I Just Can't Stop It | ||||
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Studio album by The Beat | ||||
Released | May 1980 | |||
Genre | Ska, 2 tone, new wave | |||
Length | 36:24 | |||
Label |
Go Feet (original UK release) Sire (original US release) I.R.S. (US CD reissue) Edsel (2012 UK CD reissue) |
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Producer | Bob Sargeant | |||
The Beat chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Christgau's Record Guide | A− |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
Smash Hits | 9/10 |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 10/10 |
I Just Can't Stop It is the debut album by UK 2 tone band The Beat. The album was released in 1980 via Go Feet Records in the UK. It was released the same year in the US on I.R.S. Records under the band name "The English Beat".
Well received from the start, publications such as Rolling Stone raved that the music was "wild and threatening, sexy and sharp."AllMusic later said "[it] was a stunning achievement", which has been undiminished by time.
The song "Mirror in the Bathroom" featured in the films Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) and in RocknRolla (2008), while the song "Hands Off...She's Mine" featured in the film 50 First Dates (2004).
At the end of 1980, I Just Can't Stop It appeared in numerous lists of the greatest albums of the year: NME ranked it 3rd,Sounds ranked it 13th, The Village Voice ranked it 21nd and OOR ranked it 41st. In 1995, Spin ranked the album at number 94 in their list of the top "100 Alternative Albums".Fast 'n' Bulbous ranked the album at number 283 in their list of "The 500 Best Albums Since 1965". A 2002 poll of KCPR DJs ranked it at number 40 in their list of the "Top 100 Records of the 80s".Les Inrockuptibles included it in their list of "50 Years of Rock 'n' Roll." In a 2013 online poll by Slicing Up Eyeballs, I Just Can't Stop It was voted the 22nd best album of 1980 based on the opinions of 3,360 respondents. Music journalist Simon Reynolds lists it as one of the five most important albums of "2-Tone and the Ska Resurrection" in his 2005 book Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984.