Beat Surrender - Jam (The)

Advantages: Great songs, catchy, good lyrics
Disadvantages: A couple of duffs, some songs start to sound similar

...The Jam. Short lived, but packed lots into those few years. Probably very influential to a lot of people. Amongst their most famous songs are 'Going Underground', 'Town Called Malice', 'In the City' and 'Beat Surrender', just to name a few. 'That's Entertainment' - an acoustic number, that is probably the most famous, but with lyrics that could easily be misheard. It is meant to be about working class life in the verses, with the ironic 'that's entertainment!' chorus. 'Going Underground' - a political track about the UK's policy on weapons. A classic guitar track, that was originally meant to be the b-side to 'The Dreams of Children'. Good job it wasn't! 'Beat Surrender' - the final Jam single, not included on any studio albums. Upbeat, bouncy, catchy, all the makings of a good pop/mod/whatever you want to call it song... Read review

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Advantages: Snapshot of The Jam's entire Career
Disadvantages: Singles only- lacks some great album tracks and B sides

...This CD was my first foray into The Jam after being indoctrinated into the great music. As a youngster in my parent's car. It contains all the singles ever released by The Jam starting with the early releases; 'In The City', 'All Around The World' and 'The Modern World'. These are epitomised by Weller's voice which brims with youthful anger at the world and complemented by Foxton and Bucklers powerful drum beat and snappy bass lines. The early songs often portray a young man who needs to escape the narrow confines of conservative authority, be they teachers or music critics. Following with 'News Of The World' the band turn their attention to the media and deliver a tongue in cheek expose of the newspapers. Whilst the band's musical talent was never in question you can almost hear them maturing musically and lyrically... Read review

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Advantages: It only cost me £3, good rolling basslines
Disadvantages: dull, flat, not enough energy

...This had to happen eventually. The entire Big Beat scence disappeared up it's own arse very quickly and the inventors of the genre, The Chemical Brothers have finally gone the same way. It was inevitable really, any music that starts featuring on car adverts as quickly as Big Beat did is doomed right from the outset. Surrender is the third proper studio outing from the Chemical Brothers and is basically 60 minutes of rehashing the same tired ideas but without as much funk and dirty groove as they are capable of. The fact that i bought this album for £3 from the bargain bin of a local record store explains a lot of what this album is like. Taken individually the tracks are pretty good if a little uninspired but i challenge anyone to listen to the entire album in one go without being bored to tears ( cue the angry comments ). If you... Read review

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