Live At CBGB 1982 - Bad Brains

Advantages: A brave step forward, experimental
Disadvantages: This doesn't necessarily equate as good music

...pretentious maybe, that's something I certainly wouldn't argue against - Blondie at the time were trying to break free of the pop mould they had been cast in, just as they had broke free of the punk mould they were typecast in before that. So perhaps they tried to over-intellectualise their music, 'weird it up', I guess. While it is an edgy opening to the album and an interesting attempt at the total deconstruction of the pop song, 'Europa' is a little too leftfield and self-consciously avant-garde for the average listener. 'Live It Up', another Stein track, is my personal favorite track on the album, it is like a double-edged sword where it straddles both the conventional pop world, with its regular disco beats and round the disco-ball feel, but it also has a kind of darkness to it, a kind of empty void, and Harry sings almost with disinterest... Read review

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Advantages: Brilliant playing!
Disadvantages: Some tracks a little awkward to listen to

...The In Sound from Way Out. Before I go into the review, let me give you a little history on the Beastie Boys for those not familiar with their greatness: Beastie Boys came together in 1979 as a punk band called The Young Aborigines. In 1981 Adam Yauch (MCA) joined the group and changed the name to Beastie Boys. The name \"Beastie\" originally stood for \"Boys Entering Anarchistic States Towards Internal Excellence,\" and the initials B.B. intended to mimic Washington DC punk band Bad Brains. The band\'s original line-up consisted of Adam Yauch on bass, Kate Schellenbach on drums, John Berry on guitar, and Michael Diamond (Mike D) on vocals. Their first gig was at Berry\'s house on Yauch\'s 17th birthday. The band quickly earned support slots for Bad Brains, the Dead Kennedys and Reagan Youth at venues such as CBGB and Max\'s Kansas... Read review

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Advantages: Some all-time classics
Disadvantages: None, Nil, Nada

..., all of which vary in quality Miss Muffet-style, some are really, really good and some are really, really bad (read: horrid) but this one is the most recent, compiled and released in-between 1999’s ‘No Exit’ and 2003’s ‘The Curse of Blondie’, which makes it the most up-to-date Blondie compilation package, stat fans. Which means it includes the No. 1 hit ‘Maria’ but apart from that it’s business as usual as the focus remains on the years 1976 to 1982, and rightly so. This was a time long, long ago when pop as we know it today was still taking shape and evolving into what we know it as today and this is the era of Blondie. Simply put, no other band can claim to have had the influence over modern music that Blondie has, and I kid you not. Their influence is unparalleled and unrivalled. Everyone from Madonna, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Eurythmics... Read review

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