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These days Tom Robinson is a well-spoken and well-loved BBC DJ, but at the height of punk he was possibly one of the most popular rock stars in the country, loved by radio for the classic drive single 2-4-6-8 Motorway, loved by students for his passionate politics, and banned from Radio 1 with the bitter, hilarious and angry (Sing If You're) Glad to Be Gay.
Power in the Darkness works because it's one of the only records of the time–some Elvis Costello aside, possibly–to both have the social anger and despair of the era and a radio-friendly rock sound. Later gay performers would look to dance music for inspiration, while political acts would go back to American and English roots music; but TRB revelled in their organ- and guitar-led AOR rock sympathies. (Grey Cortina even mentions "Brucie Springsteen" playing on the radio, something even The Clash would have baulked at.) There are guitar solos, moody breakdowns and–in the case of songs like 2-4-6-8 Motorway and the utterly superb Up Against the Wall (Robinson's best and truest punk rocker)–riffs which even Springsteen should have envied.
Power in the Darkness–perhaps because of its excellent production, perhaps because of Robinson's mixture of passion and song craft–holds up well in Tom's 60th year. Political types will point out that the bleak visions of The Winter of '79 and Better Decide Which Side You're On still have relevance, while song fans have always concurred with Ray Davies (who signed Robinson to his publishing company, and who is the subject of his bitter Don't Take No for an Answer) that Robinson was, and is, able to produce superb songs like the oddly-Kinksy Too Good to Be True. All in all, this is something of a classic. Happy birthday, Tom! --David Quantick
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That's the bad news and the reason why it only gets 3 stars.
The first 10 tracks on this version are those that were on the original recording; if you're not familiar with it, TRB were a 4-piece with a social agenda. If you need a taster of the music, Real Audio clips are available on the tomrobinson.com website.
This was a time of social unrest and much of this album reflects those feelings. TRB had as much energy as punk bands but were more concerned with challenging the status quo than simply spitting on it. "Up against the wall" and "Ain't gonna take it" are optimistic and driven, "Grey Cortina" lightens the mood; "Too good to be true" dampens it again ("Life in a bedsitter bedlam, afraid to go home in the dark").
"Long hot summer" forecasts trouble; "The winter of '79" looks back at a winter of discontent, yet to come. "The man you never saw" may seem like an energetic slice of paranoia (".. your place is being watched, don't go in to work tomorrow, try and make it down the docks"), but at the time activists and demonstrators certainly were being arrested. "Better decide which side you're on" is a now-dated call to action ("Joseph, Reed and Whitehouse are out to get your guts, better decide which side you're on"). "You gotta survive" is a rocking post-apocalyptic vision and one of my favourite tracks, with some great guitar from Danny Kustow.
The original album ends with the anthem "Power in the Darness" ("...stand up and fight for your rights!").
Added to this are 4 tracks recorded live in 1978 and previously released on EP; the hit single "2-4-6-8 Motorway"; a Bob Dylan cover "I shall be released"; a Tom Robinson song "I'm alright Jack" which looks as though it didn't quite make it onto the original album; a live cover of Lou Reed's "Waiting for my man" changed for London and the 2004 remix of "Power in the Darkness" with Tom's spoken bit updated to reflect the involvement in Iraq. A good booklet comes with it but be warned; part 2 of the history of the band appears on "TRB Two".
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