20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of the Jam (CD - 2005)

Liner Note Author: Sara Cody.

Photographers: Victor Watts; Adrian Boot; Steve Morley; Scott Weiner.

There are several Jam compilations on the market, with THE SOUND OF THE JAM serving as perhaps the most comprehensive overview of the band's career. Still, THE MILLENNIUM COLLECTION: THE BEST OF THE JAM, in keeping with the aesthetic of Universal's 20TH CENTURY MASTERS series, boils down the oeuvre of this innovative and hugely influential British trio to an extremely compressed and economical 11 tracks.

While it is a given that a compilation of this sort will be missing a good deal of essential material, THE BEST OF THE JAM is a quick, dazzling spin through the Jam's short, stellar career. From the edgy punk-pop of "This Is the Modern World" to the ska-inflected "Strange Town" and up through the rollicking, Motown-indebted "Town Called Malice" and the soulful ballad "The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had to Swallow)," this is indispensable stuff from beginning to end. THE BEST OF THE JAM is a great place to get acquainted with the music of this seminal group. minimize