When I saw Bad Manners' Anthology in the library I decided to borrow and review it because, as everyone knows, Bad Manners are ska legends.
Anthology includes two CD's, I guess first one is some kind of �Best Of� and the second one is live. In booklet there is the history of Bad Manners. I think it's funny to read that kind of stuff.
CD 1: First this CD was little disappointing. I expected faster stuff, songs like Skinhead Love Affair, but many of these songs sound very much like reggae. I listened this CD again and actually it is not bad at all.
The singer, Buster Bloodvessel, has a really personal voice and rest of band plays very well.
The first song, �Bonanza Ska�, is very funny. It's from an old TV-series, Bonanza. Do you remember good ol' cowboy Bonanza? Well, in any case, it's funny. I think the best song is �Skinhead Love Affair� because it's brisk and funny, but actually there are lots of good songs like �Big Five� and �Sally Brown�. �How Big Do You Love Me� reminds me of the Finnish humour band, El�kel�iset, because of the organs. �Baby Elephant Walk� and �Rocksteady Breakfast� are instrumentals.
I think this kind of music is damn good party-music.
CD 2: This CD is a live-recording and I like it more than CD 1. Often live recordings have problems with the quality of sound, but this time it is good. I think the live-CD has more emotion and the band plays more lively (probably because they are playing live hahahaha). It's hard to name my favorites on this CD because all of the songs are really good.
I have to mention that my dad told me that My Girl Lollipop is originally performed Molly or someone who was big star maybe 30 years ago. And she had a gig in Finland at a place called Nelospirtti which was a very popular dance place in those days.
Track List:
Disc 1:
1. Bonanza Ska
2. Skinhead Love Affair
3. Big Five
4. Non Shrewd
5. Hey Little Girl
6. Buffalo Ska
7. Sally Brown
8. How Big Do You Love Me
9. Mafia
10. Baby Elephant Walk
11. Since You've Gone Away
12. Memory Train
13. Rocksteady Breakfast
14. Gonna Get Along Without You (reggae version)
Disc 2 (Live):
1. Echo 4 + 2
2. Walking In The Sunshine
3. Just A Feeling
4. Lip Up Fatty
5. Lorranie
6. Wooly Bully
7. Inner London Violence
8. Only Funkin'
9. My Girl Lollipop
10. Samson And Delilah
11. The Magnificent Seven
12. Can Can
13. Ne-Ne Na-Na Na-Na Nu-Nu
14. Special Brew