Customer Reviews
Singularily Special - By: Ian Wood, Author of 'Here's 2 Absent Fathers', 01 May 2008 
The Specials Singles is just that containing at least the a-sides of the 45's of one the greatest bands of all time. Opening with one of the strongest debut single of all time `Gangsters' it moves through double `a' side `Rudi, a Message to You' & `Nite Klub' to the first side of there live EP `Too Much Too Young' & the Skatalite inspired `Guns of Navarone'.
Stand alone single `Rat Race' is next before we move into less comfortable territory with double `a' `Stereotype' b/w `International Jet Set' & then `Do Nothing'. The magnificent `Ghost Town' is next together with both of its equally good b-sides `Why?' & `Friday Night, Saturday Morning'.
The quality drops as Terry Hall, Neville Staples & Lynval Golding leave to form Fun Boy Three & The Special AKA give us a poor `War Crimes' & `Racist Friend' . The temperature rises again with the fantastic `Nelson Mandela' but it's too late to save the band & `Girlfriend' leaves the album, & indeed the band, with a disappointing ending. Hopefully now the full band is reforming The Specials will be given the coda they deserve.
the best - By: rjhallen@earthlink.net, 08 Aug 2001 I wasin my late teens when ska hit the world (my world), saw specials, madness etc at various concerts, have all the albums & 45's. love them still, nothing will come close the the beat. this is a great album. buy it & you won't keep still.
Coventry's sublime answer to New Wave - By: , 13 Mar 2001 The bulk of the Specials' career between 1979 & 1981 is solidly collatedin this truly excellent compilation album.
Jerry Dammers was the musical genius who provided the main driving force behind the diverse talent he had collated, all of which were excellent live rock musicians. Furthermore, many have frontman viewed Terry Hall as the direct precursor of Morrissey, with his deadpan, sardonic vocals & tragi-comedic lyrics about life's more mundane subject-matter, eg, 'I'd rather have lipstick on my collar than piss-stains on my shoes'.... truly inspired ! For 18 months or so, The Special's were deservedly Britain's biggest band, even making a sizeable impactin the USA, where they achieved cult status.
There are several standout tracks here, particularly the three #1 hits, Too Much Too Young (about teenage pregnancy), Rat Race (about the Coventry band's resentment of having to move south to London to succeed) & the haunting Ghost Town, from 1981. Ghost Town is an excellent snapshot of a country at the end of its tether, highlighting Coventry's rapid social, economic & psychological desolation during Thatcher's first two yearsin power, & it proved extremely prophetic when just months later, several major cities experienced rioting on an unprecedented scale (this theme was also inherentin their famous Concrete Jungle track). However, with choice tracks such as the classic Gangsters, A Message To You Rudi, Do Nothing & Friday Night, Saturday Morning plus the Special AKA's Nelson Mandela, there is quality herein adbundance.
The sound of ska has never sounded so good & you will find few who do not hold this band with the utmost respect. The Special's proved to be one of the world's first socially-aware bands that did'nt ram their messages down our throats but just concentrated on sounded great (some irritatingly called them The Clash of Ska). They certainly led the way, if not musically, but thematically, for the likes of The Smiths & Billy Bragg & were a welcome diversion from the materialistic, New Romantic tosh that was rapidly swamping Britain at the time. Eventually it all came to an abrupt end after Ghost Town, but the offshoot was the brilliant, Terry Hall-led Fun Boy Three followed by his excellent Colourfield project, proving that Dammers was not the only musical genius onboard the ska phenomenon that brought the 'Dance Craze' to Britain.
The Best of The Specials - By: , 07 Feb 2001 This is a truly brilliant album for anyone who loves the whole ska scene.Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!
