Borstal Breakout is 8 minutes whilst If The Kids Are United is a tedious 16 minutes. Both the classic tracks drag on for too long in these extended version. Although the recording work is pretty amazing, the tracks themselves are nothing special. They are extended versions of Borstal Brakeout and If The Kids Are United. The next two tracks were originally extras that came on a separate disc. The vocals are however a bit drowned out by the other instruments though. What Have We Got? is a solid live recording and is about how the band has each over and its fans. The next track was actually recorded live, but don't let that fool you. Jimmy Pursey's vocals are also great here. It is again on the bands greatest songs and features some of the album's best guitar and bass playing. It is about living life your own way and not doing what others tell you to do. Questions And Answers (not the same as the single version) is another one of the albums stand out tracks. A bit of a let down after the last few tracks. Voices, is a bit similar to Joey's On The Street as it has the piano riff in the background again and sounds very similar to it. It finally ends with a police transmission about finding James Dean dead on Highway 46, after a car accident. It has a bizarre sounding piano and is the songs only weak point. Although the let down for this song is the bridge. The guitar playing mixes a stong rock riff and later a punky riff. Lost On Highway 46, is the band's tribute to James Dean. This song represents the bands fondness for their town and their friends and is the stand out track on the album. Lyrically pristine and the bass stands out amazingly as well. Hersham Boys has a sort of sing-a-long football chant chorus. It was also their most successful single.
Next up is the album's title track and is my favourite Sham 69 song. The bass playing here is also pretty great, as is the vocals. It is a cover of a 1960's rock song and offers some of the best guitar playing on the album. You're A Better Man Than I, is one of Sham's slower songs but also one of their best.
The next section of the album really lifts its status. This is a pretty strong track and is lyrically sound and the vocals are admirable. Again you can here a rock organ in the background. Cold Blue In The Night, starts off with a bit of guitar static and then opens with a punky riff. This is a bit like Money as it sounds more like a general rock song then a punk song. Dave Parsons playing has odviously evolved over the previous years. The next song, Joey's On The Street, has a strong piano riff in the background, the guitar playing is also good. The bass also sounds a bit distinguished. This song is a bit more softer and the guitar playing here is great. (Not the most original of themes) Jimmy's vocals sound a bit weak here and it probably wasn't the strongest track to open the album. The song its self is how money is the cause to many problems. The album kicks off with Money, this is a reasonably punky song, the riff sounds a bit more rockabilly orientated though. Now, however, they were back with a strong album and a different sound. The band had split temporary because of this.
But the skinhead presence had led to many of their shows being cancelled. However the band were anti-violent and anti-racist. Unfortunatly, for the band, some of their fans were violent and racist skinheads who caused many fights at their gigs. The band had a new drummer and by now had a huge number of fans and supporters. Hersham Boys was recorded after the bands temporary split during mid 1979. By mid 1979 they were back together and recording their third album. Mark Caine had been replaced by Ricky Goldstein on the drums and the band had split for a short while.
Their first album Tell Us The Truth had been the sound of raw punk at it's best and That's Life showed how the band were aware of every day problems facing the population at that time.
#Best sham 69 album full
They had released two full length albums, a number of singles and had established themselves as one of Britain's most popular punk bands.
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