Sold Date: March 1, 2021
Start Date: January 30, 2021
Final Price: £11.20 (GBP)
Seller Feedback: 275
Buyer Feedback: 97

UB40 - Present Arms - 1st Press Vinyl LPDEP1 1981 VG+/VG+. Condition is "Used".

FREE FOR UK - Will Post Worldwide, but only International Tracked & Signed - I’ve put 25 Pounds as a benchmark price Worldwide - But contact me first before paying to let me know where you are in the world and I will work out a price for you and change the price accordingly.
 
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VINYL = VG+ Record surfaces may show some signs of slight wear, but they don't affect the listening experience and are of a cosmetic nature only. I have cleaned and play-tested both sides of the record and it plays really well and still sounds great!

SLEEVE = VG+

PLEASE SEE PHOTOS AS PART OF DESCRIPTION
I loved early UB40 and saw them play several times, they were an awesome live band.

Here's an online review:

So ubiquitous was 's grip on the pop-reggae market that it may have been difficult for younger fans to comprehend just how their arrival shook up the British musical scene. They appeared just as 2 Tone had peaked and was beginning its slide towards oblivion. Not that it mattered, as few would try to shoehorn the band into that suit. However, the group was no more comfortable within the U.K. reggae axis of , , and . Their rhythms may have been reggae-based, their music Jamaican-inspired, but had such an original take on the genre that all comparisons were moot.

Now that they were off the dole, the awesome Brummie octet wasted little time in getting their second record out, “Present Arms” arriving in May, 1981, just nine months on from “Signing Off”. Brilliantly, it raises the ratings bar to a new level, mainly due to being leaner with 8 choice cuts, half of which are fit to be labelled all-time classics. The first of these, “Present Arms”, opens the set dramatically with 30 seconds of military drums leading into a Sergeant major's cry of “Preseeeeeeeent Arms”. Immediately, the magnificent horns and rhythm section declare that UB40 have returned on serious reggae business, fronted by Ali's lyrics, bemoaning the poor prospects for the young men of the day who see the army as the only way out: “The khaki ranks of flesh and steel, learning how to smile and kill, they'll teach you to ignore the screams and tears”. “Sardonicus” was based on a 1961 horror movie and is here re-imagined for a developing 1981 horror story as drummer Jimmy Brown explained: “It's about a man who has a hideous grin frozen on his face. At the time it was aimed at Ronald Reagan. It was made by William Castle, a well known director of cheap, bizarre low budget 'shockers' in the fifties and sixties.”. The album's lead single, “Don’t Let It Pass You By”, a #16 hit in the UK, bravely carried an atheist message: “There ain't no heaven and there ain't no hell, Except the one we're in and you know too well, There's no-one waiting on, waiting on a higher high, Don't let the only world you're ever gonna live in pass you by” Well said that group! Taking time out to reflect, the instrumental “Wildcat” comes with some neat percussion to close side one.

Side two opens gloriously with “One In Ten” which was chosen as the album's second single (a #7 hit) in late July. This was another penned by drummer Jimmy Brown, completing his transatlantic barb against Reaganomics and Thatcherism. Almost 10% of the West Midlands working population were unemployed in the summer of 1981 and UB40 are dealing in a sad reality for many: “I'm the child that never learns to read 'cause no-one spared the time… I'm another teenage suicide in a street that has no trees… I'm a house wife hooked on Valium I'm a Pensioner alone… Nobody Knows me but I'm always there, A statistic, a reminder of a world that doesn't care”. There is no society, haven't you heard? It's every man for himself. What a state the country's in. The unrelenting brilliance continues on “Don’t Slow Down”, a pressure-of-life number which offers the smooth sax of Brian Travers to soothe the soul, offering respite for the troubled mind. This mood is maintained on the classic “Silent Witness” which is down with the downtrodden, reserving the utmost empathy for those with a rock for a pillow: “The neon haze of city lights, The tribal sound of marching feet, Cuts through the gloom on cold dark nights, The tired and homeless roam the streets”. This, my friends, is the sound of compassion. Catch it in the right moment and the tears may well fall. The end conclusion on this classic LP is reached on “Lamb’s Bread”; there's nothing else for it, legalize marijuana! Not a single moment has been wasted on this offering; UB40 and The Beat position Birmingham as the reggae world's most vital city in 1981.

The album is now burnt to my hard drive because I'm selling a lot of my vinyl and CD collection, because the kids are getting bigger and the house is getting smaller! Basically, it was either the kids or the records, sadly the coin came down tails...Thanks for looking!