Compact Snap

The Jam | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 11, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polygram UK
• ASIN: B000001F78
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #128,757 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. In The City

2. All Around The World

3. The Modern World

4. News Of The World

5. David Watts

6. A Bomb In Wardour Street

7. Down In The Tube Station At Midnight

8. Strange Town

9. When You're Young

10. Smithers-Jones

11. The Eton Rifles

12. Going Underground

13. Dreams Of Children

14. That's Entertainment

15. Start!

16. Funeral Pyre

17. Absolute Beginners

18. Town Called Malice

19. Precious

20. The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had To Swallow)

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Essential compilation of the best of one of Britain's most influential bands of the late 70's / early 80's. 20 tracks. Universal. 1990.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still the best single-disc Jam compilation available, June 27, 2002

By 

Kevin O'Conner - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Compact Snap (Audio CD)

Here's yet another misunderstood relic from the early days of the CD format that drives many folks into conniptions. What many of today's music buyers don't seem to realize is that CD pressing plants initially could not guarantee that discs longer than 60-65 minutes in length would play properly on all CD players. Combined with the trappings of the industry's own hype (which touted the CD's 74-minute storage capacity), labels tried wherever possible to make sure all albums released on the CD format would fit on a single disc.

Thus, Snap! was "re-compiled from the double album and cassette...and omit[ted] eight tracks to make it suitable for a single compact disc." To differentiate it from the complete album and cassette editions, the title was changed to Compact Snap.

Compact Snap - which was my proper introduction (apart from the videos for "Absolute beginners", "Start!", and "A town called malice", which MTV used to play in its early days) to the band - is still the best of the single-disc Jam compilations I've encountered. I've never been all that fond of "News of the world" or "Funeral pyre", but the rest of the set is untouchable, hitting many of the band's highlights - among them "In the city", "Going underground", "That's entertainment", "Start!", "A town called malice", and "Beat surrender" - while chronicling the progress of the band from its beginnings in the midst of the punk era to the more overt soul influences of its later records.

From the guitar riff that opens "In the city" to the pure joy that is "Beat surrender", Compact Snap reveals The Jam to be easily the most vital band of its era. Whether your preference is for the former, the latter, or somewhere in between, there's no denying the band's energy and passion - two things that no band should be without.

Completists should note that the version of "Funeral pyre" included here is a remix, and that the demo version of "That's entertainment" differs from the demo found on the Direction, Reaction, Creation box set.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Attention All Anglophiles...You Know Who You Are!, May 6, 2000

By 

Joseph A. Polak (Perth Amboy, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Compact Snap (Audio CD)

If you're a fan of late seventies/early eighties punk and new wave scenes you are missing a great collection here. Add the word "British" in front of said genre and you probably already own this CD....and probably have all the Jam's albums on vinyl! If you are just getting into this type of music, it is imperative that you add this to your collection. This band was doomed from the get go on this side of the Atlantic because they simply were "too English." Potential American audiences were too busy on line (or queuing- mates!) buying Blondie and Police records so they can pass themselves off as "punkers." They did not have time to figure out what an "Eton Rifle" was or where in the hell Wardour Street was and what did it matter if there was a bomb! It's damn shame. The memory of this band is sustained somewhat by Oasis. Not only do some of their songs reek of influence, but they have always given the Jam shout-outs since their first recordings (that is probably their only saving grace in my eyes everytime the Brothers Gallagher get bad press). If the Who kept their mid-60s sound, chose not to record "Tommy" or pick-the-arena-anthem and Pete Townshend decided that he didn't need a gold-locked pretty boy to sing his songs, you would have the electrified urgency of the Jam. Frontman Paul Weller's slashing guitar and soulful vocals propel every song. He sort of sounds like Steve Winwood on speed. Bruce Foxton's supporting vocal and bass (if McCartney was nicking Winwood's bottle of pills)do nothing less than compliment Weller. Drummer Rick Buckler, completing the trio, is no slouch himself- particularly on "Funeral Pyre." Quite ironic considering the band's peers at the time had contempt for the vituosos that represented the power trio concept before them. If you have been listening to 80s compilations you may have come across their biggests hits (in the U.K., that is) "Town Called Malice" and "Beat Surrender." Although they are great songs, they are merely the stern and bow of a boat that most American alt-rock fans have no clue that they had missed! The depressing thing is that this band broke up in 1982. What is even more depressing is that Paul Weller refuses to play any Jam songs whenever he tours. I wish he would reconsider. Although he is still a great musician and still adored in Britain, his work in the last near two decades- in the Style Council and in the last 8 years as a solo artist, is quite bland in comparison. I still hope one day they can reunite. At this point I will settle for Weller doing an acoustic set on "Sessions at West 54th" and suddenly he decides to bang out the opening chords to "That's Entertainment." This is a great compilation for a great long-gone band from great era in modern music.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertainment, indeed, December 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Compact Snap (Audio CD)

Very nice album from English new wave band The Jam. Unfortunately, however, as with other English bands not widely popular in the United States, this CD, rich though it is, is an abridged version of the original release, which contained something like 29 songs. Omitted from the CD issue (but included on the the earlier double cassette and double vinyl version) are nice tunes like "Mr. Clean," "The Butterfly Collector," and "English Rose." Songs like these should be of especial interest to listeners who are drawn to the essential Englishness of The Jam. Some of them ("Clean" and "Butterfly," mentioned above) can be found on The Jam's "Live" CD, which isn't excellent as a live album (The Jam's renditions are the same as the studio versions, note for note), but which can supplant or supplement "Snap!" as a greatest-hits collection.