Following on from the delivery of the original 555% album released through the Pledge Music site, 100% is the single disc compilation of the triple set released exclusively through Pledge. It features 12 tracks, which were voted for by the fans as their favourites from the original 30 on the full triple set.

For those people who have been living under a rock or perhaps been in a coma, Ginger Wildheart is the main man from The Wildhearts. He has continually penned glorious tracks at a phenomenal rate for over twenty years now and is without doubt one of the UK’s most underrated songwriters. Last summer however he found himself a little disillusioned with the Music Industry. Unable to get funding for his next project he turned to his ever-loyal fans to fund the project.

To cut a long story short – they paid, in their thousands! The record companies were by-passed and Ginger fans worldwide put their money and faith into the man without hesitation.

Some people may scoff at paying for an album before the songs have even been written, never mind recorded. This however was a Ginger Wildheart record, so it was pretty much guaranteed to be a flippin’ blinder.

The album kicks off with a few straight forward songs that will be instantly recognisable to anyone familiar with The Wildhearts or Ginger’s solo output. ‘Forget About It’ and ‘Internal Radio’ are two great examples of what Ginger does so well, catchy pop-rock, which to steal a lyric ‘is guaranteed put a smile on the face of everyone…”.

This album wouldn’t be so special of it was simply a quick stomp through pop-rock tunes that Ginger probably writes in his sleep. The best thing about 100% is the eclectic mix of styles and influences, helped no doubt by the vast array of cast members involved in recording the music in question. Songs like ‘Another Spinning Fucking Rainbow’ and ‘Westward Ho!’ display elements of country, electronica and all sorts of juxtaposed mentalness.  Ginger’s stamp is still firmly there, you’re never too far away from a typical Wildhearts riff that will knock your hat off and it’s more effective when you don’t expect it!

Top notch song writing is displayed on track after track. Special mentions must go out for the beautiful ‘Time’ which covers the grand old subject of ageing and ‘Just another Song about Someone’ is a clever little foot-tapper that sticks in your head for days.

There’s not a dud track to be seen on 100%. It’s eclectic, it’s catchy, it rocks, it’s foul-mouthed, and it’s beautiful. It’s ACE, what more do you want?

9/10