Originally released in 2001, This Is Rock ’N’ Roll is, arguably, the album that should have followed debut A Bit Of What You Fancy, rather than 1993’s Bitter Sweet & Twisted.
In 2000, after a lengthy break during the 90s, Spike and guitarist Guy Griffin got together to knock out a few tunes and found the songs flowing easily and swiftly, prompting a deal with Sanctuary Records and one of the band’s best, most coherent albums. The raucous opening title track, defiant Turn Away and blazing C’mon champion good times in a post-grunge landscape, while the slow-burning To Be and world-weary Searching find Spike turning on the emotion after too much red wine.
This reissue throws in bonus re-recordings of Misled, Hey You, 7 O’Clock and There She Goes Again from this year, but, ultimately, it’s the sound of the Quireboys hitting their stride once more that makes this essential./o:p
