Review:

on 2011-04-20 CharlesMartel Said:

This compilation contains some great stuff from a band which represented urban punk in a more thoughtful light, not forgetting the fact that he could write music which consisted of more than three chords. The late Ian Dury was a songwriter who was able to capture some of the more banal and humdrum moments of life and turn them into the subjects for catchy and infectious pop. The mixture of funk and rock works well on most of his songs, and the occasional addition of horns adds to the overall effect. The best tracks are the live ones, and those which date from the early days with the Blockheads.

Although this album has some fine moments it is also weighed down by some, frankly, rubbish. Some of the songs on here though, it must be said, are pretty dumb. "Poo Poo In the Prawn" is just plain stupid, while "Fucking Ada" quickly degenerates into a binge drinking chant which has little merit except to encourage some top of the voice shouting by a bunch of your pissed mates.

To a certain extent that is going to be an inevitable consequence of putting together a two CD compilation covering the whole history of Dury's output. What is more than welcome, however, is the inclusion of a number of rare tracks from the earlier outfit Dury was involved in, Kilburn and the High Roads. This alone makes this a must have compilation for fans of that era of British music.

In many respect, the album reflects the contradictions which were running throughout Dury's own life. In spite of his persona as the 'umble, dahn-te-urf cockney, he was actually an Essex boy before than term came to be used pejoratively. Although he did not possess a stellar formal education, he was a gifted and learned man who counted amongst his friends and acquaintances a range of people from all walks of life.

In many respects though, the songs on this compilation, as with most of Dury's work, continue to challenge the individual listener. He mocks the characters of his world, like "Billericay Dickie" and "Peter the Painter", but then shows great affection for his own family who would have originated as much form the same character pool as those he mocks. Then again, he mocks his own disability with "Spasticus Autisticus" which was banned after a campaign by some ignorant Conservative MP who thought it was insulting to disabled people and did not know Dury was himself disabled. But above all, he challenges us to think about our own lives and our own values by his pen-pictures of individuals and events which seem largely autobiographical.

What is sad, however, is the fact that urban music never continued to develop along the lines laid out by Ian Dury. The thought-proving and intelligent social commentary always had the tendency to degenerate into mainstream pap with no meaning and no significance beyond a simple four-four time beat and a lot of aimless cooing. Dury elevated urban music above that and gave it a substance and a direction it had lacked. No one with any talent came along to replace him. What we now call urban music is just a record-company creation which filled a vacuum created by the lack of worthy successors to Ian Dury and the Blockheads. The challenges he had posed had perhaps been just too hard for those who came after to pick up.
Rating: 7/10