Mansun would rarely disappoint U.
From the very start, there was something about Mansun that lined them up outside the box of all the other Indie acts at the time. A steady run of strong EP's before their debut album and a nod to the theatrical and grandiose stood them apart. This greatest hits release compiles 17 of their tracks and showcases a band who never seemed cut out for the time (they were almost ridiculed for utilising the vocal skills of Tom Baker on their second album, now the man is virtually omnipotent due to Little Britain) but who left behind a strong body of work.
The early EP's and first album material was notable for its up-front energy levels, programmed drum fills and quirky lyrics. 'Take It Easy Chicken' and 'Egg Shaped Fred' are notable titles but 'Stripper Vicar' was an early indication of the lyrical foreplay, a letter stating their concerns over a vicar who indulges in some impure activites and the stories contained within their songs always were creative.
The creativity also bled into the band's videos, with 'Taxloss' featuring on the evening news when the band filmed the commotion of throwing their film budget into the early morning commuter rush at Liverpool Street Station. The fine handed out was a fair payment for the amount of publicity this generated.
Second album 'Six' found the band trying to stretch their boundaries and met with a rather mixed reception. If the band's first album didn't sit with the times, this almost Prog like record with its conceptual art and recurring themes confounded people who got too hung up on the overall project. Which was a shame as tracks like 'Being A Girl' and 'Legacy' were blistering singles, jolting the radio play lists with some vigour but never managing to get the credit it deserved.
The strive to challenge themselves found Mansun being far more than a conventional band and 'Closed For Business' showcased the band performing at an almost waltz-like tempo and this release was like nothing else heard from an indie band that year. The band even found themselves hampered by the changing rules of the music charts, with their habit of releasing four songs on a CD single being outlawed by new rules which allowed countless remixes of the same track as long as the length was less than 20 minutes but forbid bands to release more than 3 tracks on a single format. Yet again, the bland and the dull triumphed with Mansun finding a unique selling point of theirs being taken away from them.
After the release of 'Six', the lack of critical success took its toll on the band and whilst the singles from 'Little Kix' were of a similar high nature, and a step back away from the overblown 'Six', adding a more commercial edge to the band's first album sound. 'I Can Only Disappoint U' did extremely well on release and even though 'Fool' seemed to have its critics, it's another example of a well constructed and melodic single.
The saddest thing about the way that Mansun split was how it all just trickled away and in the end, no one seemed to really care. For a band who had better songs and more meaning than a lot of the acts who broke at the time, it was criminal that they slipped off the radar so easily. This release is a second chance to enjoy the band but will likely be glossed over by many people - don't make the same mistake again.