Fun Lovin' Criminals:
Come Find Yourself Deluxe:
Demon:
4xCD set:
Out February 19th 2016:
The year 1996 won't ever go down in musical history as a memorable one - Take That splitting up, George Michael unleashing the downright gloomy Jesus to a Child (the year's first number 1) and Gina G representing the UK at Eurovision - but it heralded the release of an assured debut from three unlikely New Yorkers.
Fun Lovin' Criminals were certainly more Donnie Brasco than Donny Osmond, borrowing inspiration from their beloved home city's back-streets and the band members' own experiences. Frontman Huey Morgan rode the gangster horse over several fences before opting for a career in broadcasting, some solo work and the subsequent recent rebirth of FLC as a must-see live band.
Top 10 in 1996, Come Find Yourself successfully and swaggeringly revisited the yobby, gobby House of Pain, the cartoonish Licensed to Ill-era Beastie Boys and Stax in all its toe-tapping glory, without parody or homage but with a sense of humour and an overall feeling that its creators weren't taking themselves too seriously. Hit singles Scooby Snacks and Fun Lovin' Criminals soundtracked many a drunken student disco while the more reverential King of New York offered pointers as to where the band were headed next.
The remainder of the album is a Brooklyn-based knees-up with a couple of curve-balls thrown in, namely the riff-driven Bombin' The L and a cover of James Bond song We Have All The Time in the World, written by John Barry and Hal David. Perhaps too long on its original edition, Come Find Yourself has at least half a dozen sure-fire bangers worth investing in.
Credit where credit's due as far as this deluxe reissue is concerned - you get four discs' worth of related material to wade through, although an entire CD of instrumental mixes might be pushing it a little, good though some of it is. Numerous alternative mixes adorn the second disc, including some suitably dark and gritty versions from Jack Dangers and DJ Bombjack, while disc three proves to be the most interesting with radio sessions aplenty.
Somewhat surprisingly in the US, given the lyrical content and overall feel of the album - it's a little bit funk, a little bit rock-rap and certainly brassy musically - Come Find Yourself and subsequent albums stiffed big time, whereas in the UK FLC were something of a catch. They chalked up eight Top 40 hit singles with half of them on here and many on the superior follow-up 100% Columbian before gradually fading from favour with the mainstream.
★★★★★★★½☆☆☆
Come Find Yourself Deluxe:
Demon:
4xCD set:
Out February 19th 2016:
Fun Lovin' Criminals were certainly more Donnie Brasco than Donny Osmond, borrowing inspiration from their beloved home city's back-streets and the band members' own experiences. Frontman Huey Morgan rode the gangster horse over several fences before opting for a career in broadcasting, some solo work and the subsequent recent rebirth of FLC as a must-see live band.
Top 10 in 1996, Come Find Yourself successfully and swaggeringly revisited the yobby, gobby House of Pain, the cartoonish Licensed to Ill-era Beastie Boys and Stax in all its toe-tapping glory, without parody or homage but with a sense of humour and an overall feeling that its creators weren't taking themselves too seriously. Hit singles Scooby Snacks and Fun Lovin' Criminals soundtracked many a drunken student disco while the more reverential King of New York offered pointers as to where the band were headed next.
The remainder of the album is a Brooklyn-based knees-up with a couple of curve-balls thrown in, namely the riff-driven Bombin' The L and a cover of James Bond song We Have All The Time in the World, written by John Barry and Hal David. Perhaps too long on its original edition, Come Find Yourself has at least half a dozen sure-fire bangers worth investing in.
Credit where credit's due as far as this deluxe reissue is concerned - you get four discs' worth of related material to wade through, although an entire CD of instrumental mixes might be pushing it a little, good though some of it is. Numerous alternative mixes adorn the second disc, including some suitably dark and gritty versions from Jack Dangers and DJ Bombjack, while disc three proves to be the most interesting with radio sessions aplenty.
Somewhat surprisingly in the US, given the lyrical content and overall feel of the album - it's a little bit funk, a little bit rock-rap and certainly brassy musically - Come Find Yourself and subsequent albums stiffed big time, whereas in the UK FLC were something of a catch. They chalked up eight Top 40 hit singles with half of them on here and many on the superior follow-up 100% Columbian before gradually fading from favour with the mainstream.
★★★★★★★½☆☆☆