This Is London

Rating an album with 5 stars might appear a bit extravagant to some. Not for this album though, 'cos how many records do you know that you can listen to from beginning to end without skipping any tracks at all? Well, This Is London is one of this rare albums. From beginning to end is a real trat, not only for the ones who had listened to the record before this re-issue (I'll have to include myself in this category) but also for the ones who weren't familiar with it before.

This 2006 Cherry Red re-issue includes, besides the original 1983 tracklist, tracks previously unavailable, like 'Here Comes the Holidays', an ironic take of a short London holiday sung by Joni Dee; the instrumental 'Three Cheers For The Sun', the alternative session takes of 'Big Painting', 'Whatever Happened to ThamesBeat?', and 'This Is London'; and finally, great live versions of 'If Only', and '(There's A) Cloud Over Liverpool, from a gig at the 100 Club in 1987.

The cover is the same 1983 iconic London Underground one but the booklet inside the CD, except from a plethora of interesting sleevenotes, contains many rare photographs. As a big Times fan I have to admit that I feel quite spoiled by this re-issue...

And then, there are the songs from the original tracklist! They do sound as contemporary now as they did 20 odd years ago, This Is truly London, your own London. I always thought that this album delineate a psychogeographical map of the city; our hero/es in the songs wander in all these familiar places, expressing different feelings with each different song. It is as if the city, a living organism in itself, with its very own personality, its 'highs' and 'lows', dictates and you captivated can do nothing but respond accordingly.

I do see - and always have seen - This Is London as a dialectic album, an album constructed of three parts. The first one includes the 8 first songs which combine a clear image of London and set the background for a story. Then, after 'Stranger Than Fiction', we enter a new setting and a new city with '(There's A) Cloud Over Liverpool'. We now learn our hero's name, Frank Summit, and we are given a description of his everyday, working class, no-way-out, life. '(There's A) Cloud Over Liverpool' feeds us a generous slice of kitchen sink pie, takes our mind off London for a bit just to land us together with Frank back to London's paved with the hopes of millions streets. In the third part, we realise that the higher the hopes, the worst the crash. London is merciless, it plays a hard and uncharitable game. The final song from the original tracklist 'In This Green and Pleasant Lan' concludes the story in the most appropriate way: with a questionmark.

London's won the game, we are down on our knees, but has it broken our spirit? The lyrics and the way they are delivered manifest despair and maybe defeat but also anger; we can hear the voice of the 'defeated' rising to a shout of contempt, resolution and ultimately defiance. And we know then that the story has not ended here, it is to be continued in the same playground which is London, your own London...

I used to have this album on vinyl many years ago and absolutely played it to death.
It was lovely getting it again and I was soon singing along, scarily still managing to remember all the words after 20 years!
This album is an absolute must have.

Yes I like the Times,less is some times more.If you have not played 'This Is London' before,'This green & pleasant land' was a good one to end on.It's not that the track's that come after are bad,it's just that 'This green & pleasant land' is so good to end on.Like e.g.'you're wondering now' on the Specials c.d.Iv had 'This Is London' for a long time,& I have not stop playing it so much so my l.p.is in a bad way