* Only available on the CD and cassette releases

Reviews

Ten years ago, when so many UK soul groups were attempting to show how b-a-a-a-a-d they were, Level 42 carved a niche for themselves by mining a gentler seam. Built around Mark King's limited but listenable voice and his warm bass playing, the Level 42 corporate sound hasn't changed a great deal, as this journey from 1981's Love Games to the current release, Take Care Of Yourself, shows. Much as they try to deviate from that smooth format - the hip-hoppy Hot Water, the horn-heavy raunch Take Care Of Yourself, rockin' out on Heaven In My Hands - the in-car friendly jazz/funk arrangements and tones - unadulterated here in (among others) Running In The Family, Tracie, Lessons In Love, Something About You and The Sun Goes Down - seep through every time. Which is exactly what their solid fan base will want. *** by Lloyd Bradley, Q - December 1989 With the Crimble market in mind, the Levellers release their greatest hits LP, and an interesting document it is. Impossible to imagine the glee which the man who signed the band to Polydor 23 hits back must feel looking down the track listing here. It would also have been impossible to have predicted the success that the fledgling Level 42 would have attained on the evidence of early moments such as the detached 'Love Games'. Mark King's bass came to symbolise the only British white dance band to consistently hit the charts and please the purists. Characteried by the excellent 'Hot Water' before giving his thumb a well earned rest and finding the confidence and security to write such gentle gems as 'It's Over' and 'Leaving Me Now'. Above all, Level 42 continue to make accomplished music and execute it with a vigour and humour that pisses a lot of people off. But even those killjoys would admit that there are at least four numbers on this 14 track record that they'd turn up on the car stereo. 4.5 by Andy Strickland, Record Mirror - 1989 Schizophrenic is the best way to describe this one - the original band funked like mad, while the latest pop-targeted model makes much of Mark King's voice. Yet it's the four extra tracks for CD buyers that redress the balance jazz-funkwards with the likes of Micro Kid and The Chant Has Begun, leaving it a reasonable summary of nine years' hard labour. Shame only the latest line-up gets a photo and name-check: King, if not his record label, would surely recognise the input of the Goulds, Boon and Phil, who quit a couple of years ago, not to mention songwriting wizard Wally Badarou. So dubious packaging, but value-wise, no problem. Performance: 8 Sound: 8 by Which CD - January 1990