''Guilty 'til Proved Innocent!'' is a 1998 album by

The Specials The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English Two-tone (music genre), 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall (singer), Terr ...

. It is the first studio album of new songs by the group since 1984, with songs written by both original and new group members. As in their previous album and tours during this era, the line-up featured original band members

Neville Staple Neville Eugenton Staple (born 11 April 1955), sometimes credited as Neville Staples, is a Jamaican-born English singer, known for his work with the 2 Tone ska band the Specials, as well as with his own group, the Neville Staple Band. He also per ...

Roddy Byers Roddy Radiation (born Roderick James Byers, 5 May 1955 in Keresley, Coventry, England) is an English musician who played lead guitar for The Specials, as well as many rockabilly bands such as the Bonediggers and the Tearjerkers. He wrote the S ...

Lynval Golding Lynval Golding (born 24 July 1951) is a Jamaican-born British musician. His family moved from Jamaica to Gloucester, before moving to Coventry when he was eighteen. He is currently living in Gig Harbor, Washington. He is best known as a rhythm g ...

, and

Horace Panter Horace Panter (born Stephen Graham Panter, 30 August 1953) also known as Sir Horace Gentleman, is the bassist for the British 2 Tone ska band The Specials. Early life Panter was born in Croydon, Surrey and spent most of his formative years in ...

joined by new members Mark Adams, Adam Birch, and Jon Read. The album also featured drummer Charley Harrington Bembridge, who had been absent from '' Today's Specials'' but had been playing live with the group since 1994. While inevitably suffering comparisons to the music released by the classic 1979-1981 line up, ''Guilty...'' received far more favourable reviews than the reunited band's previous studio effort, the covers album '' Today's Specials'', and was generally heralded as a return to form. The song "It's You" was released as a single promoted on Modern Rock radio stations upon the album's release. "Running Away" is based on the

Toots & the Maytals The Maytals, known from 1972 to 2020 as Toots and the Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group, one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music. ...

song "

Monkey Man Monkey Man may refer to: Fiction *Monkey Man (film), ''Monkey Man'' (film), a film starring and directed by Dev Patel * Axwell Tiberius, the eponymous simian character in the 1993–1999 comic book series ''Monkeyman and O'Brien'' Songs *Monkey M ...

," which the Specials covered on their 1979 debut album.

Track listing

Personnel

– vocals, guitar *

– guitar, vocals *

– bass guitar *

– vocals *Mark Adams – organ, piano, backing vocals *Charley H. Bembridge – drums (credited as Harrington Bembridge) *Adam Birch – trombone, trumpet, backing vocals *Jon Read – trumpet, accordion *

Tim Armstrong Timothy Ross Armstrong (born November 25, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and producer. Known for his distinctive voice, he is the singer/guitarist for the punk rock band Rancid and hip hop/punk rock supergroup Transplants. ...

– vocals on "Fearful" *

Lars Frederiksen Lars Erik Frederiksen (born Lars Erik Dapello, August 30, 1971) is an American musician and record producer best known as a guitarist and vocalist for the punk rock band Rancid, as well as the frontman of Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards and ...

– vocals on "Fearful" ;Technical *Stoker – producer, mixing, engineer *Billy Bowers – assistant engineer *Mike McQuaid – assistant engineer *

Paul Q. Kolderie Paul Q. Kolderie is an American record producer, engineer, and mixer. He has worked with Pixies, Radiohead, Orangutang, Hole, Dinosaur Jr., Juliana Hatfield, Wax, Warren Zevon, Uncle Tupelo, Throwing Muses, Morphine, the Mighty Mighty Bosstone ...

– mixing *

Sean Slade Sean Slade (born 14 November 1957) is an American record producer, engineer, and mixer. On many of his productions he worked in partnership with Paul Q. Kolderie. Career Slade was born in Lansing, Michigan, United States. He graduated from Y ...

– mixing *

Mark Trombino Mark Trombino (born May 23, 1966) is an American multi-platinum record producer, musician, and audio engineer. He has produced, engineered, and mixed tracks for many artists including Jimmy Eat World, Blink-182, The Starting Line, Finch, Motion ...

– mixing *

Thom Wilson Thom Wilson (died February 8, 2015) was an American punk rock record producer and engineer. Career Wilson began his musical career in the mid-1970s, engineering recordings by soft rock artists Burton Cummings and Seals & Crofts. He began working ...

– mixing *Scott Gutierrez – mixing assistant *Gavin Lurssen – mastering *

Shepard Fairey Frank Shepard Fairey (born February 15, 1970) is an American contemporary artist, activist and founder of OBEY Clothing who emerged from the skateboarding scene. In 1989 he designed the " Andre the Giant Has a Posse" (...OBEY...) sticker cam ...

– artwork, art direction, design, layout design, photography *Dave Kinsey – art direction, design, layout design

References

{{Authority control 1998 albums The Specials albums MCA Records albums