Another singles compilation from a band that has already assembled 18 such collections? Yes, and here’s why: singer Ali Campbell, after 30 years with the band, has left the group (his brother Duncan is replacing him), so if you’ve just gotta have that comprehensive – if not exactly definitive – Ali Campbell-led UB40 compilation, this is it. The most shocking thing is how tolerable some of those questionable covers feel today; indeed, the version of Al Green’s “Here I Am (Come and Take Me)” sounds pretty damn good here, though perhaps that’s because it comes after their (ahem, million-selling) cover of “(I Can’t Help) Falling in Love with You” and before they suck the soul out of “The Way You Do the Things You Do.” The originals obviously are the prize moments here, and the band’s best singles are all present (“If It Happens Again,” “Don’t Break My Heart”). UB40’s music didn’t change the world, but they did make it a happier, more peaceful place. Buy this and Labour of Love (the first album, not the second or third), and your collection is complete. (Virgin 2008)
