Encore (The Specials album)

Encore is the eighth studio album by the English ska revival band The Specials. It is their first studio album of original songs since 1998's Guilty 'til Proved Innocent!, and their first new material with vocalist Terry Hall since 1981's "Ghost Town" single.

Encore
Studio album by The Specials
Released	1 February 2019 (2019-02-01)
Genre	Ska disco alternative rock
Length	40:39
Label	Island Universal
Producer	Terry Hall Lynval Golding Horace Panter Torp Larsen
The Specials chronology
More... Or Less: The Specials Live (2012) Encore (2019) Protest Songs 1924–2012 (2021)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	74/100^[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[2]
Clash	8/10^[3]
NME	^[4]
Paste	6.9/10^[5]
Rolling Stone	^[6]
Under the Radar	7/10^[7]

The album features three covers of older songs; "Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys" (originally by The Equals), "Blam Blam Fever" (originally by The Valentines) and "The Lunatics" (originally by Hall and Lynval Golding's group Fun Boy Three, released in 1981 as "The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)"). The Specials, in a different incarnation, previously released a cover of "Blam Blam Fever" on 2000's studio album Skinhead Girl.

The track "10 Commandments" is a rebuttal to Prince Buster's "Ten Commandments", criticising the original's outdated representation of women. The track features a lead vocal from Saffiyah Khan, who came to prominence after being photographed challenging an English Defence League demonstration whilst wearing a Specials t-shirt.^[8]

Encore entered at number 1 on the UK Albums Chart after its first week of release, falling to 5 the week after and spending 9 weeks on the charts.

Track listing

All tracks written by Terry Hall, Horace Panter, Lynval Golding, and Nikolaj Torp Larsen; except where indicated.

1. "Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys" (Eddy Grant) – 3:17
2. "B.L.M." – 5:05
3. "Vote for Me" – 5:01
4. "The Lunatics" (Neville Staple, Hall, Golding) – 3:35
5. "Breaking Point" – 3:56
6. "Blam Blam Fever" (Earl Grant, V. E. Grant) – 2:46
7. "10 Commandments" (Hall, Panter, Golding, Torp Larsen, Saffiyah Khan) – 3:53
8. "Embarrassed by You" (Hall, Panter, Golding, Torp Larsen, Mark Adams) – 3:05
9. "The Life and Times (Of a Man Called Depression)" – 5:27
10. "We Sell Hope" – 4:34

Deluxe version

A deluxe version was released including a CD of live recordings.

1. "Gangsters" (Horace Panter, Jerry Dammers, John Bradbury, Lynval Golding, Neville Staple, Rod Byers, Terry Hall) – 3:13
2. "A Message to You, Rudy" (Robert Thompson) – 2:51
3. "Nite Klub" (Horace Panter, Jerry Dammers, John Bradbury, Lynval Golding, Neville Staple, Rod Byers, Terry Hall) – 4:49
4. "Friday Night, Saturday Morning" (Terry Hall) – 3:16
5. "Stereotype" (Jerry Dammers) – 4:42
6. "Redemption Song" (Bob Marley) – 3:53
7. "Monkey Man" (Toots Hibbert) – 2:38
8. "Too Much Too Young" (Jerry Dammers) – 2:04
9. "Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)" (Carl Sigman, Herb Magidson) – 3:33
10. "Ghost Town" (Jerry Dammers) – 5:40
11. "All The Time In The World" (Hal David, John Barry) – 3:25

Tracks 2-1, 2-2, 2-4, 2-5, 2-7, 2-9, 2-10 Recorded at Le Bataclan, Paris 30/11/2014

Tracks 2-3, 2-6, 2-8, 2-11 Recorded at The Troxy, London 16/11/2016

• Gary Powell – drums (London)
• John Bradbury – drums (Paris)

Stanford Quartet (Paris)

• Laura Stanford – violin
• Eleanor Stanford – violin
• Amy Stanford – viola
• Jessica Cox – cello

Personnel

The Specials

• Terry Hall – vocals
• Lynval Golding – vocals, guitar
• Horace Panter – bass guitar

With

• Nikolaj Torp Larsen – keyboards, vocals
• Steve Cradock – guitar
• Kenrick Rowe – drums
• Tim Smart – trombone, tuba
• Pablo Mendelssohn – trumpet
• Saffiyah Khan – guest vocals (10 Commandments)^[9]

String quartet

• Ian Burdge – cello
• Bruce White – viola
• Oli Langford – violin
• Tom Pigott-Smith – violin

Technical

• George Murphy – engineering
• Sophie Ellis – engineering assistance
• Cenzo Townshend – mixing
• Robert Sellens – mixing assistance
• Frank Arkwright – master engineering

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2019) Peak position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[10] 154 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)^[11] 158 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[12] 20 Irish Albums (IRMA)^[13] 10 Scottish Albums (OCC)^[14] 1 UK Albums (OCC)^[15] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2019) Position UK Albums (OCC)^[16] 98

References

1. "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
2. Thomas Erlewine, Stephen. "Encore – The Specials". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
3. Murray, Robin (1 February 2019). "Clash Magazine Review". Clash. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
4. Beaumont, Mark (31 January 2019). "NME Review". NME. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
5. Cudmore, Libby (11 February 2019). "Paste Magazine Review". Paste. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
6. Hermes, Will (2 February 2019). "British Ska-Punk Legends the Specials Return in Top Form on "Encore"". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
7. Thornhill, James (1 April 2019). "Under the Radar Review". Under the Radar. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
8. "Song You Need to Know: The Specials, Featuring Saffiyah Khan, "10 Commandments"". Rolling Stone. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
9. Schaffer, David (8 February 2019). "Saffiyah Khan: From EDL viral photo to The Specials". BBC News Online. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
10. "Ultratop.be – The Specials – Encore" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
11. "Ultratop.be – The Specials – Encore" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
12. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
13. . Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
14. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
15. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
16. "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2019". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 January 2020.