2019 studio album by The Specials
Encore is the eighth studio album by the English
ska revival band
The Specials . It is their first studio album of original songs since 1998's
Guilty 'til Proved Innocent! , and their first new material with vocalist
Terry Hall since 1981's "
Ghost Town " single.
The album features three covers of older songs; "
Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys " (originally by
The Equals ), "Blam Blam Fever" (originally by
The Valentines ) and "The Lunatics" (originally by Hall and Lynval Golding's group
Fun Boy Three , released in 1981 as "The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)"). The Specials, in a different incarnation, previously released a cover of "Blam Blam Fever" on 2000's studio album
Skinhead Girl .
The track "10 Commandments" is a rebuttal to
Prince Buster 's "Ten Commandments", criticising the original's outdated representation of women. The track features a lead vocal from
Saffiyah Khan , who came to prominence after being photographed challenging an
English Defence League demonstration whilst wearing a Specials t-shirt.
[8]
Encore entered at number 1 on the
UK Albums Chart after its first week of release, falling to 5 the week after and spending 9 weeks on the charts.
Track listing
All tracks written by
Terry Hall ,
Horace Panter ,
Lynval Golding , and
Nikolaj Torp Larsen ; except where indicated.
"
Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys " (
Eddy Grant ) – 3:17
"B.L.M." – 5:05
"Vote for Me" – 5:01
"The Lunatics" (
Neville Staple , Hall, Golding) – 3:35
"Breaking Point" – 3:56
"Blam Blam Fever" (Earl Grant, V. E. Grant) – 2:46
"10 Commandments" (Hall, Panter, Golding, Torp Larsen,
Saffiyah Khan ) – 3:53
"Embarrassed by You" (Hall, Panter, Golding, Torp Larsen, Mark Adams) – 3:05
"The Life and Times (Of a Man Called Depression)" – 5:27
"We Sell Hope" – 4:34
Deluxe version
A deluxe version was released including a CD of live recordings.
"
Gangsters " (
Horace Panter ,
Jerry Dammers ,
John Bradbury ,
Lynval Golding ,
Neville Staple ,
Rod Byers ,
Terry Hall ) – 3:13
"
A Message to You, Rudy " (
Robert Thompson ) – 2:51
"Nite Klub" (
Horace Panter ,
Jerry Dammers ,
John Bradbury ,
Lynval Golding ,
Neville Staple ,
Rod Byers ,
Terry Hall ) – 4:49
"Friday Night, Saturday Morning" (
Terry Hall ) – 3:16
"Stereotype" (
Jerry Dammers ) – 4:42
"
Redemption Song " (
Bob Marley ) – 3:53
"
Monkey Man " (
Toots Hibbert ) – 2:38
"
Too Much Too Young " (
Jerry Dammers ) – 2:04
"
Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think) " (
Carl Sigman ,
Herb Magidson ) – 3:33
"
Ghost Town " (
Jerry Dammers ) – 5:40
"
All The Time In The World " (
Hal David ,
John Barry ) – 3:25
Tracks 2-1, 2-2, 2-4, 2-5, 2-7, 2-9, 2-10 Recorded at Le Bataclan, Paris 30/11/2014
Tracks 2-3, 2-6, 2-8, 2-11 Recorded at The Troxy, London 16/11/2016
Stanford Quartet (Paris)
Laura Stanford – violin
Eleanor Stanford – violin
Amy Stanford – viola
Jessica Cox – cello
Personnel
The Specials
With
String quartet
Ian Burdge – cello
Bruce White – viola
Oli Langford – violin
Tom Pigott-Smith – violin
Technical
George Murphy – engineering
Sophie Ellis – engineering assistance
Cenzo Townshend – mixing
Robert Sellens – mixing assistance
Frank Arkwright – master engineering
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
^
"Metacritic Review" .
Metacritic . Retrieved 28 May 2019 .
^ Thomas Erlewine, Stephen.
"Encore – The Specials" .
AllMusic . Retrieved 28 May 2019 .
^ Murray, Robin (1 February 2019).
"Clash Magazine Review" .
Clash . Retrieved 28 May 2019 .
^ Beaumont, Mark (31 January 2019).
"NME Review" .
NME . Retrieved 29 May 2019 .
^ Cudmore, Libby (11 February 2019).
"Paste Magazine Review" .
Paste . Retrieved 29 May 2019 .
^ Hermes, Will (2 February 2019).
"British Ska-Punk Legends the Specials Return in Top Form on "Encore" " .
Rolling Stone . Retrieved 29 May 2019 .
^ Thornhill, James (1 April 2019).
"Under the Radar Review" .
Under the Radar . Retrieved 29 May 2019 .
^
"Song You Need to Know: The Specials, Featuring Saffiyah Khan, "10 Commandments" " .
Rolling Stone . 31 January 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2023 .
^ Schaffer, David (8 February 2019).
"Saffiyah Khan: From EDL viral photo to The Specials" .
BBC News Online . Retrieved 8 February 2019 .
^
"Ultratop.be – The Specials – Encore" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
^
"Ultratop.be – The Specials – Encore" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
^
"Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de.
Phononet GmbH . Retrieved 29 May 2019.
^
"GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week {{{week}}}, {{{year}}}" .
Chart-Track .
IRMA . Retrieved 29 May 2019.
^
"Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100" .
Official Charts Company . Retrieved 29 May 2019.
^
"Official Albums Chart Top 100" .
Official Charts Company . Retrieved 29 May 2019.
^
"End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2019" . Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 January 2020 .
Studio albums Live albums Compilation albums Extended plays Singles Related