Ian Dury - Reasons To Be Cheerful (The Best Of Ian Dury) [PA] (CD 2005)

Contains a good selection of Ian Dury songs. If you only want to buy one Dury album then make it this one. He may be classified as Punk but his lyrics are a great observation of life and they are matched to memorable tunes. Great stuff!!

If you are of a certain age, this CD will take you back to the days of Punk, Pub Rock, A Bunch of Sticks and the amazing innovation of "New Boots and Panties".

That was my first introduction to the music of Ian Dury and most of the best tracks from that album are on this double CD, albeit some recorded live.

The album starts off with a series of classics, making me wonder why I hadn't bought this before or at least dusted off my old vinyl. The early killer tracks include the incomparable "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll", the hard rocking "Sweet Gene Vincent" and the moody "What a Waste". By this time you've already had a reminder of the superbly quirky lyrical quality of Dury's work - "See my Tailor, he's called Simon, I know it's going to fit" and "I could be the ticket man on Fulham Broadway station".

Also on CD.01 are "Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3" and "Hit me with your Rhythm Stick" but from this point onwards the quality seems to drop off.

Compared wih the thundering opening to the album, CD0.2 is a bit of a let down. I was expecting the highlights to be "Blockheads", "Billericay Dickie" and "Clever Trevor" but these are all live versions that I don't consider to be as good as the studio takes. Having said this, if you already have "New Boots..." on CD this may augment your collection.

Finally, don't play it in the car when your kids are in the back...

This is a great little, but big package for any devoted Dury follower. I remember him and the Blockheads in their hayday and before. My first taste was when I used to listen to them rehearse (when they were the Kilburns) in next door's garage through the wall of my bedroom and started buying their records a little while after. This double CD set is a kind of 'best of' with loads of other Dury tracks crammed in. It sadly lacks PLAISTOW PATRICIA, which could easily replace a more irritating track from the K&THR era. For those who are replacing their vinyl with digital, the main advantage is hearing those 'hidden' instruments which do not come across as well on vinyl. Have you ever taken great notice of the excellent bass playing on HIT ME.... ? It really stands out here! If you see this going for less than a tenner, snap it up and enjoy the razzle of the 20th century Shakespeare of music lyrics, Mr Ian Dury. BG

This album lives up to it's name - it really made me cheerful. Fantastic!! What a talent Ian was, an underestimated legend.

the really best of Ian ,every good quality lyrics and music lover would listen the great work of Ian !
Jeff from France

I bought this partly out of respect for the recently departed, and also curiosity as I had not heard the 'Kilburn - Highroads' phase. There is a lot of stuff on this from the time when Dury thought he didn't need the Blockheads and, for me, this is uninspiring. Although the studio recordings make the lyrics plainer, if that's your interest, the backing is not so tight and you miss the buzz of the live gig recordings.