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ALRIGHT JACK is regarded by some as the last great British folk-rock album. The Home Service included singer John Tams and two other former members of the finest lineup of the Albion Band. The collapse of Home Service's record company/distributor shortly after the release of ALRIGHT JACK in 1986 and the effort required to keep an eight-piece outfit on the road led to the band's demise. Thereafter, John Tams concentrated on theatre and TV work before releasing a solo album in 2000.
What makes the Home Service special, aside from the songs of Tams and the instrumental prowess of his colleagues, is the inclusion of a brass section. The group's boldest stroke is integrating vocals and rock instruments, including the searing electric guitar of Graeme Taylor, into "A Lincolnshire Posy", a suite of folk tunes for a military band. Elsewhere the album is dominated by the wonderful songs of John Tams, grittily tackling the state of the nation in the title song, warfare in "Scarecrow", and redemption in the hymnal "Look Up Look Up". Tams' lament to unemployment, "Sorrow", segues into an apocalyptic rendition of the English Civil War song "Babylon", a mounting rage of martial drumming and squalling synthesizers.|