More Specials

Favorite Songs of All Time: 1980-1981 (173 items)
list by Agent Kermit D. Fonz

The Specials is a frantic skank-romping good-time, More Specials is the subdued follow-up. It also branches out into more styles than the debut, which focused on the 2-tone/ska revival craze that they had helped usher in. Like the previous disc, More Specials opens up with a rocking cover of an older song, this time “Enjoy Yourself,” which gets a reprise at the end with the Go-go’s as guest ... read more

Description: Frantic touring and sudden stardom took their toll on the Specials. On their first album they'd sung "Too Much Too Young" and now they were living it. More Specials had its moments ("Man at C&A," in particular, was a standout), but for the most part it was the sound of a band running vainly after inspiration. The elements were still there, but somehow they couldn't fit them together in the same magical way. A year after their debut, and the end was already in sight (although they would go out with the magnificence of "Ghost Town") More Specials was just that--more, not necessarily better. Chris Frantic touring and sudden stardom took their toll on the Specials. On their first album they'd sung "Too Much Too Young" and now they were living it. More Specials had its moments ("Man at C&A," in particular, was a standout), but for the most part it was the sound of a band running vainly after inspiration. The elements were still there, but somehow they couldn't fit them together in the same magical way. A year after their debut, and the end was already in sight (although they would go out with the magnificence of "Ghost Town") More Specials was just that--more, not necessarily better. Chris Nickson ... (more) (less)