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Track List
01) (I Can't Help) Falling in Love With You
02) One in Ten
03) Red Red Wine
04) If It Happens Again
05) Here I Am (Come and take Me)
06) Sing Our Own Song
07) I Got You Babe
08) Groovin' (Out on Life)
09) My Way of Thinking
10) The Way You Do the Things You Do
11) Higher Ground
12) Please Don't Make Me Cry
13) Kingston Town
14) Come Back Darling
15) Don't Break My Heart
16) Cherry Oh Baby
17) Breakfast in Bed
18) Rat in the Kitchen
19) Homely Girl
20) Until My Dying Day
21) Swing Low
01) (I Can't Help) Falling in Love With You
02) One in Ten
03) Red Red Wine
04) If It Happens Again
05) Here I Am (Come and take Me)
06) Sing Our Own Song
07) I Got You Babe
08) Groovin' (Out on Life)
09) My Way of Thinking
10) The Way You Do the Things You Do
11) Higher Ground
12) Please Don't Make Me Cry
13) Kingston Town
14) Come Back Darling
15) Don't Break My Heart
16) Cherry Oh Baby
17) Breakfast in Bed
18) Rat in the Kitchen
19) Homely Girl
20) Until My Dying Day
21) Swing Low
3:26
4:33
3:04
3:43
4:04
4:00
3:09
3:48
3:23
3:02
4:21
3:26
3:50
3:28
3:50
3:17
3:20
3:06
3:25
3:53
3:26
Data Complete
70%
Total Rating
70%Total Rating
(0 users)
Back Cover
CD Art
3D Case
3D Thumb
3D Flat
3D Face
3D Spine
First Released
2008
Reggae
Carefree
Reggae
---
Medium
Compilation
0 copies
Album Description
Available in:
2008 release of UB40's Greatest Hits. For over twenty five years, UB40 have continued the job of popularising Reggae around the globe.
UB40: Greatest Hits is one of the gorgeous album of UB40. Album's primary genre is Pop, it was released on 30 Sep, 2008 and contains 21 tracks of duration 01 hours 15 minutes 44 seconds with a soft, smooth, and pleasant sound.
After running 30 years with the exact same lineup—were a unique contradiction of a band. Yes, they were one of the undeniably great reggae groups of our time, but they never did anything profoundly groundbreaking or unique. They started off with more political fire in their belly, but gradually mellowed out in favor of clandestine pop hits, of which they had several (especially in the UK). The group got their break opening for the Pretenders (Chrissie Hynde collaborated with the band a few times), went on to become one of the best-selling reggae groups of all time, yet all of their best-known songs were covers.
Needless to say, there’s a lot more going on in UB40’s music than you would initially be led to believe, which is perhaps why Greatest Hits may very well be the flat-out best introduction to the group. Though the 2000 compilation The Very Best of UB40 did an admirable job of rounding up 18 of the group’s finest, this compilation improves it in just about every way, tossing in important tracks like the Hynde collaboration “Breakfast in Bed” and charting single “Groovin’ (Out on Life)”, all while smartly excising songs like the bumbling Doors cover “Light My Fire” and the heavy-handed “Food for Thought”. In the end, Greatest Hits is a much stronger compilation, but it underscores one very surprising aspect of the group’s music ...
Most of it hasn’t aged a day. Though this octet’s glory years were primarily grounded in the ‘80s (especially with the worldwide dominance of their 1984 Neil Diamond cover “Red Red Wine”), most of their music doesn’t feel particularly dated. Yes, the synth line in “Sing Our Own Song” is unabashedly cheesy-sounding by today’s standards, but in the context of the song itself, it feels completely natural. This was often a crucial element to the group’s success: the guys knew how to pull of a groove, which, in some ways, was more important than remaining faithful to the songs themselves. “(I Can’t Help) Falling in Love With You”, for example, is practically inseparable from its tinny horn stabs at the end of the song, which, in some ways, has become one of the track’s defining characteristics. Frontman Ali Campbell’s voice was always decorated with reverb, but it was his flow and delivery that made his voice so endearing—just listen to “Rat in Mi Kitchen”, in which Ali repeats the line “There’s a rat in mi kitchen / What I’m a-gonna do?” ad-nauseum, somehow making the line’s infinite repetition both endearing and fun at the same time. Musical acts, by law, should never be able to get away with this sort of monotonous rehashing of lyrics, but UB40’s keen sense of melody is what always elevated them beyond their numerous soundalike contemporaries.
Yet the fact that the group’s music remains fresh is more of a testament to the group’s importance than just their sales clout. No, the group didn’t break any new ground with their recordings, but UB40 often acted as a powerful catalyst to reggae’s emerging prominence in the mid-‘80s. The band’s first hit following “Red Red Wine” was the Hynde duet take on “I Got You Babe”, which, though still an iconic Sonny & Cher carryover, got a reworking that was both forward-thinking and respectful at the same time, anchoring the whole thing with a steady rasta beat while retaining the easy-going and romantic vibe of the original. Though people were undoubtedly familiar with the song to begin with, its recontextualization opened doors for the reggae world and allowed the whole genre to be approached by a legion of pop fans who may not have heard reggae in any other context. That UB40 kept cranking out hits leading into the ‘90s wasn’t as much a sign of the group’s strength as it was reggae firmly growing its commercial presence in the ever-expanding world of pop music.
At the end of the day, however, Greatest Hits is just a fun compilation, as tracks like the synth-heavy “Until My Dying Day”, the political (and Thatcher-baiting) “One in Ten”, and the vaguely anthemic “Swing Low” still retain quite a bit of punch in 2008, a year that started with Ali Campbell’s departure from the group after nearly 30 years. Though UB40’s future may be somewhat in doubt, there’s no denying the legacy that they have left so far, and Greatest Hits is as perfect a summation of the band’s successes as you can possibly get.
User Album Review
Taking the two volumes of The Best of UB40 and skillfully whittling them to the size of a single CD, Virgin's 2008 set Greatest Hits is unarguably truth in advertising, even if fans of the English reggae band will still tussle over whether or not the pop hits are pandering numbers well below the group's capabilities. The whole span of UB40's career is displayed in the first two tracks with the opening cover version of "(I Can't Help) Falling in Love with You" representing the ultra-slick, easy to swallow side of the band while "One in Ten" fights for the underdog with roots reggae attitude and dubby production. 'Course track three, the cover of Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine," is the big divider as it crops up at weddings, frat houses, and every pool party held since the single's release in 1983. If you think it reggae's "Don't Worry Be Happy," you probably won't enjoy the take on "I Got You Babe" with Chrissie Hynde, or the band's squeaky clean version of "The Way You Do the Things You Do," but there are 21 tracks here so you can take whatever stance you want on the "sellout" issue and still be left with plenty of greatness. Whether you never heard it or just forgot about it, the inclusion of "If It Happens Again" is a horn-driven highlight, and even the sourest UB40 fan sports a smile when the high-stepping "Rat in Mi Kitchen" gets a spin. Then there's the great "Kingston Town," its wistful melody so beautiful Paris Hilton's people lifted it for her "Stars Are Blind" single. Unfortunately, the set stops at 2003 with the rugby anthem "Swing Low," and seeing how lead singer Ali Campbell left the band in 2008 this is just five years short of being the definitive word on UB40 Mach 1. A smaller complaint is the everyday artwork and not one picture of the band included, but otherwise this is the one-disc, nonjudgmental document of UB40 done right.
External Album Reviews
None...
User Comments
Available in:
2008 release of UB40's Greatest Hits. For over twenty five years, UB40 have continued the job of popularising Reggae around the globe.
UB40: Greatest Hits is one of the gorgeous album of UB40. Album's primary genre is Pop, it was released on 30 Sep, 2008 and contains 21 tracks of duration 01 hours 15 minutes 44 seconds with a soft, smooth, and pleasant sound.
After running 30 years with the exact same lineup—were a unique contradiction of a band. Yes, they were one of the undeniably great reggae groups of our time, but they never did anything profoundly groundbreaking or unique. They started off with more political fire in their belly, but gradually mellowed out in favor of clandestine pop hits, of which they had several (especially in the UK). The group got their break opening for the Pretenders (Chrissie Hynde collaborated with the band a few times), went on to become one of the best-selling reggae groups of all time, yet all of their best-known songs were covers.
Needless to say, there’s a lot more going on in UB40’s music than you would initially be led to believe, which is perhaps why Greatest Hits may very well be the flat-out best introduction to the group. Though the 2000 compilation The Very Best of UB40 did an admirable job of rounding up 18 of the group’s finest, this compilation improves it in just about every way, tossing in important tracks like the Hynde collaboration “Breakfast in Bed” and charting single “Groovin’ (Out on Life)”, all while smartly excising songs like the bumbling Doors cover “Light My Fire” and the heavy-handed “Food for Thought”. In the end, Greatest Hits is a much stronger compilation, but it underscores one very surprising aspect of the group’s music ...
Most of it hasn’t aged a day. Though this octet’s glory years were primarily grounded in the ‘80s (especially with the worldwide dominance of their 1984 Neil Diamond cover “Red Red Wine”), most of their music doesn’t feel particularly dated. Yes, the synth line in “Sing Our Own Song” is unabashedly cheesy-sounding by today’s standards, but in the context of the song itself, it feels completely natural. This was often a crucial element to the group’s success: the guys knew how to pull of a groove, which, in some ways, was more important than remaining faithful to the songs themselves. “(I Can’t Help) Falling in Love With You”, for example, is practically inseparable from its tinny horn stabs at the end of the song, which, in some ways, has become one of the track’s defining characteristics. Frontman Ali Campbell’s voice was always decorated with reverb, but it was his flow and delivery that made his voice so endearing—just listen to “Rat in Mi Kitchen”, in which Ali repeats the line “There’s a rat in mi kitchen / What I’m a-gonna do?” ad-nauseum, somehow making the line’s infinite repetition both endearing and fun at the same time. Musical acts, by law, should never be able to get away with this sort of monotonous rehashing of lyrics, but UB40’s keen sense of melody is what always elevated them beyond their numerous soundalike contemporaries.
Yet the fact that the group’s music remains fresh is more of a testament to the group’s importance than just their sales clout. No, the group didn’t break any new ground with their recordings, but UB40 often acted as a powerful catalyst to reggae’s emerging prominence in the mid-‘80s. The band’s first hit following “Red Red Wine” was the Hynde duet take on “I Got You Babe”, which, though still an iconic Sonny & Cher carryover, got a reworking that was both forward-thinking and respectful at the same time, anchoring the whole thing with a steady rasta beat while retaining the easy-going and romantic vibe of the original. Though people were undoubtedly familiar with the song to begin with, its recontextualization opened doors for the reggae world and allowed the whole genre to be approached by a legion of pop fans who may not have heard reggae in any other context. That UB40 kept cranking out hits leading into the ‘90s wasn’t as much a sign of the group’s strength as it was reggae firmly growing its commercial presence in the ever-expanding world of pop music.
At the end of the day, however, Greatest Hits is just a fun compilation, as tracks like the synth-heavy “Until My Dying Day”, the political (and Thatcher-baiting) “One in Ten”, and the vaguely anthemic “Swing Low” still retain quite a bit of punch in 2008, a year that started with Ali Campbell’s departure from the group after nearly 30 years. Though UB40’s future may be somewhat in doubt, there’s no denying the legacy that they have left so far, and Greatest Hits is as perfect a summation of the band’s successes as you can possibly get.
User Album Review
Taking the two volumes of The Best of UB40 and skillfully whittling them to the size of a single CD, Virgin's 2008 set Greatest Hits is unarguably truth in advertising, even if fans of the English reggae band will still tussle over whether or not the pop hits are pandering numbers well below the group's capabilities. The whole span of UB40's career is displayed in the first two tracks with the opening cover version of "(I Can't Help) Falling in Love with You" representing the ultra-slick, easy to swallow side of the band while "One in Ten" fights for the underdog with roots reggae attitude and dubby production. 'Course track three, the cover of Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine," is the big divider as it crops up at weddings, frat houses, and every pool party held since the single's release in 1983. If you think it reggae's "Don't Worry Be Happy," you probably won't enjoy the take on "I Got You Babe" with Chrissie Hynde, or the band's squeaky clean version of "The Way You Do the Things You Do," but there are 21 tracks here so you can take whatever stance you want on the "sellout" issue and still be left with plenty of greatness. Whether you never heard it or just forgot about it, the inclusion of "If It Happens Again" is a horn-driven highlight, and even the sourest UB40 fan sports a smile when the high-stepping "Rat in Mi Kitchen" gets a spin. Then there's the great "Kingston Town," its wistful melody so beautiful Paris Hilton's people lifted it for her "Stars Are Blind" single. Unfortunately, the set stops at 2003 with the rugby anthem "Swing Low," and seeing how lead singer Ali Campbell left the band in 2008 this is just five years short of being the definitive word on UB40 Mach 1. A smaller complaint is the everyday artwork and not one picture of the band included, but otherwise this is the one-disc, nonjudgmental document of UB40 done right.
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