The SpecialsBest The Specials Albums Ranked
7.7
Avg Score
11
Opinions
11
Albums
6
Reviewers
Summary from 11 ratings
On Wavelength, fans have rated The Specials's catalog across 11 albums from 11 opinions, with an overall average of 7.7/10. The top-rated The Specials album is The Specials (Deluxe Version) (1979) with a 8.9/10 average from 4 ratings, followed by Protest Songs 1924–2012 (Bonus Track Version) and Encore. The discography on Wavelength spans 1979 to 2021. Ghost Town (2015 Remaster) ranks as the highest-rated The Specials song on Wavelength with a 9.3/10 average.
The Specials (Deluxe Version)
“Each Sunday, Pitchfork takes an in-depth look at a significant album from the past, and any record not in our archives is eligible. Today, we revisit the 1979 debut from the rambunctious and politically charged UK group the Specials, a marquee document of the ska revival.”
Protest Songs 1924–2012 (Bonus Track Version)
“In their early days, The Specials were protest song incarnate. Their very multicultural make-up was a confrontational statement to audiences infested with National Front thugs. Since their self-titled 1979 debut album, tracks tackling racism, war, unemployment and national decay helped make them one of the most vital and socially progressive bands of their age. Their 2019 reunion album ‘Encore’ pu”
Encore
“Brexit chaos. A near-decade of Tory austerity. Poverty, racism and inequality on the rise. A country irreparably divided. Time to send out the Two-Tone Bat-Signal and call in The Specials. Their numbers have dwindled due to death, ill health and dissent – Jerry Dammers, Neville Staple and Roddy ‘Radiation’ Byers have all quit since their 2009 reunion, and drummer John Bradbury died in 2015 – but ”
Encore
“When the Specials’ Jerry Dammers’ launched the 2 Tone label in Britain in 1979, his group was more than just a ska revival band with good taste in covers — they were a multi-racial spearhead of a post-punk movement combatting skinhead racism (fueled by far-right groups like the National Front) and the craven business-first classism […]”
Encore
“The Specials are back, and they aren’t playing around. The founding fathers of Britain’s 2-Tone ska revival—Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Horace Panter—are still dealing with the same shit they were singing against in 1981. Racism, gun violence, catcalling…things haven’t changed all that much. “Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys” calls for a world where race is dissolved and white supremacy no longer ex”
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