Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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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
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.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Attention All Anglophiles...You Know Who You Are!, May 7, 2000
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.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Too compact, May 7, 2002
By A Customer
"Snap", in its original LP issue, was perhaps one of the best group compilations ever assembled, encapsulating the Jam's journey from Who-influenced punk to the wonderful admixture of ska and soul that marked their final years. I can mark my changing tastes via the four sides of the record, having been in my youth a Side 1 advocate (that's where all the punk ones were, from "In the City" to "Mr. Clean," if I recall correctly) to now, when i'm a Side 3 and 4 man (roughly "Going Underground" to "Beat Surrender.")Unfortunately, this all-too-compact version of Snap diminishes the sense of having the Jam's entire career to peruse. Too many important songs were axed. Here's what's missing: the great, desperate "Away from the Numbers" and "Billy Hunt", the gorgeous "English Rose" and "Butterfly Collector", "Thick as Thieves"! merely one of their finest songs, as is the deleted "Tales from the Riverbank". Other victims were "Man in the Cornershop" and "Mr. Clean." There's too much great music on this abridged "Snap" for it to be marked down too severely, but it's a shame that is all we now have. With the passing of the LP edition, thus went the only economical way to enjoy the Jam in full-- now you either choose riches (the numbingly extensive [money] five-disc import box set) or famine (this inadequate set, and the other single-disc compilations that all miss the boat in some way). A reissued 2-disc Snap, with all the original tracks restored, plus supplemented if needs be with the few gems left off the original Snap (Boy About Town, etc), would be the best of all worlds-- one day, maybe.
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