REISSUES
VARIOUS ARTISTS
2 TONE: THE ALBUMS
JE
CHRYSALIS
★★★
Last year’s 7" singles round-up 2 Tone Treasures won Classic Pop’s best compilation of 2019, and this 8CD boxset of the label’s accompanying albums is a reminder of just how influential 2 Tone was when it went full length.
Given that The Specials rival Joy Division reissues for their frequency, it’s valid to question the necessity of including their two LPs and The Special AKA’s In The Studio in this collection. Anyone with the most cursory interest in the era surely owns those already. It’s only in the boxset’s other five albums where it starts to get interesting.