1 comments about Bootleg Series, Vol. 1: The Quine Tapes.

1. This Jap import is EXACTLY the same as Vol.1 so it's full of hiss and badly recorded music that is seminal.
   
   Nothing touches this stuff. It's music of the gods. Who cares about the quality?
   
   Lou Reed and the Velvets had crappy lyrics but caught a particular strain of the psychadelic trip that still resonates today. New York punks on a chemical concoction. Hear it's organic development across three CD's and immerse yourself in the experience.
   
   Nuff said.

1 comments about BBC Sessions.

1. This is it: The reason that Radio 1 existed and the reason it will now fade into irrelevance. John Peel was the heart of the BBC and The Fall was the sound of John Peel's heart. All the sessions from all the years to remind us about the wonderful & frightening world of The Fall, in case you may have forgotten.

2 comments about Poisonous.

1. Poison Girls was very likely the best punk band of their times; innovative, angry, filled with energy. and Vi Subversa was the perfect front lady; more beautiful than Madonna!! This is an excellent collection of an excellent band.



2. Poison Girls, an early Crass era, political peace-punk band, releases a collection of past greats. From the politically diverse lyrics, to the enchanting, as well as, beautifully sung melodies, you'll find most of their best on this cd. The songs vary from type, ranging from love songs like "Promenade Immortelle" & "Tender Love" to the sheer political madness of songs like "Price of Grain & the Price of Blood" to the crass favorite "Dirty Work" Anyone who likes anything creative and brilliant, should definately buy this and put it in their, "i'll keep this cd in my 'Until I die'" section. Another great, "Real Woman" is just as uplifting.

No comments about Box.

1 comments about Complete Punk Collection: Cash from Chaos.

1. I must say i genuinley enjoyed this collection of classic nuggets of forgotten musical history. However I also must state for the record I think that coining this set as "punk" was a bit off. Some of this music just didnt fit under the title of punk. I mean this does have its moments, but at times it doesnt flow too well. The track listing seems sporadic and not thought out. They chose some weak material to represent some bands. For example i do not think "pet Sematary" was a good representation of most of the ramones work. To me this collection often falls more under new wave then under punk. I suggest passing on this collection unless you can get it for under 30 bucks.

5 comments about Product.

1. I find myself torn with this collection. It is great to have all of these albums and singles collected in one nice concise package. But why was this set not remastered along with the rest of their stuff in 2001? So if one wants the better mastering, one has to rebuy these albums individually. ADKOT goes for $50 used! EMI, please remaster this box set!



2. Even though I had all of their albums, I bought this--when it came out in 1989 in a big 12" size; now it's a CD-size--for the CD quality, and especially the added Live at the Lyceum 8 tracks and the Parts 1-3 e.p. The booklet may suffer in its reduction to CD package size, but it's well-written, and, of course, excellently illustrated with a sidebar about the integrated artwork and adverts that were conceived as part of the Buzzcocks' campaign. You'd expect no less from Shelley and pals, with him influenced by art school and tech education both. It all looks and often sounds so raw by our standards nearly thirty years on, but this appealing combination of savvy and awkwardness is the foundation of all that the band was, sonically, lyrically, financially, and visually. With the later release of an expanded bootleg Time's Up with the Spiral Scratch ep in 2000, that and this are pretty much the nearly complete works, with the exception of radio sessions and the inevitable slew of live concert tapes.
   
   While the later work did, as the notes certainly explain, pale by comparison with the earlier successes, it does not sound so bad on a fresh hearing. I actually like the "recorded underwater" sound of the late ep tracks, and their spaced-out, washed-bleached dessicated quality captures, if the sad dissolution of the band, then also their quintessential determination to soldier on amidst despair and ennui--something shared with co-founder Howard Devoto. With so many bands later influenced, if not always crediting, this pioneering group of four men from Manchester who make music, this is an essential purchase. IMHO this music outlasts the calculated if naively sincere agitprop of the Clash, the manufactured rebellion of the Pistols, the earnest anthems of the Jam, and the ramalama bang bang of the Ramones. The Buzzcocks brought sophistication, in their promotional, lyrical, musical, and even sartorial abilities, into the pop-punk scene without compromising their commitment to gender-liberating, likable, and cleverly insinuating music that captured the agression of the late 70s while taming it with its self-reflexive examination of romance. They scrutinized their times and assumptions, but also had fun.



3. This is a psctacular set containing the original buzzcocks' albums in full. Who needs anything more?



4. This is a monster 3 cd set that covers all 3 studio albums singles and a live show. This however does not have any material with Howard Devoto on vocals (stuck with Pete Shelley I'm afraid). Howard was only in the band for a while before forming another group on his own. While does not have spiral scratch its still worth looking into if you like these lads from Manchester. The first disc covers the albums Another music in a different Kitchen and Love Bites while Disc 2 covers the the album A Different kind of Tension and the Singles going steady comp. The 3rd disc features a 24 minute concert from the Lyceum but it is not the whole concert(I am still looking for it) This release was titled Many Parts (Live at the Lyceum) This also features the fantastic I look alone and also the last 3 singles as well. This is a very handy cd set to have if you like the Buzzcocks.



5. I don't think anyone who loves music and gives the Buzzcocks a serious listen with love and enjoy their music. Their name gives the impression that they were rawer and rowdier than they in fact were. They didn't produce great albums, but they did produce one absolutely great single after another. The value of this set is that is proves that the Buzzcocks didn't pen just a few good songs, but a bevy of them. One might think that SINGLES GOING STEADY contained all their great songs, but PRODUCT proves they produced many, many more. In many ways, this is a perfect set, providing proof to the public about just how superb a band these guys were. The set also comes with a great booklet.

   Two things keep the set from being just about perfect. First, its name. Has there ever been a more dreadful title than PRODUCT? Bland, uninteresting, and not keeping in the spirit of the Buzzcocks songs. Second, and this is by far the greater sin, the album neglects the four songs off their EP SPIRAL SCRATCH, which is probably the most famous EP in the history of rock. It does contain a live version of "Boredom," but the other three songs are not represented at all. These four songs are among the most crucial that the Buzzcocks recorded, and it is tragic that they couldn't secure the rights to include them on this set.

   Still, these two flaws do not keep this from being a great set, and one that ought to be in the music library of every serious fan of alternative and punk music.

2 comments about Dead Cities.

1. A gorgeously remastered collection of the best of The Exploited's early singles and songs taken from their first 2 albums.This is a seriours starting point for anyone who wants to be introduced to the band.I hate to sound repetitive,but it sounds incredible!!.Get the Harry May tin can
   edition if you can,it's worth the extra buks and only appropiate to shield you against the radiation of this anthemic 18 songs.



2. el mejor compilado de EXPLOITED ke ai, tienen ke comprarlo 18 temas de los mejores de la banda, aunke faltaron algunos no deja de ser un disco increible, COMPRENLO VIVA EXPLOITED

1 comments about Play It at Your Sister.

1. First the good news. There is finally a release of the Damned's amazing BBC In Concert performance from May 1977, where the original quartet, at their musical peak, run through most of their debut album plus a few singles tracks. For those who've never heard the original Damned, they're generally described as a "punk" band, and they are. But this is primal, high-energy rock that belongs in the pantheon with the Stooges, MC5 and vintage Motorhead. And on this live set, they're faster and tighter than any of those bands. Simply incredible musicianship by what must have been, at the time, the fastest rock band ever. Kudos especially to drummer Rat Scabies--as wild as Keith Moon yet remarkably on the beat, always keeping the momentum up.
   
   This package is worth the money just for that 24-minute live set. Unfortunately, it's a mess in every other way. The live set would make a perfect release on its own. There's also the (almost) complete Stiff Records studio recordings from 1976-77--one song is missing, a b-side version of Stretcher Case (but we get that song in three other versions on this set). The Damned Stiff recordings are a classic ouevre and would also be a great release on their own (fitting on one CD). The debut album is just as exciting as the live set I described above, with an even more powerful, amazingly raw studio sound.
   
   Unfortunately this great music is watered down with already available BBC session recordings that repeat many titles in less exciting versions. And the BBC sessions are interspersed chronologically with the studio recordings, which means you get lots of repetition of songs, often very close to each other.
   
   Finally, the mastering on the Stiff recordings is terrible. The drums come across better than ever, but the sound in some places is excessively bright. Yet in other places, there's distortion that sounds like nobody even did a quality-control check. "See Her Tonite", a highlight of the debut album, is unlistenable here, with "in the red" noise throughout and a horrible blast of static near the end.
   
   There are also three unreleased demos from 1976. These sound terrible compared with the long available bootleg versions. The tape hiss is removed, but so is all the life in the guitar sound. And there's a live "bonus" disc from a 1976 concert that is probably the worst-sounding recording I've ever bought from a "legit" record company.
   
   The package includes a seven-inch-size book with lots of nice photos and a long essay. I haven't read the essay, but just in scanning the basic track info and credits, I found countless typos and errors, more signs of a rush job with poor quality control.

1 comments about Take 2.

1. The cd was so great!!!!! My friend just said listen to this and the he turned on a cd player which was playing Green Day. I started to get hooked on it. Then I went home and I downloaded almost every song on my computer and now I am going to buy the cd!!!

1 comments about The Albums.

1. This is the complete Sham 69 collection. All the CDs collected together in a single box set. Main drawback with that is you literally get a box with the CDs not in a jewel case but in paper covers which of course can get eaisly ripped or damaged.
   
   The CDs themselves are great. Just what Sham were all about raw, simple punk played with conviction. All the classic Sham tracks are here and production quality is fine. Yeh we all know they kind of lost their way in the end but for those first few albums they brought out.....classics!
   
   Well worth buying and well worth the 5 stars.