Review:

on 2011-04-26 CharlesMartel Said:

I have to say that this is a solid piece of work from a band who suffered from a real hammering at the hands of the style police, such as the ludicrous New Musical Express and the hipsters they claim to speak for. For some reason, amongst all their Britpop contemporaries, James were deemed to be uncool, and their music was ridiculed. Perhaps it was because they came across primarily as a singles band. That was always grossly unfair. Perhaps it was their origins and their timing. They came out at the same time as the Madchester scene and first got lumped together with it, and then accused of riding on the back of it. Someone has to be pilloried every time there is a new trend in mainstream music and James were unfortunately the target.

Perhaps it was because the band was more interested in pop than rock that they never got treated seriously by the po-faced music critics for whom the obscurity and noise of My Bloody Valentine represents the height of musical innovation (maaan). What James did do was put out a few good singles a year, and occasionally throw in a classic. For that reason, a "Best of.." is always going to be the ideal way to listen to the band unless you are an absolute devotee. This album is therefore, essentially, a singles album.

The two classic singles here which pretty much everyone knows are "Sit Down" and "Laid". The first is a great party piece which is guaranteed to get any crowd moving while the second gained some notoriety for the lyrics which detailed the obsession of a relationship based entirely on sex - not appropriate material for Top of the Pops:

"but she only comes when she's on top."

You can hear the frustrated old biddies, bigoted preachers and sanctimonious twits in Parliament and the press looking for the next bandwagon on which to jump in whipping up public opposition to something. Between them, however, these two songs represent some of the best British pop from the 1990's. It is a pity that James never really got the recognition they deserved for they produced some excellent, often understated pop songs which offered interesting little looks at contemporary British life.

But there are other songs of note - "Tomorrow" has a personal resonance for me and has long been a favourite as a result. Then again, "Come Home" and "Born of Frustration" are both excellent singles. "She's a Star" is a classic pop song from a long stable of snappy upbeat pop numbers as is "Destiny Calling" is a thumb-up-your-nose sort of way.

Indeed, what this album represents is an excellent collection of pop songs put together by a band who could occasionally reach the heights, provided they weren't expected to do it too often. It is enjoyable as that, but it is not something which I would turn to in search of anything deep and meaningful. James are the ultimate singles band and should be applauded for that rather than being shunned and ridiculed as has so often happened to them.
Rating: 7/10