Back to Boomtown: Classic Rats Hits

In January 2013, it was announced that The Boomtown Rats, minus guitarist Gerry Cott and pianist Johnnie Fingers, had reformed following their split in 1986.[1] The Guardian's Tim Jonze reported that the band would play a set at the Isle of Wight Festival, marking the first time they had played together since the split.[1] The band's lead-singer Bob Geldof stated "Playing again with the Rats and doing those great songs again will be exciting afresh. We were an amazing band and I just feel it's the right time to re-Rat, to go back to Boomtown for a visit."[1] In June 2013, it was announced that the band would be embarking on a UK and Ireland tour supported by a new "Best of" album called Back To Boomtown: Classic Rats Hits.[2]

Tom Eames from Digital Spy revealed that the album would include fourteen of the band's singles as well as two new tracks.[2] The digital version of the album features two additional songs, "House On Fire" and "Drag Me Down".[3] During an interview with Zoë Ball on BBC Radio 2, Geldof explained that the record company had asked him to pen some new tracks and he wrote four in total; "The Boomtown Rats", "Back to Boomtown", "Ratified" and "Rat Life".[4] The first two songs feature on Back To Boomtown: Classic Rats Hits.[2] Geldof told Ball that the band would bring out the songs before the tour. He also confirmed that there would not be an album of new material as he did not think anyone would be interested.[4]

The album's artwork was created by Kieran Fitzpatrick, with the art and design of the album handled by Oink Creative.[5] The tracks were mastered at Abbey Road Studios by Geoff Pesche, with the exception of "The Boomtown Rats" and "Back To Boomtown", which were mastered at Metropolis Studios by Tony Cousins.[5] Although originally scheduled to be released on 5 August 2013, Back to Boomtown: Classic Rats Hits was released in the UK on 9 September 2013.[3][6]

Terry Staunton from Record Collector gave the album three stars and commented "Thankfully, this compilation finds room for some of the band's more inspired album tracks, such as the curious Hitler tiff 'I Never Loved Eva Braun' and the archly witty 'Me And Howard Hughes'".[7] Q magazine's Simon Price awarded the album four out of five stars.[8] Price dismissed the album's artwork, calling it "unpromising" and likening it to "a cheap James Herbert paperback".[8] He also called the new tracks "dreadful", but praised the rest of the album.[8]

During the week ending 12 September 2013, Back to Boomtown: Classic Rats Hits debuted at number 35 on the Irish Albums Chart.[9]

• Official website
• Back to Boomtown: Classic Rats Hits at AllMusic