Blank Generation - Richard Hell

Advantages: 61 Tracks covering a wide genre of music spanning 4 decades
Disadvantages: Takes a while to get going

...only gripe, and to have made this the final disc would have lost focus because I feel you need to listen to these in chronological order to get a proper feel as to how musical influences changed so much between the late 1970s and late 1990s. The second and third discs are both masterpieces in their own rights and the poor quality of the first disc does not detract from the overall quality of the album. Track Listing CD1 The first CD as I say contains a number of obscure tracks but concentrates on the punk era of the late 1970's. 1. Kick Out The Jams - MC5 2. I'm Waiting For The Man - Velvet Underground 3. No Fun - Stooges 4. LA Woman - Doors 5. Jet Boy - New York Dolls 6. Gloria - Patti Smith 7. Neat Neat Neat - Damned 8. Oh Bondage Up Yours - X-Ray Spex 9. I Belong To The Blank Generation - Richard Hell... Read review

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Advantages: A mix of the classics + no hit wonders who deserve a 2nd listen
Disadvantages: The last disc tails off abit, but 3½ discs are excellent

...to be different taken to the extreme with the loopiness of Max Wall 1 Nick Lowe – So it Goes Stiffs 1st single, quirky guitar pop 2 Nick Lowe – Heart of the City B-side to So it goes -punky pop, where the Damned stole half their riffs from 3 Pink Fairies – Between the Lines Stiff’s 2nd single, fast rock and roll 4 Roogalator –Cincinnati Fatback Funk rock, more famous for causing a spat with EMI by copying the With the Beatles sleeve 5 Tyla Gang – Styrofoam Advertised as having 2 b-sides this is typical R’n’B with gravel voiced singer obsessed with styrofoam 6 The Damned – New Rose 1st punk single released, a love song to boot, complete with manic 3 chord guitars - excellent 7 Richard Hell – Blank Generation Over-rated stuttering punk rock from ex New York Doll 8 The Damned –... Read review

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Advantages: 61 Tracks covering a wide genre of music spanning 4 decades
Disadvantages: Takes a while to get going

...only gripe, and to have made this the final disc would have lost focus because I feel you need to listen to these in chronological order to get a proper feel as to how musical influences changed so much between the late 1970s and late 1990s. The second and third discs are both masterpieces in their own rights and the poor quality of the first disc does not detract from the overall quality of the album. Track Listing CD1 The first CD as I say contains a number of obscure tracks but concentrates on the punk era of the late 1970's. 1. Kick Out The Jams - MC5 2. I'm Waiting For The Man - Velvet Underground 3. No Fun - Stooges 4. LA Woman - Doors 5. Jet Boy - New York Dolls 6. Gloria - Patti Smith 7. Neat Neat Neat - Damned 8. Oh Bondage Up Yours - X-Ray Spex 9. I Belong To The Blank Generation - Richard Hell... Read review

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Advantages: Good played loud, very catchy
Disadvantages: You've got to like hip hop

...Buck 65 - his mum knows him as young Richard and Wikipedia speculates that a promoter mis-spelled his original stage name, intended as Buick 65 - is a hip hop artiste from Nova Scotia. His earlier albums struck me as having something but they were just too underground. A bit home-made. This new album is, on the other hand, ace. Last week I drove drown the UK and track nine "Cop shades" kept me awake on the M40. It has a bass line so solid you could land a plane on it. Situation sees Buck 65 go back to basic hip hop: huge bass lines and beats, over which Buck delivers his clever, witty and poetic lyrics. The album is apparently about events in 1957, as discussed in track two. On the internet, there's a lot of weighty discussion about the meaning of the album. 1957 was the year the Beat Generation emerged with "On the road" and "Howl... Read review

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Advantages: Great introduction to a songwriting genius
Disadvantages: Will not be to everybody's taste

...Jimmy Webb was, and to some degree still is an enigma. In the 60's when he was just starting to perfect his craft he created some of the most brilliantly constructed tunes around. The tradegy is that he is also one of the most overlooked songwriters of his generation. Jimmy wrote his first song ('Up, Up & Away') whilst still in college. Over the course of the next ten years he would be rubbing shoulders with the likes of The Beatles, Richard Harris and a whole host of other 60's icons. There is one story he tells about possibly his most famous composition, MacArthur Park, that gives some indication of just how important he was back in the day. The song, sung in unique style by the aforementioned Richard Harris (they went on to record two albums of music together), was a huge beast of a thing, full of unusual segments of different... Read review

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