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fit. Although in the same general area as Strength, this is very much an audience participation number, big chorus, big vocals, big attitude, making a big song.

The Alarm are best known for two songs, 68 Guns, unfortunately isnt on the album, but Spirit of 76 is. If Bruce Springstein had been from North Wales he would have almost deffinately have written this song. A tribute to friendship, the past and getting the lucky breaks, the punk spirit still lives in this band. A gentle start maximises the impact of the words, and when the rest of the band finally kick in you can almost feel the ghost of the punk spirit being exhumed, it may not have changed THE world but it changed OUR world is the message here. The song then breaks down into a dark almost spoken section, brooding guitar washes around, mournful piano is just disernable as Peters reminisces on broken dreams and lost cause only to bring it back to the optimism of the original message, life may change but your heart wont.

Permanence in Change is a slower number at times bordering on AOR, but staying on the credible side of the fence, this is the prelude to the big finish which you know is coming. It comes in the form of Blaze of Glory, the only way such a band could end a show. Twist, the drummer lays down an almost military beat as a harmonica drifts into earshot, and the massed ranks of the Alarm anthem making machine is let loose. Its lighters held aloft, fists punching the air and the audience singing in that way which causes you to lose your voice for three days...we`ve all done it.

A big ending to a big album, a big song from a larger than life band. If you want an introduction to the band, then this is a good way to start. On studio albums some of the song may seem to be a bit contrived, full of them self and a bit pompous, you here them live and it all makes perfect sense. For those of us old enough to remember, the spirit of 76 was still alive in 1988 and while band such as the Alarm are still being played,it will remain alive.

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