Following the script of Spinal Tap to a tee, the Charlatans UK have run head-on with severe illness, imprisonment and even death during their nine-year career. |

To celebrate their miraculous survival and musical perseverance, the Brit pop group will release a compilation titled Melting Pot on June 9. The album -- which Beggars Banquet Records claims is not a greatest hits collection -- was pieced together by the Charlatans to represent crucial moments and highlights in their career.

The 17-track Melting Pot will include chart-topping singles like "The Only One I Know," "Then" and "Can't Get Out of Bed" off of the band's five albums: Some Friendly, Between 10th and 11th, Up To Our Hips, The Charlatans and Tellin' Stories.

Amid the pressure of recording a follow-up to their wildly popular self-titled album two years ago, the band was struck down by the death of organist Rob Collins. Collins, who was convicted of armed robbery just three years earlier, died in a drunk driving accident on the way to the recording studio.

The Charlatans proceeded without Collins, releasing Tellin' Stories in the spring of 1997. That album entered the charts at No. 1 and solidified the group's position as high rollers in the Brit pop scene. The band's fan base was widened by collaborations with the Chemical Brothers on the techno duo's "Life is Sweet" and a re-mix of the Charlatans' "Patrol," which appears on Melting Pot. (Anni Layne)

Track listing for Melting Pot:

1. "The Only One I Know"
2. "Then"
3. "Opportunity Three"
4. "Over Rising"
5. "Sproston Green (UK version)"
6. "Weirdo"
7. "Theme From The Wish"
8. "Patrol" (Chemical Brothers mix)
9. "Can't Get Out of Bed"
10. "I Never Want an Easy Life If Me and He Were Ever to Get There"
11. "Jesus Hairdo"
12. "Crashin' In"
13. "Just Lookin'"
14. "Here Comes a Soul Saver"
15. "Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over"
16. "One to Another"
17. "North Country Boy"