... There is far more added production and professionalism to Labour Of Love. The original Jamaican reggae artists of the 1960s were usually poor and often recorded their songs on old second hand recording equipment handed on from the US. They also had very limited time available in the recording ... Read review
Labour of Love - UB40
UB40 are not great innovators, but they are great imitators, and, in a sense, Labour of ... more
Love made them the Pat Boone of reggae. Featuring a handsome and clean-cut (by reggae standards) white singer, Ali Campbell, UB40 covered Jamaican standards a...
A review by polydeuces on Labour Of Love Vol.1 - UB40 September 24th, 2001
Author's product rating:
Originality
Average
Lyrics
Standard
Quality and consistency of tracks
Flawless
How does it rate alongside the competition
Outstanding
Value for Money
Advantages:
Excellent covers of some old reggae standrads
Disadvantages:
Sometimes a bit too slick
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
The creation of entire albums of music from other artists is nothing new. It has been done to great effect by David Bowie, Bryan Ferry and many more. When UB40 followed up their first 2 albums which contained their own material with an album drawn from favourite reggae songs from their youth. Having established themselves as the conscience of 80s youth with their socially aware lyrics about unemployment and social injustice it could have been seen a s a commercial sell-out and perhaps ultimately it was. It was also, however, a very fine album.
That it must have been a labour of love can be heard in the loving way the songs are crafted and every track reproduces the excellence of the original. As a lover of real reggae I do have to make one minor criticism and that is that the album is too good. There is far more added production and professionalism to Labour Of Love. The original Jamaican reggae artists of the 1960s were usually poor and often recorded their songs on old second hand recording equipment handed on from the US. They also had very limited time available in the recording studios so the songs were often recorded in one take and were little better than demo tracks. What they lacked in production excellence they more than made up for in the immediacy and the urgency of the presentation. So where the old originals will regularly feature bum notes and missed intros the remakes by UB40 are clean and slick.
The album opens with the Eric Donaldson song Cherry Oh Baby which UB40 released as a single. The original features a much starker wailing section than UB40s but the song is a simple love song typical of early reggae before it gained its sociological credentials. Keep On Moving will be familiar to all Bob Marley fans. Marley was the most influential reggae artist of all time and it was he who oversaw the musics transition from local ethnic music to world music. Keep On Moving is standard early Marley stuff so far that you can read its good. UB40s version is nicely balanced and comes quite close to the original. Of course with Marley being the most accomplished reggae artist it would be.
Winston Grooveys Please Don’t Make Me Cry is a super song. UB40 sing it very well unlike Groovey (aka Winston Tucker) whose original version is one of those tracks which sounds amateurish to modern ears. Winston Groovey was a superstar of Jamaican reggae with many other hits. The Melodians Sweet Sensation is given a nice harmony version by the Campbell brothers which turns out well. Listening to the UB40 versions you do sense they are playing in their sleep. The songs are not musically challenging and the band is just strumming along contentedly.
Those who have seen UB40 live will know that Johnny Too Bad is a song always sung by Norman Hassan when the band play. The song was originally by the Slickers and the UB40 version features a very similar organ style. This is played by Johnny Mittoo who was not in UB40 but guested on this album. He attains a very similar style to the original.
The second side opens with Neil Diamonds Red Red Wine which became one of the bands greatest hits. The first version of it as a reggae song was by Tony Tribe. It was a regular feature of the early reggae scene in Jamaica to take an ordinary song and play it as a reggae tune. This again was done for reasons of expedience, if you wanted to book some backing musicians to record a record it was the greatest probability that they could strum a few chords in reggae time. At this time practically every record in the Jamaican charts was a reggae track and it sold in huge numbers. The records, like their recordings, were cheap and it encouraged a huge wave of reggae artists. The Tiger song Guilty follows and the excellent Ray Martell song She Caught The Train. This is a favourite track of mine which drives along with a great beat. Version Girl is next which was originally recorded by Trojan artist Boy Friday.
The final track is Many Rivers To Cross which was a hit for the great Jimmy Cliff. Before Bob Marley arrived Jimmy Cliff was the greatest superstar in reggae. He had hits with tracks like The Harder They Come and wrote You Can Get It If You Really Want. Many Rivers To Cross shows the great difference between how the originals sounded and the slick UB40 versions. Where Jimmy Cliffs original is sung with enormous feeling, his voice almost choking with emotion, the Ali Campbell version sounds like the singing version of method acting. There is emotion there but it is coached into it.
I have both this album and on a number of different CDs a lot of the originals which inspired it. I love reggae and for personal preference love these songs as they were originally recorded. They seem fresher, more innocent in their original form. However any reggae is good reggae, and UB40 are a very good reggae band. I personally prefer their own compositions like One In Ten or Food For Thought or even Cest La Vie. Having said all that I still would recommend this album. It is reggae at its best, its just some of us like our reggae slightly less perfect.
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My first album Review ofLabour Of Love Vol.1 - UB40by
alleykatz
Advantages: perfection Disadvantages: none
I brought this on holiday in devon with my parents in 1984.
Part of the reason I brought it was boy I was going out with loved UB40 and it was a present for him.
When I got back from devon, he was with someone else, so I kept it.
The best decision ever made thanks David lol
Well I listened to it, and loved it.
I have since replaced my old vinyl with a newer CD.
I still listen to it now, and still love every song on it. I am not a huge reggae ... ...in love with Ali C even now although a few years older he is still cute!
Red Red Wine has to be my favourte track on here, memories of summers past.
in order of best tracks
red red wine
johnny too bad
sweet sensation (robin and ali brothers together!)
please dont make me cry
version girl
guilty
many rivers to cross
cherry oh baby
she caught the train
This album will and has stood the test of time, classic. ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
...ub40labour of love1-3 the platinum collection is one of best albums i've brought. all three cds have the some of the best songs from ub40. there are thirty eight tracks on this album which mean theres a couple of hours of listening to one of the best bands in reggae.i listen to this album more than any of the other albums i have from the ub40 collection as i listen to this album at least every week.personally i think ub40 are one of the best reggae bands to come out of birmingham anyway. as they have songs you can listen to whatever your mood. people should listen to this kind of music more as you hardly hear it any more. so if your a fan of reggae and ub40 this album is a must have....
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Labour Of Love Vol.1-3 (The Platinum Collection) - UB40
Product details
Title: Labour Of Love Vol.1
Performer: UB40
Genre: Reggae
Release Date: 30/01/1984
Recomended Retail Price: 14.99 GBP
Original Release Year: 1983
Label / Distributor: DEP International / EMI Operations/CEVA Logistics
Engineer: Howard Gray
Producer: UB40; Ray "Pablo" Falconer
Pieces in Set: 1
Studio / Live: Studio
Stereo: Stereo
Format: Performer
EAN: 77778641223
Catalogue Number: DEPCD 5
SPAR code: AAD
Additional notes
Album Notes: UB40: Ali Campbell, Robin Campbell (vocals, guitar); Astro, Norman Hassan (vocals, percussion); Brian Travers (saxophone); Michael Virtue (keyboards); Earl Falconer (bass); James Brown (drums, percussion). Additional personnel: Josh Fifer (trumpet); Jackie Mittoo (keyboards); Ruby Turner, Jackie Graham, Mo Birch (background vocals). This is UB40's "tribute" album with cover versions of their favorite songs from 1969 through 1972. Playing reggae and supporting the UK Labour Party during a decade of Thatcherism and racism demonstrated that these chaps had morals and guts. They eventually prospered (good ultimately conquers bad) and they can now look back and taste their achievement. In the UK, UB40 have done as much to popularize reggae as Bob Marley did for the rest of the world. This is their most refined album and contains some of their major hits. They make a point in the sleeve-notes of informing the listener that all these songs had been recorded by Jamaican artists. No apology is needed - their 'Cherry Oh Baby' and 'Red Red Wine' have become classics for this band. Much respect, irie.
Album Reviews: Rolling Stone - ranked #98 in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Albums Of The Eighties" survey. (November 89)
Titles on disc 1
1.: Cherry Oh Baby
2.: Keep On Moving
3.: Please Don't Make Me Cry
4.: Sweet Sensation
5.: Johnny Too Bad
6.: Red Red Wine (12" version)
7.: Guilty
8.: She Caught The Train
9.: Version Girl
10.: Many Rivers To Cross
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Listed on Ciao since : 30/07/2000
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