There's one thing I don't like about this album. I think the first track Give the Anarchist a Cigarette is mean-spirited towards His Bobness and takes his 'anarchist' comment out of context. It's surely plain that Bob is joking in this final scene from Don't Look Back, and, though Chumbawamba's sleevenotes refer to a stretch limo, I've always thought Bob, Albert and Bob were in the back of a regular London Black Taxicab (note the handle by the door right at the start of this clip).
OK, but apart from that, I love everything about this album. It's got everything that pop music should have. It can make you whistle, make you dance, and make you think. I love the politics, the sentiment, the attitude, the tunes, the quotes, the wit. It's well-performed throughout, and I love every track on it, even the short audio-collage skits and the brief reprise of Time Bomb sung Tom-Jones-style right at the end. I forgive Give the Anarchist a Cigarette its element of misdirected bitterness because it's such a fantastic song.
I can't remember what brought me to buy the CD. It may have just been a whim. But I loved it straightaway, and I've gone on loving it. It cemented my love affair with Chumbawamba, which has seen me buy much of their music since (example 1, 2).
Anarchy came out in 1994, during the era of Definitely Maybe, Parklife and His 'n' Hers. It's way, way better than all of them put together and has more to say about what life was like in England right then.
 MusicBrainz entry for this album
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