On their fifth album
V Deep, and reduced to a quintet,
the Boomtown Rats moved closer to Caribbean rhythms, employing a percussionist and upping the bass guitar in the mix. They even had
Dennis Bovell do a dub mix of "House on Fire" and included it at the end of the album. Meanwhile,
Bob Geldof's lyrics indicated an increasingly embattled sensibility; he noted in a song called "The Bitter End" that "It isn't too far." Unfortunately, nothing here matched the catchy, daring work on
the Rats' first three albums, and even in England their star was beginning to fade. In America, Columbia Records at first declined to release the album, opting for a four-track EP, then allowed it to escape in September 1982, when it failed to chart. [This version of the album includes bonus material.] ~ William Ruhlmann