The Best Of The Specials
The Specials
Disc 1
Gangsters
A Message To You Rudy
Nite Klub (Album Version)
Concrete Jungle
Too Much Too Young (Live)
Blank Expression
Doesn't Make It Alright
Rude Boys Outa Jail
Rat Race
Man At C&A
Do Nothing (Single Version)
Stereotypes/Stereotypes Pt 2
International Jet Set (Album Version)
Friday Night, Saturday Morning
Why?
Ghost Town (Full Version)
What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend (Album Version)
Racist Friend (Single Version)
War Crimes (The Crime Remains The Same) (Single Version)
Nelson Mandela (Album Version)
Disc 2
Gangsters
A Message To You Rudy
Too Much Too Young (Live)
Rat Race
Do Nothing
Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think) (Live)
Ghost Town
Bright Lights
The Lonely Crowd
Housebound
Alcohol
Racist Friend
War Crimes
Nelson Mandela
Break Down The Door
What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend
Additional Images
Interesting release for a few reasons. It is a double disc set with a CD and a DVD. The DVD remains to date, the only digital release of the videos of both the original Specials and the subsequent Special AKA line-up. (Excluding the Japanese Laser-disc editions)
The compilation was put together in 2002 by EMI, (who by then had bought Chrysalis and its catalogue) and had Jerry Dammers directly involved. The tracks were remastered and a promo release version was available in 2003 fully 5 years before the set was released to the public in 2008.
The CD has an interesting selection of songs with perhaps Doesn't Make It Alright & Rude Boys the only real surprises from a Dammers selection. The DVD disc pools the Singles videos plus Enjoy Yourself Live with the Special AKA's 'On Film' set.
The artwork is a bit hit-and-miss with a poor front-cover and an over-use of the Compacta typeface but with a couple of nice little touches like the ULTRA Stereo on the CD disc, the naming of the video sets 'On Video' and 'On Film' respectively and the faux-Two Tone catalogue number CHR TV 20082. Why EMI didn't give it it's own proper TT catalogue number is a mystery.
The DVD disc makes this one of the plethora of compilations that is actually worth picking up and the CD is also a well chosen compilation set.