Sleeve: Busy! Album title, subtitle and song titles barely leave room for a B/W band picture.
Sleevenotes: Five-page profile by one Harry Hawke in small print size against unhelpful molten lava backdrop, interspersed with nostalgic pictures. Welcome list of Skatalites' discography and line-up details.
Content: 25 jazz-flavoured instrumentals from Jamaican ska pioneers, comprising cream of Kingston's session players, 1964-1965
High points: 1, Guns Of Navarone, number 36 hit in UK in April 1967. 2, Don Drummond's golden trombone
Low point: Lack of variation on a musical theme
Glaring omissions: None.
Anything new?: No but "only now has a collection entirely devoted to their finest works been made available on the Trojan label".
Excuse for release: See above.
Where might this end up?: In the hands of anyone planning the next ska revival. Twenty years on from the Specials and The Beat, it must be due.
Updated: 08:53 Thursday, May 29, 2003
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