Protest songs 1924-2012

"Waylaid by writers' block and Covid, the Specials have been unable to make their planned Jamaican reggae follow-up to 2019's Encore. So they've recorded some covers instead, shapeshifting through blues, folk, country and rock. It's odd that most of the songs are American, when this band are so good at delineating a particularly British experience. And your definition of a protest song may be very different from theirs. It doesn't matter. The Specials have always balanced calls to action with jaundiced observation; intertwined the personal and political".

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"Since their self-titled 1979 debut album, tracks tackling racism, war, unemployment and national decay helped make them one of the most vital and socially progressive bands of their age ... What there isn't much of is ska. Here, The Specials take a far more open-minded approach, as if allowing each song to pick its own style ... This is an album of thoughtful and considered dissent rather than the righteous rage of old. The Specials, perhaps, have realised sooner than most that all this shouting is getting us nowhere".

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"There are great moments here, particularly a spare, powerful reworking of Talking Heads' "Listening Wind," and the participants never sound less than sincere, but coming from a band whose heritage includes "Ghost Town," "Doesn't Make It Alright," and "It's Up to You," Protest Songs 1924-2012 never quite reaches its potential".

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"Leaders of the opposition: 2-Tone icons celebrate music as a revolutionary force with startling collection of covers ... It's fitting (...) that the makers of "Ghost Town", the last chart-topper that can be clearly indentified as a protest song, should delve deep into the history of musical agitprop for a record that, to borrow a phrase from BBC founder Lord Reith, informs, educates and entertains. And within the framework of that mission they alight on a broad array of styles often leaps and bounds from any perceived 2-Tone template ... A compelling soundtrack to troubled times past and present".