2 comments about Rattus Norvegicus.

1. If you want soft, romantic love songs you better look somewhere else. After you listen to The Stranglers first CD you'll probably want to take a shower. Not for the faint-hearted. Perhaps they're an acquired taste. But I like the ballsy lead vocals, the organ and rumbling bass guitar. Something different to be sure. Check it out!



2. This album is by far the best the Stranglers ever put out. There is not a single weak cut and the pace never lets up. If you don't have this album, then you have a serious hole in your punk collection.

No comments about Chronicles.

No comments about Sound + Vision.

No comments about Greatest Hits of the 70's.

No comments about L.A. Woman/Morrison Hotel/The Doors.

3 comments about Rough Trade Shops: 25 Years.

1. Obviously with a compilation that covers so many musical epochs and genres there is going to be a lot of material you don't like. Indeed there are quite a few of the 56 songs here that I just don't care for, but there are just as many songs on here that I love that have introduced me to some artists that I mightn't have otherwise heard: Spacemen 3, Pere Ubu, Cabaret Voltaire, The Chills etc; this 4 disc set is like meeting someone with a great punk and indie record collection and having them play a whole bunch of stuff for you. Some of it you might have heard before, but there'll always be some songs that passed you by that you'll want to own. Don't be put off by the price either, for four discs of such classic music it's well worth the admission fee.



2. This is interesting - I think it must represent what Rough Trade had on their shelves at some time in the last 25 years (Has it been that long?) An interesting selection, though by know means a great one. Worth the cost of entry is 'Final Day' by Young Marble Giants, which I hadn't heard in 19 years (and it's still splendid)and the Television Personalities 'Part time Punks', neither of which, I'm almost certain, ever appeared on CD before. At the other end of the scale, Einsturzende Neubaten sound characteristically like a group of drunks trying to get home from the pub through a scrapyard, and the female lead of ...And The Native Hipsters has the most annoying voice of any human being in history. (I feel like sueing the group for the four minutes of my life that they claimed from me). For the rest, although there's a lot of filler in there, there should be something that everyone will like. Good luck, Rough Trade, I hope I'm around for the 50th Anniversary compilation. It's just a big pity you had to put the Native Hipsters on there.



3. Rough Trade is a legendary independant record shop based in London that has always been able to supply the clued up record collector with the latest cutting edge singles .

   The cultural significence of this shop is immense as it has always fanned the flames for new musical directions whether this was punk , or cool Jamaican roots reggae in the seventies , or the cutting edge sounds of today .

   This 4 cd box set has been released to celebrate 25 years of Rough Trade shops and it certainly does the company justice . Unknown artists sit side by side with musical legends like Pere Ubu , Joy Division , a young Bjork , The Pixies , Lee "Scrath" Perry , and The Smiths ( whose legendary legacy was released on the Rough Trade record label ) . The only thing that links the eclectic music on this collection ( apart from the quality ) is that all the songs were recorded by musical mavericks who were keen to push the sonic envelope back . If you want to hear four hours of exciting , groundbreaking music at a criminally cheap price . START HERE!

4 comments about Beyond the Valley of the Gift Police.

1. This album was very good. However, it seemed to lack the passion and energy that so many of Jello's albums have displayed so very well. Sure, Jello wrote and researched well, but there were few moments when you could really feel that glorious liberating feeling that comes out of so many other speeches from Jello's glory days. However, this album does happen to contain my favorite of his SW pieces: "Eric Meets the Moose Diarrhea Salesman". Being a fan, it's so entertaining to hear about how he got to where he is. And, if you're not a fan I think you'll like it too. Give it a try....



2. The truth is far stranger than this



3. Jello Biafra, former lead singer of the Dead Kennedys, continues to perform punk rock without the music on "Beyond the Valley of the Gift Police." He also has the quality that most good speakers possess -- even when you disagree with him, you still enjoy his ranting and raving. This is the fourth in a series of spoken word efforts, all of which, I would argue, are of the same general level of substance and quality. Maybe it is because the substance is essentially the same and always poignant -- the police state is coming/here. Like an evangelist who warns us of the final days of earth, Biafra warns us about the final days of freedom. Big Brother, big government is the antichrist, and no one delivers this message so well. Part of this stems from his own experience, which he recounts in one way or another throughout his spoken word recordings, as an artist persecuted by the establishment. For those of you who are unaware, Biafra was arrested and charged with distributing harmful matter to minors and tried in Los Angeles in the latter 1980's (there was a hung jury and the case was dismissed). Biafra's food for thought is seasoned heavily with contempt for the religious right and absolute paranoia with respect to government control -- you get the feeling he is expecting a death squad to be waiting for him outside of the lecture hall at some points. Even so, you, the listener, wind up asking yourself, "What if even 10% of this is true?" It is alarming, to be sure. Unlike many others who peddle inflammatory rhetoric on one subject or another, however, Biafra frequently throws out the sources of his information for his audience. Ultimately, his message really is, "Don't take my word for it, check it out yourself." To use the Bill Maher line from "Politically Incorrect," somebody's got to say it. If somebody's got to say it, you can't do any better than Biafra.



4. Jello has has agreat series of Spoken Word Albums and this is by far the best one!

1 comments about Lets Start a War/Live at the Whitehouse/Horror Epics.

1. This box contains 2 perfect albums + some rare songs. this 2 albums ( every one of them have its own style ) were best sallers in the world back in the 80's. this is pure punk and they are against violence and wars. LISTEN AND UNDERSTAND

No comments about Paper Sleeve Box, Vol. 3.

4 comments about Beyond the Valley of the Gift Police.

1. This album was very good. However, it seemed to lack the passion and energy that so many of Jello's albums have displayed so very well. Sure, Jello wrote and researched well, but there were few moments when you could really feel that glorious liberating feeling that comes out of so many other speeches from Jello's glory days. However, this album does happen to contain my favorite of his SW pieces: "Eric Meets the Moose Diarrhea Salesman". Being a fan, it's so entertaining to hear about how he got to where he is. And, if you're not a fan I think you'll like it too. Give it a try....



2. The truth is far stranger than this



3. Jello Biafra, former lead singer of the Dead Kennedys, continues to perform punk rock without the music on "Beyond the Valley of the Gift Police." He also has the quality that most good speakers possess -- even when you disagree with him, you still enjoy his ranting and raving. This is the fourth in a series of spoken word efforts, all of which, I would argue, are of the same general level of substance and quality. Maybe it is because the substance is essentially the same and always poignant -- the police state is coming/here. Like an evangelist who warns us of the final days of earth, Biafra warns us about the final days of freedom. Big Brother, big government is the antichrist, and no one delivers this message so well. Part of this stems from his own experience, which he recounts in one way or another throughout his spoken word recordings, as an artist persecuted by the establishment. For those of you who are unaware, Biafra was arrested and charged with distributing harmful matter to minors and tried in Los Angeles in the latter 1980's (there was a hung jury and the case was dismissed). Biafra's food for thought is seasoned heavily with contempt for the religious right and absolute paranoia with respect to government control -- you get the feeling he is expecting a death squad to be waiting for him outside of the lecture hall at some points. Even so, you, the listener, wind up asking yourself, "What if even 10% of this is true?" It is alarming, to be sure. Unlike many others who peddle inflammatory rhetoric on one subject or another, however, Biafra frequently throws out the sources of his information for his audience. Ultimately, his message really is, "Don't take my word for it, check it out yourself." To use the Bill Maher line from "Politically Incorrect," somebody's got to say it. If somebody's got to say it, you can't do any better than Biafra.



4. Jello has has agreat series of Spoken Word Albums and this is by far the best one!