"The Specials" Vs. "More Specials"

http://alliedracing.org/Smileys/AR/smiley.gif

perhaps even more relevant than Fade Away was this forlorn little tango from the Charmless Man EP:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwWAP5Cpd8Q

I loved this record when I was about 11 (mainly for the swearing). The whole Two Tone thing had enormous currency for young boys at my primary school. Listening now, it's the bleakness that strikes me (also of other stuff such as "The Boiler"). The route from here to Massive Attack/Tricky (via Fun Boy Three) is pretty clear to my ears.

Any love for "Special Beat Service"?

Definitely "The Specials" all the way for me but the singles from "More Specials" were great.

"Special Beat Service" is fun, much better and more consistent than "Wha'ppen" but the debut is still the best. SBS is almost like a different band with it's new wave vibe. "Save It For Later" is monstrously good, though.

'Drowning' off Wha'ppen would have fitted nicely on More Specials

My favourite track on Special Beat Service is Sole Salvation - just seems so effortless like all their best stuff.

Love that Blur track, by the way.

Songwriting credits on "The Great Escape" are kind of "blurred" in that they are all credited as writers of all songs, but I would guess Alex James had more input on "Face Away" than most other non-instrumentals.

Blur's credits usually ran "Lyrics Albarn, Music Albarn, Coxon, James, Rowntree"

Excepting stuff solely written by Coxon or James...

Mark is right. Albarn got nearly all the songwriting credits but shared 50% of it with the rest of the band.

is the new one worth hearing at all?

Sure, it has its moments, and is an enjoyable listen, but it doesn't add to their legacy or anything.

It's up on Spotify if you have any access to that.

Another vote for "enjoyable but inessential"

I couldn't really tell from hearing it on Spotify whether there was a single backing band line up throughout. Or the 3 original Specials who've been doing various interviews recently plus various pick up backing members depending on the track.

They get further into funk than I think they did previously.