Present Arms
UB40's 2nd album,
Present Arms was released in
1981. It reached #2 and spent 38 weeks on the UK album charts. An album of originals, it spawned two top 20 hits in 'One In Ten' (#7) and 'Don't Let It Pass You By / Don't Slow Down' (#16). Like their first album
Signing Off,
Present Arms gave us social comments from the title track written about man and boy going to war, to 'Sardonicus' which was a critical assessment of the then US president
Ronald Reagan. The album also touches on a subject very dear to UB40's heart. 'Lambs Bread', 'Don't Let It Pass You By' and 'Don't Walk On The Grass' are written as part of the band's long standing campaign for the
legalization of
cannabis. Present Arms is quite unique in many respects. As a 2nd album, it was very widely acclaimed and selling well into the bargain. But in a similar vein to
Signing Off, it mixed a number of instrumentals with vocals, most notably the crowd pleasing Dr X (later to write sleevenotes for the Labour Of Love Series).
*
Official site
