Track Listing

1. Jump on demand
2. Roots
3. Ego
4. Too little too late
5. Change of scene
6. Skanking song
7. Story so far
8. Friend called Fred
9. It's over
10. Give it a try
11. Dotted line

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #99653 in Music
• Released on: 2002-08-26
• Number of discs: 1

CD Description
Third album from Spunge and the follow up to their 2000 release 'Room For Abuse'. Produced by John Cornfield (Muse/Oasis), 'The Story So Far' is a sonic fusion of high energy ska and catchy pop-punk, heavily influenced by Less Than Jake and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

Customer Reviews

[Spunge]'s best album to date.
A Solid and well rounded album that shows that [spunge] have become major players in the Ska Punk music genre.

This is a good album that has the same hooks as their previous releases and fans of Pedigree Chump and Room For Abuse should buy this as should anyone who like ska punk legends Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Less Than Jake.

The album as a whole is as good as the singles already released, 'Ego' (also on the last album), 'Roots' and 'Jump On Demand'.

A must for any [spunge] or ska punk fan.

This album 'rocks'
I had to think a little before choosing my rating for this album. The choice being 4 or 5.

There is no doubt in my mind that this is a cracking album which any [Spunge] fan would want in their collection. Not only that any other fan of punk/ska and rock would probably enjoy this album. Many of tracks on this album have a much broader appeal than those on both "Room for Abuse" and "Pedigree Chump". My favourite songs on this album are "Change of Scene", "Friend Called Fred" and "Too Little Too Late". There is a good mix of the usual witty lyrics and more mainstream rock chord sequences and orchestration.

In my opinion, any true fan would not be disappointed with the slight change in sound. Enough of the old style has been preserved and mixed to create an even more interesting blend. It's good to see the band evolving (like any good thing with aspirations of survival should do). The only qualm being the length. Only 37mins 14secs of music, including a new version of "Ego"; an earlier song.

Such a let-down
I've always been a massive fan of Spunge (ever since their first album "Pedigree Chump") and have waited ages for them to get the media recognition and chart success that they deserve, along with the already huge nationwide fanbase. I've always imagined seeing them on Top of the Pops (they certainly have the potential to be a Number One band) and telling everyone how I'd seen them live well before they were famous. Recently signed to B-Unique records, they've had a Top 40 single with one of the tracks on this album ("Jump On Demand"). Described as a more "Emo" based sound than the punky and raw "Pedigree Chump" or the ska punky, witty and superb-if-a-bit-repetitive "Room For Abuse", this was the album that was going to launch the band into the chart mainstream and world fame.

Not this time though...

This record is such a let-down, I almost felt like crying when I first heard it.

The first complaint is over the length and amount of original content. There ain't a lot. The whole CD is around 35 minutes long - one of the best things about the previous two albums is the 45mins+ length of both. Secondly, once you subtract the two singles, the 9 tracks consist of 7 new ones plus a reworking of "Ego" from the previous album and "Friend Called Fred", which was an old B-side from one of their first singles. I'm not sure whether the record company insisted on a release quickly after the contract was signed, but looking at the lack of material - including the lack of original B-sides on the singles, it wouldn't surprise me.

Other than the two singles "Roots" and "Jump on Demand", there isn't a lot going right on this album. The opening track is a bouncy-ish band history which tries to get the story of the band in 4 minutes. However, it lacks the up-beat ska-punkiness, and the superb and funny lyrics of many of the songs on "Room For Abuse". This theme continues with the remainder of the songs here - the remake of "Ego" destroys the shouty chorus and bounciness of the original on "Room for Abuse" and the rest are just too ordinary. The only saving track is the final "Too Little Too Late", a poetic justice really.

When I was rating this, I swung from the probably a bit harsh rating of one star to the bit more generous 3 stars, as I suppose that as an album, it's not that bad - just compared to the previous albums, it is. I've settled on the in-between 2 rating. If you want to hear what Spunge are really about - get "Room For Abuse" or "Pedigree Chump" and leave this one well alone. The best reason for why this album is such a disappointment could probably be explained in the lyrics to "Too Little, Too Late", where we're told "Never give a good thing up". They did and it failed. Don't give up on Spunge yet (they're still awesome live), just forget about this CD. Sorry, but it's true.