I Am The Greatest
(Setanta/LP/CD)
Dave Simpson
As its title suggests, "I Am The Greatest" is the story of a prizefighter. Bloodied, battered, and on the ropes, the fighter can taste defeat in the sweat pouring from his brow. The punches are raining dawn, the end is in sight, and it would be the sweetest salvation to fall to the floor. He can't do it. Somehow, from God knows where, he remembers what put him there. He remembers the ideals he thought he'd lost, the skills instilled through months of labour, the will to win. That fighter is a band called A House.

It should have been all over far this Dublin band last year. Dropped, for the second time, by a major label, anyone else would have called it a day. They didn't, and thank heaven far that. "I Am The Greatest" is the finest statement of their career.

This is an album of rediscovery. It has a rapt, joyful sense of wonderment, like a long-term prisoner smelling freedom's air. Musically, one has to go back to the lucid, idiosyncratic stutter so fearly James to find something this detached, yet this alive. "You're Too Young", the naively anthemic "How Strong Is Love?" and the sublime "Blind Faith" buzz with the zest and enthusiasm of a band who've at last found their touch after an age spent shooting wide.

Time and again these songs hit home. I Am Afraid" is straitacketed by fear and insecurity, the Smithsy "Take It Easy On Me" explores darker catacombs of human weakness, and "Slipping Away" tells how broken dreams give way to poisonous cynicism. Finally, the unforgettable title track is a systematic, blow-by- blow destruction of the music business and the state of the nation coupled with a dramatic determination not to give in.

This album will move you. It will inspire feelings like you'd forgotten you ever had. It will remind you of your dreams, your desires, and how you once thought you could change the world. It could even change your life.

A gigantic musical achievement and an astonishing comeback, "I Am The Greatest" is the ultimate KO.