Title: Brilliance
Product review: Ah, before all the endless "Labour of Love" collections, UB40 was a brilliant band making really vital music. Maybe it wasn't "pure" reggae in the minds of some people, but it was inventive, catchy, and performed with energy and respect. You can't ask for much more from a band. The songs here were not short pop singles, but exercises in musical adventure and abandon. The band stretched out and got in a groove ("Madame Medusa" --- oh yes!!!), and then into a dub vein once in a while, and then off into another mezmerizing trancelike sequence of tunes, some with a pop bent and some pure reggae. Many people will say of an artist that "Their First Album was their best" --- and in this case of UB40 and this album I think that's very true. There were some other very good UB40 albums after this one, but the brilliance of these compositions made it an almost impossible task to top. This music still breathes and impresses.
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