Album Details

Collection

RELEASE
February 25, 2003
LABEL
Spectrum Music
GENRES
Pop/Rock, Post-Punk, Alternative/Indie Rock, Synth Pop, Punk, Punk/New Wave, New Wave

Album Review

Before Captain Sensible began his solo career, he was best known as the nutter in the Damned who wore dresses (and sometimes wore nothing at all) while plunking his bass or strumming his guitar. On his own, the dear old Captain was a bona fide pop star with a few U.K. hit singles to his name in 1982 and 1983 and a young new audience completely unimpressed with his punk credentials. His singles, including "Wot," "Glad It's All Over," and "Happy Talk" (all included here), were radio-friendly slices of lighthearted keyboard-based pop brilliantly produced by New Musik's Tony Mansfield. The A&M albums Women and Captains First and The Power of Love were well-crafted eclectic affairs, each containing enough gems to make them recommended purchases. This long overdue 19-track compilation features nearly all of his singles and a good smattering of key album tracks, and will not disappoint those searching for digital versions of some of Cappy's finest moments. Although many may already be familiar with the bigger hits mentioned earlier, the Captain had many more songs that didn't bother the charts but certainly were equally as exciting, including "The Power of Love," "I Love Her," "Martha the Mouth," "Croydon," "I'm a Spider," and more. The songs on display are absolutely ace, with hooks that are uniquely uplifting. Mansfield's warm production features many of his trademark synth and guitar sounds, allowing the songs to soothe and tame the listener into total submission. Underneath it all, though, the listener has to decide whether the Captain was sincere or whether he had his tongue in cheek the whole time. Either way, the Captain's star didn't shine for long and he once again went back to being an on-again, off-again member of the Damned. He is now a punk legend, but he should be remembered for so much more.
Steve "Spaz" Schnee, Rovi

Track Listing

  1. Happy Talk
  2. Croydon
  3. A Nice Cup of Tea
  4. Brenda, Pts. 1-2
  5. Yanks With Guns
  6. Martha the Mouth
  7. (What d'Ya Give) The Man Who's Gotten Everything
  8. Wot
  9. Royal Rave Up
  10. It Would Be So Nice
  11. The Power of Love
  12. I'm a Spider
  13. I Love Her
  14. Glad It's All Over
  15. Stop the World
  16. Sir Donald's Son
  17. It's Hard to Believe I'm Not
  18. Thanks for the Night
  19. There Are More Snakes Than Ladders