It (04:03)
10. The Specials – International Jet Set (05:38)
11. The Specials – Enjoy Yourself (Reprise) (01:48)

Personnel:
Terry Hall – vocals
Lynval Golding – vocals, guitar
Neville Staple – vocals, percussion
Jerry Dammers – organ, piano, keyboards, producer
Roddy Byers – guitar
Sir Horace Gentleman – bass guitar
John Bradbury – drums, producer of one track
Rico Rodriguez – trombone
Dick Cuthell – cornet, flugelhorn, horn
Lee Thompson – saxophone
Paul Heskett – saxophone
Rhoda Dakar – vocals
Belinda, Charlotte and Jane – background vocals

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