Track Listing

1. The Riverboat Song
2. The Day We Caught The Train
3. One For The Road
4. The Circle
5. You've Got It Bad
6. Hundred Mile High City
7. Better Day
8. Travellers Tune
9. Get Blown Away
10. It's A Beautiful Thing
11. Profit In Peace
12. So Low
13. July
14. Up On The Downside
15. Mechanical Wonder
16. Huckleberry Grove
17. Robin Hood
18. Crazy Lowdown Ways

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2292 in Music
• Released on: 2003-08-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 70 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Songs for the Front Row collects the best tracks from the Moseley Shoals quartet Ocean Colour Scene. Though critics may not like this smart, soulful Birmingham outfit, there's no denying that OCS--like the early work of their mentor Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher in his less boisterous moments, the Small Faces or the Yardbirds--manage to tap into a certain strain of Englishness usually ignored by trendier outfits. It's all here: from the Chris Evans-championed "The Riverboat Song", to festival favourites such as "Profit in Peace", the irresistibly jaunty "Mechanical Wonder" and the Stonesy blues of "You've Got It Bad". Every groove oozes passion and self-belief, every last Motown-influenced bassline and Mod blast of guitar boasts pride. Derided as this Moseley Shoals quartet may well be--and sure, their music can veer worryingly into syrupy ballad territory, particularly on slower numbers such as "Beautiful Thing"--they've had their great moments. --Everett True

CD Description
This release is a collection of the Midlands indie band's most popular tracks. It covers the period from the release of'Moseley Shoals' in 1996 up until, and including, the November 2001 single, 'Crazy Lowdown Ways'. The album also includes a version of 'Robin Hood', a popular B-side recorded liveat the Royal Albert Hall.

Customer Reviews

An album full of great tuneful songs!
Ocean Colour Scene seem to have been around for a long time. This compilation traces their history right back. It doesn't include tracks from their first album, which OCS will say was not their best.
The tracks on this are excellent and anyone who enjoys guitar based music coupled with good melodies and thoughtful lyrics will love this. To give an example of what to expect OCS follow the line of great British artists like The Kinks, The Beatles, The Who through to the Jam and Oasis.

My personal favorites on this album are 'One For The Road', 'Crazy Low Down Ways' and 'Up On The Downside' the rest are also excellent. there is also a second CD which features a number of live performances. The CD sleeve gives all the lyrics and a brief explanation of how or why the song came to be.
What music you like is a personal thing, but if you like the bands I mentioned in this review you'll like OCS and certainly this album.

The most underrated Band show their greatness
You cannot fail to smile when you here this album, OCS are responsible for some great sing along tunes. They must be the most used band in 90's british films, hundred mile high city being the standout track. I could not understand how anyone could fail to like it. Buy it! Better if you can get the 5 track live cd with it.

70 fantastic minutes of OCS!
I have always liked OCS, but I wasn't that big of a fan to go and buy all their albums. After listening to "Songs from the Front Row", I must admit that I'm very close to buying all their older stuff. Here you have it all - from the mellow "Huckleberry Grove" to the upbeat "Hundred Mile High City" or the really infectious "July" I just can't get enough of.

The CD booklet features complete lyrics, as well as singer/songwriter Simon Fowler's liner notes, with background info on how some of the songs were written and why they were chosen for the compilation.

A great album!