UB40'S 'Labour of Love' was one of the most offhandedly charming albums of the Eighties. Temporarily shelving the pungent political commentary of their original material, the members of the Birmingham combo assembled a collection of exuberant covers of their favorite reggae and R&B songs. The result was the group's least self-conscious and most popular album to date. The covers format proved an ideal showcase for UB40's array of assets: ingenious arrangements, a rhythm section that manages both solidity and lift and the soulfully burnished harmonies of the brothers Ali and Robin Campbell.

Nearly seven years and three unmemorable albums later, UB40 has bowed to the commercially inevitable and released Labour of Love 2. Happily, the album proves that the band's winning formula still works. The marriage of rhythmic invention and unbeatable melodies, which made the first album irresistible, is again very much in evidence. UB40 shows off its knack for enlivening tried and true material, bringing a crackling funkiness to Al Green's "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)," simmering insinuation to the interpretation of the Temptations' "Way You Do the Things You Do" and a note of urbane melancholy to "Kingston Town." The band's obvious affection for its chosen material gives the album a feeling of effortlessness and warmth. While celebrating the spiritual links between R&B and reggae, UB40 reaffirms its impressive fluency in both genres.

If the album has a problem, it's the studious way in which it duplicates the sound of its predecessor. By cloning the sonic textures of the original album, Labour of Love 2 sacrifices some of the spontaneity that freshened Labour of Love, despite its nostalgic theme. Also disappointing is the absence of a single track as effervescent as "Red Red Wine" or as moving as "Many Rivers to Cross."

Such complaints are quibbles, however, given this album's sprightly pleasures. Once again, UB40 has demonstrated its peerlessness as a cover band. If it could strike the same spark in its less-consistent original material, Labour of Love 3 might not be necessary. (RS 573)

DAVID KISSINGER