Reviews (7)

Hands down the series champ
With Volume 4 of the Just Can't Get Enough series Rhino really got their act together.Leading off with Devo's greatest non-hit ever "Freedom Of Choice", this disc rarely lets up and only occasionally stumbles.The Boomtown Rats "Up All Night", doomed Phil Seymour's "Precious To Me", and the Translators "Everywhere That I'm Not" all make for legitimate reasons to buy this disc, but the two killers are The Members early MTV staple "Working Girl" and The Monroes "What Do All The People Know".Try finding THOSE somewhere else.One other great song that could have been a huge plus to this collection was The Kings "Switchin' To Glide/This Beat Goes On" but THEY CUT HALF OF IT OFF!!!Whose idea was that?No matter.Search under The Kings on Amazon for the debut album and hear it like it was meant to be heard. Volume Four Makes Case For Best In Series!
I'm busy collecting this terrific series by Rhino. Volume Four is the fifth CD in the series I've added to my collection and is so far the best. Everything you associate with the new Wave era of the 1980s is here. Generals and Majors by XTC captures the Cold War doom and gloom of the Reagan years (those years seem rather innocent now). Love and Lonliness by the Motors gives you synth pop at its best. Solid New Wave sound can be found in the Kings Switchin' to Glide and the Undertones It's Going to Happen. I really like Workin Girl by the Members and What Do All the People Know by the Monroes. Also represented are Devo with Freedom of Choice and Soft Cell's Tainted Love (Both of TV commercial fame). The twelve cuts here really show the range of New Wave music. Some of it is lighthearted and meant for fun while others take things quite seriously. I look forward to completing the set, but doubt any of the others will match this one!

helen
hii'mhelenfromgreece ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 80's    2. New Wave    3. Pop    4. Pop/Rock    5. Post-Punk    6. Power Pop    7. Rock    8. Rock/Pop Collections    9. Synth Pop   

Reviews (1)

Fuzz, Flaykes, & Shakes
WOW! If you want to hear the roots of American rock, the 7 volume CDs by "Tony the Tiger" are your ticket. Plenty of home grown artist with lyrics sounds & styles that could rival many groups of the time. A must have for the serious vintage rock collector. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Pop    2. Popular Music    3. Punk Collections    4. Rock   

Reviews (3)

Not quite as good as Rhino's "Punk Rock Xmas" collection...
Which shares the El Vez and Humpers tracks. This one's good for a laugh, though. Several laughs, now that I think about it, and some bands I like (Devil Dogs, Rocket From The Crypt, New Bomb Turks, Muffs)put in strong efforts. Nothing here tops what the Stiff Little Fingers did to "White Christmas" on the Rhino set, but it's still got plenty to offer. What a find!
The wife and I just opened our Christmas presents with our kids and sat down to have a listen.I haven't laughed so hard since a cajun lady I know showed me her tatoo.Egg nog was pouring from our nasal passages.We tried to dance to some of it but wound up twitching to the spasmotic beat like someone with a nervous condition. We loved it.

What a find!
The wife and I just opened our Christmas presents with our kids and sat down to have a listen.I haven't laughed so hard since a cajun lady I know showed me her tatoo.Egg nog was pouring from our nasal passages.We tried to dance to some of it but wound up twitching to the spasmotic beat like someone with a nervous condition. We loved it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Christmas    3. Christmas / Chanukkah    4. Garage Punk    5. Garage Rock Revival    6. Indie Rock    7. Pop    8. Punk Collections    9. Punk Revival    10. Rock & Roll   

Reviews (1)

Interesting and fresh interpretations of classic Hitchcock
This CD combines two of my favorite things: cover songs and Robyn Hitchcock in one ofRead more

Reviews (1)

To counteract the other reviewer...
This is actually a fantastic compilation of some great emo music. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Dance Music    2. Emo    3. Indie Rock    4. Pop    5. Punk Collections    6. Punk Revival    7. Punk-Pop    8. V/A Compilations   

Reviews (3)

Pebbles has done it again a ACID drenched freak OUT!!!!!
They sure have topped themselves if thats possible. One word of advice though don't trip while listening to this GOD knows what corner of your mind you won't be able to get out of. Awesome bands trying to emulate the Doors, the hippie Beatles and Syd Barret to hilarious effect. Higher Elevation is some DJ spouting some stuff thats psychedelic poetry over art noise in " The Diamond Mine", then you got some band called Crystal Chandlier whose lead singer sounds almost exactly like Jim Morrison in the song "Suicidal Flowers", and then you got Psych garage punk insanity complete with gritty vocals in the band "Driving Stupid" and their two awesome songs.Buy this now don't even hesitate.

Psychedelic Dementia
Prepare yourself for a brain frazzeling trip through obscure American psych! Other volumes in the Pebbles series are spoiled by beat and frat rock rip-offs, but this one is top notch acid fuelled insanity all the way. The Callico Wall`s nightmarish "Flight Reaction" and The Monocles "Spider and the Fly"- a three minute horror film on record - are among the many highlights. Also included are a couple of great psych novelties such as The Jefferson Handkerchief`s "I`m Allergic to Flowers" which tells the story of a hay fever sufferer`s unfortunate attempts to woo a flower child, not to mention the disturbed genius of Adjeeef the Poet and Oshun. Great Series,Weaker Volume
By all means pick up as many of the Pebbles Volumes as you can if you crave wild 60's garage rock. However #3 (here with some bonus tracks not on my vinyl version)is not one of the better ones that I own.It's less rock and roll, and more psychedelic arty noise. It does have a few real gems especially The Jefferson Hankerchiefs' "I'm Allergic To Flowers" and William Penn IV's "Swami". ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Oldie Collections    2. Pop    3. 70's    4. Garage Rock    5. Psychedelic    6. Punk Collections    7. Rock & Roll    8. V/a Compilations   

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Pop    3. Popular Music    4. Punk Revival    5. Rock   

Reviews (4)

Complete Track & Artist List
Correct Title: "The 2 Tone Collection: A Checkered Past" 2CD Stop Your Messin' Around
Like the Ska scene of the late 70s and early 80s this package is dominated by the Specials, and rightfully so. They had bounce, a great horn section and, like their contemporaries the Clash and the Sex Pistols they had brains in their heads. That's a wicked combo. A comprehensive primer for the unitiated
Now that ska has infiltrated modern alternative radio in every way shape and form, perhaps it is due time to return to the source. The 2 Tone Collection is a nearly flawless overview of Britain's initial ska craze ofthe eighties. From the archetypical white boy swagger of Madness ("ThePrince" is included, though "One Step Beyond" isunfortunately absent), to the dynamic girl vocal bands like The Selector(wherein we can clearly hear where No Doubt's Gwen Stefani copped hervibrato inflected vocal style).And of course there is the timeless,"A Message To You Rudy" by The Specials. The Apollinaires, TheHigsons, JB's Allstars, The Bodysnatchers, and on and on: all of the oncevital ska acts are represented here.The recent ska revival (which has nowseemingly morphed into the swing revival) owes a lot to these obscure actsof yesterday, who manage to combine elements of reggae, swing, latin, andmotown into one rude stew. As The Bodysnatchers proclaim: "Let's DoRock steady!" ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 70's    2. 80's    3. New Wave    4. Pop    5. Pop/Rock    6. Popular Music    7. Rock    8. Ska    9. Ska Revival   

Editorial Review

Power pop was one of those things that just had to be, somehow--an attempt to recapture the giddy feeling of '60s pop with the energy of punk. So how come it wasn't new wave, anyway? Simply put, to a lot of people, it was. And here, in one place, you can hear some of the early (and a few later) tracks that defined the genre. "Early" often translates as crap ideas and execution, and of the 26 tracks on this compilation, there are more than a few that fit that category--The Romantics, for example. But there are some tidy little things on this release--The Plimsouls (possibly the best power pop band ever), 20/20, and the eternal Shoes. Cheap guitars, three chords, and enough enthusiasm to run a nuclear power plant; funny how the basics of rock & roll never change--only the tunes and the tie widths. Read more

Reviews (2)

A very good compilation of power pop!
All of the tracks on this collection are NOT"from the 80's" as mentioned in a previous review. Also, the same review implies that the songs here are "filler" and stated that the omission of more commercially successful tracks by the Romantics and Plimsouls was "very telling". All of these comments are incorrect, this is a ROOTS compilation and features EARLY tracks by the featured artists.
Not Really "Roots" of Power Pop - More Like the B-Sides
Not much of collection - essentially the scraps of the Power Pop Colection barrel. First, since these are all tracks from the 1980's - these are hardly from the "root" era of the power pop movement/sub-genre. But more importantly, while the Plimsouls and Romantics are featured and yes, we really don't need yet another collection with MILLION MILES AWAY or WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU - the fact that those two tracks are NOT on this CD is very telling - Very few people need some filler tracks from the Plimsouls or the Romamtics. There are no hidden gems or forgotten tracks, just a collection of passable power pop tracks from the 1980's - if you're a completist and you don't have the original LP's/CD's, you might want this ...
Read more

Subjects:  1. 70's    2. Alternative Pop/Rock    3. American Punk    4. New Wave    5. Pop    6. Pop/Rock    7. Power Pop    8. Punk    9. Punk Collections    10. Rock    11. V/a Compilations   

Reviews (1)

the golden age of rock
This is an excellent compilation.Tracks from the usual suspects like Wire, Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, and X-Ray Spex are supplemented by excellent tracks I had not heard by the likes of The Adverts and The Saints, plus others.Read more

Subjects:  1. 70's    2. British Punk    3. New Wave    4. Pop    5. Punk    6. Rock   

Reviews (4)

3and a half stars
this music is good as a fast paced background when painting- no other time, tho...

Excellent.
This is easily one of the best punk comps I've ever bought.The songs on here excepting one or two are solid gold.Well worth four dollars, to say the least.. it's one of those CD's it is hard to get tired of...

Better than any Punk-O-Rama or Fat Music
This is the best punk comp I've bought. Like any comp, there's a bunch of ..., but on this one there's just as much good stuff as there is not good stuff. There's about two songs from each band and in most cases, if one song is good, both of them are. The good ones are by Mustard Plug, Selby Tigers, Falling Sickness, Digger, The Queers, The Weakerthans, and, of course, Samiam. There's a few other good ones, but those are my favorites right now. If nothing else, buy this comp for the fact that Samiam and the Weakerthans are on here and that it's only four bucks. -Randy ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Indie Rock    3. Pop    4. Punk    5. Punk Collections    6. Punk Revival    7. Punk-Pop    8. Rock    9. Ska-Punk   

Reviews (9)

not bad
it's worth buying just to hear boys singing "my boyfriend's back and you're gonna be in trouble..."there's a lack of girls on this album, which kinda pisses me off because a couple of the songs on here were originally done by chicks.oh well, there's a lack of girls in rock so i'm used to it.anyway, get this album.some standouts include Mr. Sandman, MXPX's cover of Blue Moon, Be My Baby, and Book of Love.

Fun Punk Album
A summer night, late, driving around, blasting music. Such was thesituation in which I first heard this album. I guess I am easily amused,but I found this a really refreshing, fun album. Having heard all thesesongs thousands and thousands of times, I discovered that these songs couldhave new life breathed into them after all.This is no Bach or Beethoven,but altogether it's a good CD. It's more lively than the original versionsof these songs and it's not as "out there" as most punk as tooffend people. Although this might not be a perfect way to attempt tobridge the generation gap, it's still a great album. I recommend it highly.

I'm a big fan of punk remakes, but....
My roommate ordered this cd and I stole it from him to listen to it because I like remakes, but I was dissappointed.This cd lacks mojo.The songs seemed to be just thrown together for this cd....they lack characterand most of the bands just slug through power chord rendetions of theoriginal tunes.Saving songs: Bracket- My Boyfriends back, Good Riddance-Leader of the Pack, and the Grieving Eucalyptus song Bee-Bop-a- Lula has areally nice opening riff.Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Pop    3. Pop/Rock    4. Punk Collections    5. Punk Revival    6. Punk-Pop    7. Rock & Roll    8. V/a Compilations   

Reviews (3)

A step up from the so-so disc 2
As these discs go, #3 is fairly packed with goodies, some you've heard enough to make your bowels move, and some that are pretty cool surprises.Gary Numan's "Cars" kicks things off and sounds a lot better than I remember it sounding.Maybe I'm mellowing.The B-52's "Private Idaho", "What I Like About You" by The Romantics and Squeeze's "Tempted" all fit into the "heard it a million times" category, but since they're all pretty cool songs I decided to give them a pass.The most pleasant surprises on this volume are Rockpile's "Teacher Teacher" and "88 Lines About 44 Women" by The Nails.Uncovering nuggets like these are what makes this collection fun.

Top Of The Line
This and Vol 5 are the best in the series. This is a good reflection of the diversity and talent of many of the 80's best.Many of the bands here had lenghty careers (XTC, Squeeze) while others made the most of thier 15 minutes of fame. How great to hear Visages "Fade To Grey" and Kid Creoles "Stool Pigeon" again. Great c.d., I highly recommend it.

Best of the Series!
Unlike the other CDs in this series, every cut is a gem! Well known classics like "Cars", "Private Idaho" and "Teacher, Teacher" are combined with less well known (at least tome) equally great songs like "88 Lines", "Stool Pigeon"and especially "I Live in the City". I own vol 1-7 and 13; thisis the best! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 80's    2. Alternative Pop/Rock    3. College Rock    4. New Wave    5. Pop    6. Pop/Rock    7. Rock    8. Rock/Pop Collections    9. Synth Pop   

Reviews (1)

One of the best compilations of early US hardcore
This compilation is excellent, and it also holds an important place in history because it was released back when these bands were not well known. This is not an after-the-fact retrospective, it's the real thing. It has great songs from bands that became classics, such as Youth Brigade and Bad Religion, as well as some bands that most people will probably only hear right here. Also, as far as I know this compilation is the only place that you can get some of Youth Brigade's best songs, such as "Look In the Mirror" and "Boys In the Brigade." If you like early 80's US hardcore, get this. If you think you like it but you don't know yet, get this first. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Contemporary    2. Alternative Pop/Rock    3. American Underground    4. Hardcore Punk    5. L.A. Punk    6. Pop    7. Punk Collections    8. Punk Revival    9. Rock    10. V/a Compilations   

Features

• Import

Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Alternative Pop/Rock    3. British Folk    4. British Folk-Rock    5. Britpop    6. Experimental    7. Experimental Rock    8. Folk-Rock    9. Pop    10. Prog-Rock/Art Rock    11. Proto-Punk    12. Rock    13. Rock/Pop Collections    14. Singer/Songwriter    15. V/a Compilations   

Features

• Enhanced

Reviews (2)

hopeless is goin downhill
is this cd 4 bucks? yes.does it have 'unreased' tracks from a7x? yes.does it have a a7x music video? yes.is is a good cd? no.hopeless has thrown out old bands from previous hd2y, and what did they gain?yellowcard clones, like amber pacific, melee, and stairwell.this definetly isnt a good thing.yeah its 4 bucks, but really the only thing worth it on this cd is the atom and his package song which is why a gave it 2 stars.but hey, some ppl disagree with me, and if you think its worth it to buy this for some wannabe pop bands, go right ahead.

10 Th Anniversry is Beautiful
A Beautiful Record filled with various types of artist who arent similar to each other so it would give you a chance to listen to what type of music they have to play but i am quiet disa-pointed that it was shorter that Volume Four and included less Against All Authority and Melee should get their spot of them being in this record , like new artistes in this record they are wicked as possible but Melee sounds more acrousic than punk . Isnt this supposed to be a Punk Compliation Called " Hopelessly Devoted To You " but where does their type of music come from this decision was up to Hopeless and Sub City records , what a terrible mistake . Read more

Subjects:  1. Emo    2. Pop    3. Post-Hardcore    4. Punk Collections    5. Punk Revival    6. Punk-Pop    7. Rock    8. V/A Compilations   

Reviews (7)

How to Rock a Tribute Album
It is SO incredbily hard to rock the house with a tribute album--every fan knows the disappointment of listening to a bland and flaccid compilation. Yet HOT HANDS more than successfully blends the many ways musicians have been influenced by the dark, raw power of THROWING MUSES/Hersh/et al. into a heady, exhilarating stylistic trip through 17 interpretations of MUSES tunes: it also RAWKS! Alternative icons get long-overdue tribute
A tribute CD is a tricky thing. On the one hand, fans of a particular band want to see their beloved artist treated with the respect they deserve, yet the contributors need to show how the band has influenced their own sound which can lead to radical reinterpretations of the songs. Tribute CDs also expose the fans of contributing artists to (sometimes) an entirely new band, so the songs need to stand on their own to create any kind of cohesive, listenable work. Hot Hands succeeds on all fronts. Although I was vaguely familiar with the Muses from my college rock days, I didn't really know any of their songs. Likewise, I was familiar with a couple of the contributing artists but the bulk of them were unknown to me. Not your average tribute disc!
Being only an early-period Muses fan and a Kristen Hirsh NON-fan, I was skeptical about the quality of this disc when I received it as a gift, especially after buying so many tribute CDs that don't do justice to music in general, let alone the artists they're trying to celebrate.BOY WAS I MISTAKEN ABOUT HOT HANDS!!There's such a wide variety of sounds on here, none of which mimic The Muses or Hersh, that it holds up on its own merits and makes me want to pick up some of the original material! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 18 covers varying in style from industrial/dance to folk to metal to electronic to happy pop & more.    2. Rock/Pop Collections   

Subjects:  1. Indie Rock    2. Japan    3. Pop    4. Punk Collections    5. Punk Revival    6. Punk-Pop    7. Rock   

Reviews (3)

The "Punk & Disorderly" of crusty
It's sort of ironic the "Peace/War" is credited to 'Dead Kennedys et al' on here, as they contribute not a song, but a spectacular fake phone conversation about how the world leaders need to sit down and start another war. It's a shame that Crass contributed "It's You," a bizzare mess of noise that not only isn't pleasing to listen to, it doesn't even seem to support their message. Also, thanks to New Red Archives for the bonus tracks (otherwise I never would've known about Jack Killed Jill) 'cause now Anti-Flag can take their place in the pantheon of the greatest hardcore/crusty bands. This is an essential for anyone who likes ANY of these bands, or just '80s punk in general. (I think "America the Beautiful" is the best DOA song ever). Other favourites include: Neon Christ's "Ashes to Ashes," the Afflicted's "Here Come the Cops," Reagan Youth's "Reagan Youth," Kalashnikov's "Schluters Cabinet," Los Violadores' "Veijos Pateticos," the Proletariat's "An Uneasy Peace," Dead Kennedys' "Kinky Sex Makes the World Go 'Round," SubHumAns' "Rats," Jack Killed Jill's "Walked in Line," the Dicks' "Hope You Get Drafted," DOA's "America the Beautiful," Unwarranted Trust's "Honour's Calling," Slaughterhouse 4's "Four More Hours," Boskops' "Skorbut," Vicious Circle's "Police Brutality," Contrazione's "Sbarre," Conflict's "Bomb," and UK Subs' "Postcard From LA." The other songs are good too.

Caveat Emptor - Direct-from-vinyl dub
Im not too impressed with the fidelity of this CD transfer, on several tracks you get some rather bothersome vinyl artifacts that indicate that at least for some of the tracks, an extremely well-worn master was used.And couldn't they have also just renumbered the tracks on disc 2 starting at 1 instead of just listing 1-60 on the back cover so we would know what is going on with disc 2?Slackluster reissue quibbles aside, this is a monumental snapshot of the international punk/hardcore scene during the height of the Reagan years and really spans the gamut from brutal thrash that couldn't have been recorded anywhere else than a very small garage - such as Wretched's "Mai Arrendersi, to well-produced punk epics like the False Prophets' rather ambtious "Banana Split Republic" with otherwise decent production values.The span of countries is impressive as well, with Gism's extremely bizarre "Endless Blockade for Pussyfoter" (Japan) leading off; other countries are represented by RAF Punk (Italy), Zenzile (South Africa), Kalashnikov (Denmark), SSA (Spain), Boskops (Germany), DOA (Canada) besides the obvious UK and US.Lots of obscure rarities here no doubt, but old-school punks/skaters might recognize DRI, Reagan Youth, Cheetah Chrome, Iconoclast, UK Subs, Crass with a fiercely experimental contribution, the Subhumans, the Dead Kennedys (a non-album track that makes the original vinyl a bit pricey to acquire) and the Dicks.The original double vinyl is also enhanced with 5 bonus tracks on the CD edition.

One of the best compilations to come out of "punk rock"
This record has everything, including many many bands that have probably never been heard, but should be heard, in the US. There are bands from all over the world that help you to believe that there are a lot of good musicians out there that just don't ever get noticed. I wore the grooves out of both of the records that came with this (back when it was on vinyl). There's very little not to like and a whole lot to love on this. From Japan to Italy to the US, there's a band on here for anyone's taste, and also a message that's put across quite nicely in one great package. Buy it and you'll see the way music was meant to be heard: throughout the world. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. American Underground    3. Anarchist Punk    4. Hard Rock    5. Hardcore Punk    6. Heavy Metal    7. Pop    8. Punk    9. Punk Collections    10. Punk Revival    11. Rock   

Reviews (7)

Among the best 80s compilations
There are really some inspired choices here. This may be one of the only places where you'll find "Peter Gunn" and "Perfect Way." But more than that, this may be one of the best-sequenced compilations albums around. "Love Plus One" "If You Leave" and "True Faith" sound like they belong together, riding together on a crisp, percolating wave. Other choices may be more obvious, like the omnipresent "I Melt with You" and "Hold me Now," but I swear this thing provides an outstanding overall listening experience. I gotta lotta 80s, and this is absolutely in my top three of the greatest decade comps out there. There's stuff for the casual listener and hard-to-find stuff that will complete the collections of many die-hards. 'Shame it's out of print.

No fluffly late eighties here
The perfect eighties music compilation, if you don't like bands like Poison or other songs like the sort.It has the can't live without song "If You Leave" by OMD.And a nice mix of other earlier 80's songs that you have grown to really like.I picked this one because the other 80's cd's threw in some artists that really didn't blend well on the same disc.Definetely the right choice.

One of the better 80's collections
For the price, this CD is one of the better collections of 80's songs thatI have seen. It has some stuff that is on many other collections, but italso has some songs that are harder to find, such as True Faith by NewOrder, which is one of the great songs of the 80's, and Smalltown Boy, byBronski Beat. The campy You Spin Me Around (which Adam Sandler did ahilarious version of in the Wedding Singer) is also one of the highlights. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Dance    2. Alternative Pop/Rock    3. Club/Dance    4. Dance-Pop    5. Disco    6. New Romantic    7. New Wave    8. Pop    9. Pop/Rock    10. Popular Music    11. Post-Punk    12. Rock    13. Synth Pop