Nervous Tension - Various Artists

When the dust settled on the original punk explosion the music press finally had a handle on this shocking ,joyous abrasive new sound,now the anger and chaos had subsided somewhat , that same desperate music press initially caught on the hop now also had a name for this new sound ,"New Wave ", a catch all ,user friendly term for anything remotely angry ,quirky,and raw,this new moniker allowed an international aspect to enter the frame as ...
...and musically liberated the ground zero ethic of early punk allowing new sounds and rhythms to percolate and ferment .

This intelligent and sometimes obscure compilation allow s the listener access to a variety of artists from a wide range of labels now under the E.M.I umbrella though mostly from Virgin and E.m.i .the infectious and angular "This is Pop"by the criminally underrated X.T.C opens proceedings with no two tracks ... more

When the dust settled on the original punk explosion the music press finally had a handle on this shocking ,joyous abrasive new sound,now the anger and chaos had subsided somewhat , that same desperate music press initially caught on the hop now also had a name for this new sound ,"New Wave ", a catch all ,user friendly term for anything remotely angry ,quirky,and raw,this new moniker allowed an international aspect to enter the frame as "new wave could be British or American and occasionally European and musically liberated the ground zero ethic of early punk allowing new sounds and rhythms to percolate and ferment .

This intelligent and sometimes obscure compilation allow s the listener access to a variety of artists from a wide range of labels now under the E.M.I umbrella though mostly from Virgin and E.m.i .the infectious and angular "This is Pop"by the criminally underrated X.T.C opens proceedings with no two tracks sounding the same or even similar this is followed by the classic post punk collusus "Public Image "by Public Image Limited ,at that point a truly new sound and such was the creative climate these two sublime giants are succeeded by another post punk giant in the form of Magazines "Shot by Both Sides",the collection maintains its quality and diversity adding singles by the Skids and The Stranglers to give a truly accurate representation of how pop and rock sounded in the brief period between 1978 and 1980.

The entire compilation justifies its existance for its inclusion of "Faith"by the obscure but worthy Manicured Noise ,fondly remembered no doubt by anyone tuning into John Peel around this period and also the rare and mostly ignored "Euthenics" by Modern Eon originally on Liverpool label Dindisc and representing the movements initiation into electonic pop .

The entire concept is welll presented and researched and has as much apeal to the casual buyer as the officianado .tracks by post punk legends Wire and Gang of Four only serve to increase its value for money as do the sleeve notes by X.t.c,s Andy Parttridge ,the sound is still fresh in an obvious retro way and is a timely reminder of a sound most young bands would sell their guitars for,this isnt a definitive new wave colection but it is a fantastic place to start or a wonderful opportunity to plug a few gaps in that old plastic singles case from woolwoths you might have got for christmas in 1979. 

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