release date: Sep. 30, 1982
format: cd (1987 reissue) / digital (2012 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Bob Sargeant
label: I.R.S. / Shout! Factory - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "I Confess" (4 / 5) - 2. "Jeanette" - 4. "Sole Salvation" (4 / 5) - 5. "Spar Wid Me" - 7. "Save It for Later" - 9. "Pato and Roger a Go Talk" - 10. "Sugar & Stress" - 11. "End of the Party" - 12. "Ackee 1-2-3"
3rd and final studio album by The Beat originally released on Go Feet and as the first two albums produced by Bob Sargeant. Since Wha'ppen? from '81 the sextet has been expanded to an octet by the addition of Wesley Magoogan on clarinet & saxophone and by Dave 'Blockhead' Wright on piano & keyboards. Once again, the band has changed its style and musical output, although, the foundation are more or less the same. With the 1980 debut album I Just Can't Stop It the band blasted in on the albums chart list in the UK with strong biting lyrics and tight ska revival with bold bits of new wave - on the following '81 album they found back to the roots of ska and related styles of reggae and r&b and subdued new wave ingredients. On this, they sort of put it all together in a new melting pot with the addition of synthpop and / or early shapes of sophisti-pop, although, it still remains 2-tone ska revival.
All in all, the album is more of a coherent whole than its predecessor, but there's quite a long distance from the debut to this one where the arrangements include bolder use of keyboards and horn sections. Nonetheless, the album is still very much in the spirit of The Beat - there's the ever-present political and social awareness that bonds with The Specials and The Selector - and more so than e.g. Madness and Bad Manners, who appears as having a similar starting point, but here, The Beat makes use of styles and arrangements that associates it with acts like Elvis Costello and especially Squeeze.
The album wasn't the critical nor commercial success they had witnessed with its two former albums, and only 6 months later, The Beat was no more. Internal conflicts and different ideas on musical direction ended one of the strongest and most successful bands of ska revival. The two vocal frontmen, Ranking Roger and Dave Wakeling soon after founded another interesting band, General Public, and guitarist Andy Cox and bassist David Steele teamed up with vocalist Roland Gift and formed Fine Young Cannibals.
