Various Artists - Ska Is Dead

On Tuesday February 17, 2004, 3 bands that had been friends for years, BIG D & THE KIDS TABLE, MUSTARD PLUG, and THE PLANET SMASHERS, got on stage in front of 400 kids in Buffalo NY and performed the very first gig on the very first Ska Is Dead tour. Three years, and 140 shows later, the tour has gone beyond all expectations, selling over 55,000 tickets in 3 different countries and proving that indeed, ska is not dead. In fact, the tour started out to prove just that. At a time when retail had forgotten the genre and most live venues had only marginal faith, the tour was put together on the simple principal that ska is as valid as it ever was, it just needed to be rebuilt from the grass roots on up. To document and commemorate this success, Asian Man Records proudly presents Ska Is Dead: the compilation CD. Featuring 23 of the most important bands performing in the genre. From the laid back Jamaican-style sounds of Hawaii's GO JIMMY GO to the aggressive ska-core of Miami's AGAINST ALL AUTHORITY, from newcomers like BOMB THE MUSIC INDUSTRY to legends like FISHBONE, and pretty much everything in between, this compilation represents the very best of a very dynamic scene, one that is back on the upswing and proving that ska will never die. Album Description

and a half stars. Finally an awesome Ska comp!

I've always been a fan of ska ever since the explosion in the mid 90's. Ever since then, it has been said that ska is dead and what this comp tries to do is prove that it's not. Well, does it work? Very well, actually. Just look at the tracklisting of the bands. It covers old bands to new bands and lite ska and heavy ska. It's actually a very good mix and keeps the compilation interesting from beginning to finish. Most of the songs on this cd is amazing. I preferably love the first 4 tracks but there are very few, if not any, bad tracks. This cd will definetly get you skankin' and it contains alot of unreleased tracks and rare tracks from many bands. The reason why this compilation is 4 and a half stars and not 5 is because of this. The music on this cd is defintely 5 stars but the thing that I wasn't happy about is that there are about 2 or 3 tracks on it that really aren't ska at all. There is one where they use ska chords very faintly in the verse but the song overall sounds like it belongs on a punk compilation and not a Ska Is Dead compilation. Also there are some noticable sloppy recordings but it's still very listenable and the songs are great anyway. And one more thing is that this cd is missing some other important ska bands such as The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Save Ferris but hopefully they'll include the ones they forgot in the second Ska Is Dead compilation. So this cd is ALMOST perfect. Definetly buy this if your a fan of ska or even just want to get into it because it's a perfect introduction because it has a large variety of ska music. Best ska compilation in years! July 13, 2007

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