The Almighty – Anth’f***ing’ology: The Gospel According To The Almighty

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Sanctuary Records
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After 20 years there will finally be a comprehensive career retrospective from England’s finest hard rockers The Almighty. Bringing together all 13 ‘hit’ singles from their seven albums to date, plus additional album tracks selected by the band themselves, Anth’f**ing’ology: The Gospel According To The Almighty represents the first compilation that has had the benefit of complete band involvement from start to finish. No only that, a bonus DVD will contain all 10 videos as well.

The Almighty were always about attitude over packaged shininess, and their entire output has reflected that, with ballsy rockers like Destroyed, Broken Machine and the heavy-as-hell Addiction, saccharine-free ballads Little Lost Sometimes and Out of Season and upbeat modern punk tracks like All Sussed Out.

The quality of their output over the years is matched by very few other bands. Every album is strong from start to finish, with most of the album tracks being equally as good, or better, than the singles. In fact, without looking at the DVD tracklist, listen to the CD and try to pick out the singles.

In terms of track selection, obviously the singles pick themselves. For the other four tracks Broken Machine was obvious, being the lead track from their sixth, self-titled, album, but not released as a single. Ruse, from the band’s last studio album Psycho-Narco, on the other hand is a surprise. The lead track at the time was Galvanize, which isn’t present. From the earlier albums the outstanding, and very popular Jesus Loves You… But I Don’t, inexplicably never released as a single, gets a deserving place, as does Ongoing And Total from Just Add Life.

To balance the tracklist across all the albums, I think I’d have had another one each from The Almighty and Psycho-Narco, instead of a third from Just Add Life. The original tracklist was in fact slated to include Welcome To Defiance, which became the motto for the Leukaemia Research charity shows the band played in January last year, and Way Beyond Belief from Crank. Of course, to get the very best of The Almighty, you would need two CDs. Many could argue the rights of inclusion for Bandaged Knees, Full Force Lovin’ Machine, Move Right In, The Unreal Thing, Crucify, Blood, Fire And Love, Sin Against The Light, Takin’ Hold, Resurrection Mutha, Lay Down The Law, Possession, Detroit, Hell To Pay, Galvanize and several other strong tracks that don’t get played live so often etc. Ultimately, whichever tracks are chosen, the resultant CD will always be a five-star set.

Currently the Almighty are going through a ‘temporary’ reunion of the classic line-up of Ricky Warwick (vocals/guitar), Pete Friesen (guitar), Floyd London (bass) and Stumpy Monroe (drums), which has so far yielded the two charity shows, a headlining spot at the Bulldog Bash (August 2006) and a UK tour (December 2006). Says Warwick: “To tell you the truth, music is probably crying out again for a band like The Almighty. We’re not actively pursuing tours, record deals, whatever. But if we feel like writing some new stuff, who’s gonna stop us?”

I’d be more interested in knowing who’s going to initiate the writing process… and hurry them up a bit!

“ attitude over packaged shininess ”

Tracklist:
CD – Destroyed / Power / Wild And Wonderful / Free ‘n’ Easy / Devil’s Toy / Little Lost Sometimes / Addiction / Over The Edge / Out Of Season / Wrench / Jonestown Mind / All Sussed Out / Do You Understand / Jesus Loves You… But I Don’t / Ongoing And Total / Broken Machine / Ruse
DVD – Destroyed / Power / Wild And Wonderful / Free ‘n’ Easy / Devil’s Toy / Addiction / Out Of Season / Jonestown Mind / All Sussed Out / Do You Understand

Written by Andy Lye
More: Compilation Albums, Hard Rock, The Almighty