Search - Big Audio Dynamite :: Tighten Up 88

4.5 stars actually

K. Hernandez | Chicago, IL United States | 06/14/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Not everyone will like this album but let me try to explain why this remains one of my favorte BAD albums:"Just Play Music!" was a huge single for them and remains one of their best songs. It has the right amount of dance bounce, horns and movie soundbytes. It also explains Mick Jones' philosophy on the group and music in general. "Other 99" is a great song too and shows up on the Greatest Hits.The "Tighten Up" series was a "best of" series of records put out by Trojan Records, a reggae imprint. What a great way to show respect to the genre by naming this "...Vol. 88". There are some other party stompers on this album including the leadoff track "All Night Long" but the main bulk are midtempo songs that tell stories. I think this is why most people never gravitated to this album. A few songs retell the story of the mixed-race-mixed-style band that is Big Audio Dynamite and they are amusing if you get the joke. "Tighten Up Vol. 88" is the best of these songs. It's really a hidden gem and it's too bad it doesn't appear on either of the Greatest Hits CDs.The wordplay and tomfoolery are abundant like "Esquerita" where he pokes fun at Little Richard for stealing Esquerita's whole schtick: "well now Preacher what you got to say?" and Imelda Marcos in "2000 Shoes"; he pokes fun at astrology in "Mr. Walker". The beat is fun and I love my rock music with bits of irony.You can find this one in any cutout dust bin at the record store. If you're into BAD at all, this deserves another listen!"

TUV88

Christopher Schiavone | Brooklyn, New York USA | 08/31/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"No, this album may not be for everyone, but it is still brilliant! If you liked their previous two albums you will like this one too. And all the others that came after for that matter. BAD's body of work, so far, had been incredible no matter which ablbum you listen to or what there name was at the time (Big Audio Dynamite, Big Audio Dynamite II, Big Audio)."

TUV88

karen mcghee | Brooklyn, NY United States | 08/31/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Don't listen to that first reviewer. Buy this album."