Disc 1:
1. My Generation
2. The Modern World
3. All Or Nothing
4. I'm A Man
5. Poison Ivy
6. The In Crowd
7. Travelin' Man
8. I Can't Turn You Loose
9. I'm A Roadrunner
10. Going A Go-Go
11. I'll Keep On Holding On
12. Put Me In The Picture
13. Stoned Love
14. Cool Jerk
15. Time For Action
16. Nowhere To Run
17. (I Know) I'm Losing You
18. Standing In The Shadows Of Love
19. Needle In A Haystack
20. Band Of Gold
21. Rescue Me
22. This Old Heart
23. Behind A Painted Smile
24. Money (That's What I Want)
Disc 2:
1. 5-4-3-2-1
2. All Day And All Of The Night
3. Town Called Malice
4. Sweet Soul Music
5. What'cha Gonna Do About It
6. Keep On Running
7. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)
8. Move On Up
9. Wade In The Water
10. In The Midnight Hour
11. Walking Down The Kings Road
12. Maybe Tomorrow
13. Millions Like Us
14. Knock On Wood
15. Ain't Nothing But A House Party
16. Louie Louie
17. Give Me Just A Little More Time
18. There's A Ghost In My House
19. This Old Heart Of Mine
20. Jimmy Mack
21. He Was Really Saying Something
22. You Can't Hurry Love
23. Out Of Time
24. The Letter
25. It's A Shame
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This is what might be called a "high concept" compilation, the basic idea being to combine songs from the past 40 years or so that are associated with the Mods.
The package says "49 Mod Anthems" so, as you'd expect it's the usual mix of mid-60s beat staples, from the likes of The Kinks, The Who, and Motown favourites such as Martha and the Vandellas and Smokey Robinson. So far, so predictable, with a sprinkling of New Wave tracks, from The Jam, The Lambrettas and the truly awful Secret Affair.
As with so many of such compilations there's a certain lack of thought. The Jam's In The City, or All Around The World would, for instance, have been a more incisive choice than Town Called Malice. And if no room was found for The Kinks' David Watts, then surely The Jam's cover of the same record would have been an imaginative selection.
Imagination, however, is what these two discs seem to be singularly lacking. Admittedly no Mod compilation worthy of the name could omit The Who's My Generation, but I Can't Explain and The Kids Are Alright would have been equally worthy. Similarly, Curtis Mayfield's Move On Up and Wilson Pickett's In The Midnight Hour certainly earned their place, but did Freda Payne's Band of Gold or The Chords' Maybe Tomorrow?
Perhaps if the compilers had restricted themselves to a narrower period perhaps the mid-'60s rise of Mod, or the late-'70s revival that coincided with the emergence of punk they might have come up with a collection that's more insightful, and meaningful, than this one.
Of course it's great to have all these tracks on one set, but in this age of the iPod, and the self-compiled mix CD, compilations need to justify themselves more than ever, and this one doesn't.
Ultimately it's not clear exactly who, or what, this compilation is aimed at, other than ageing Mods, who will doubtless have all these records anyway. Nice graphics though.
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