There is little else cooler than a sharp name for your album. UB40 has made the cardinal sin of missing their anniversary five years ago – one of the few legacy acts who could have afforded to make a self-titled piece decades into their career – but it is better late than never. A five is etched into the hole of a zero and we are better for it. The fine line between compilation and reworking is felt here as the band cover their greatest hits in the same fashion U2 did with the now-forgotten Songs of Surrender. Hearing another rendition of Red Red Wine is enough to jerk your brain into a kill state as it did for Frank Sinatra in The Manchurian Candidate, yet we stagger on and listen in, for the Birmingham-based band were trendsetters then and cling to the hopes of doing it again.
UB40 is a band stuffed with controversy and acclaim. UB40 featuring Ali Campbell and Astro lives on. Robin Campbell has taken a backseat on UB45 and handed the reigns of frontman duties to Matt Doyle. It is Doyle who takes the lead on these songs. Thus, they are covers from a band behind the originals. It is a fascinating and ever-churning history and UB40 does well to address the problems head-on, reclaiming their songs in what they see as rightfully theirs. It is what Taylor Swift did without the millions in financial returns. Reworked classics fall on a spectrum of awful (U2) to monumental (Bob Dylan’s Shadow Kingdom). UB40 falls somewhere in the middle – a necessary release to put their claim to songs like Home and Red Red Wine to bed but also to provide the next generation with the new voice of these hits.
An overhaul of their reggae roots is a neat observation which UB45 holds firm on. Champion feels revitalised despite it being just two years since its release. Crucial it is for UB40 to pave the route to another generation – UB45 succeeds. The likes of Tyler and Trouble hold firm with their relaxed reggae qualities and benefit well from Campbell stepping back into instrumental work, a master at work as he showcases Doyle as the future of the band. It is a rewarding step for UB40 and their listeners – even the overplayed hits sound special once more. It finds a comfortable groove for these experiences and keeps it swinging with solid effort until the sweet and satisfying end. UB45 is a solid effort to display love for songs of the past – but bring them up with swinging modernisations.
For those with a disassociation to the past, it will feel suitably modern and for those with an intimate connection to Signing Off and the historic moments behind these early works, there is enough of the original material within to appreciate an overhaul of the sound. Fundamentally unchanged yet the flickers of new signings and modern interpretations is a neat quality. A collection of why UB40 lasted so long as a relevant band and where their work fits in during modern times. UB45 is much more than a congratulatory pat on the back for a band ripped apart over a decade ago – there is a sense of unity throughout this project despite the tear between its founding members.
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