BEST BRIT OI! BAND OF THE '90s...
M. Kelly | Boston, MA USA | 06/24/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"...along with ANOTHER MAN'S POiSON and ARGY BARGY. These dudes were for real. Street-level lyrics(not for the faint-of-heart), tough music cut from the same cloth as CRIMINAL CLASS, PETER & THE WOLF, and other harder early skinhead bands. Members of this band went on to form the excellent SUPER YOB, CONCRETE GODS, etc.
The first two tracks, "Dead On Arrival" and Rock and Roll Disgrace", are from their first single, released on the now-defunct Hammer Records(Pat T.'s label) in late '91 if I remember correctly. They sound like they were recorded inside a rubbish barrel on top of a jet engine-- very raw, but it definitely displayed the power and promised other great things to come.
There are, laced among other great compilation tracks like "Little Boys In Blue", "Skinheads Are Back", and "Cheap Imitations", two more 7" singles: "Another World" b/w "Millions Like You" and the excellent "Alright Boy" b/w "Hope and Glory", which was to be their last single released. In my opinion, the 7" material is the band at their best-- And tracks 1-15 show off some great songs. These were on the original "Straw Dogs: '91-'97" CD that Hammer released some years back. The remainder of the CD contains the two compilation tracks that were left off the original, "Pride In Your Eyes" and the amazingly-hard "Justice". Also contained are demo versions and alternate takes of some of the first fifteen tracks... Amazing, too, is how good the sound quality is of the practice tape only, "Search And Destroy"(not a Stooges cover).
All in all, this compilation has everything: Songs spanning a great band's career, a full lyric book, and great liner notes/packaging. No frills, just complete.
I highly recommend this to anybody into tough, rudimentary street music. These guys were the real deal."
Track Listings (23) - Disc #1