UK SUBS: Universal LP 12"

 


SONGS

Side A :

  1. Last man standing
  2. Soho
  3. Spoils of war
  4. 3rd world England
  5. Universal
  6. Hollywood
  7. The Dark

Side B:

  1. Fragile
  2. White lie
  3. Don't blame Islam
  4. Cross fire
  5. Papers lie
  6. Custody
  7. Devolution
  8. On my way
This, I must say, is one of my dreams come true! To make a UK Subs is rather like the peak of what we could ever hope to make.
It all started with a visit to us from Caps of Combat Rock. He quickly realized that we were big fans of the band and said: "Hey, you seem to be a fan, I'm doing their mini CD, and if you want, you can do the 7"!". I wondered if I was dreaming and once he had pinched me and confirmed the deal, we celebrated in a royal way at a Damned concert. To offer us a Subs EP, was like offering sight to a blind man, or a beer to Caps.
Then the project was on standby for more than a year. And finally, one day, Caps calls us to say that the Subs aren't ready for a new EP but they were ready to have their last album out on LP. Even better: ready to give it an official letter! (FYI, the UK Subs do their official albums by alphabetical order: 1st "Another kind of blues", 2nd "Brand New Age", and so on until the famous U "Universal").
Full of energy, we attacked the project in the form of a kind of coproduction, where our main role was distribution. Given the sum reached by the royalties for the SACEM and for the production of the LPs, we knew the album was going to cost us a lot (about 4 times the price of producing a CD). And we thought that if it was going to be expensive, it might as well be beautiful. So we pressed 1000 numbered copies, in khaki color with folding sleeves and colored centers. Magnificent. So some people won't like the price, but it's a choice, and fans of the band will understand that easily.
And it must be said this album is a gem. Far from the uncertain phase the Subs had between J and M, "Universal" brings back the pure tradition of the first albums, as they had done in albums like "Occupied" or "Normal Service Resumed".
The record was released in January 2004 in an edition of 1000 copies and isn't likely to be repressed. You should know there are also thirty or so sleeveless copies, which come with a white folding sleeve with a photocopied cover and Charlie Happer's autograph inside.
I can die happy!