Various Artists - No Thanks! The '70s Punk Rebellion (4CD Box) [FLAC]

Various Artists - No Thanks! The '70s Punk Rebellion (4CD Box) [FLAC]





Like all the great rock revolutions, punk was fueled by singles. Sure, there were a lot of tremendous albums, but all the artists that cut great LPs also had great 7"s -- and in the case of Television and Patti Smith, they had independent singles released prior to their first albums that never appeared on their debuts. Since rock criticism tends to be album-driven, singles tend to get slightly overlooked, and since punk is a rock critic's favorite, some revisionist historians paint the era as fueled by albums, not singles. Rhino's excellent four-disc No Thanks! The '70s Punk Rebellion corrects that error by focusing on the singles, winding up with a one-stop introduction and summary of the era that is as good as Loud, Fast & Out of Control, their similar set on early rock & roll. The compilers have bent the rules of punk slightly, deciding to include proto-punkers like New York Dolls, the Stooges, the Dictators, and Jonathan Richman, and then to not present the cuts in a strictly chronological order. This benefits the album, since these artists are in the same spirit of the bands they inspired, and the sequencing plays like a great mixtape. Rhino has also evenly balanced the set between American and British punk, including both early hardcore punkers the Dead Kennedys and British pub rock renegades like Nick Lowe and Ian Dury in equal measure. Though there's a bit of difference between "California Über Alles" and "Heart of the City," they deserve to be paired on this set because they both were genuinely independent, exciting 45s that crackled with energy and captured the spirit of punk, albeit in different ways. And that's what makes No Thanks! work so well -- it illustrates how diverse punk and new wave were in the late '70s, but it places a premium on adventure and excitement, which means even artier bands like Pere Ubu and Suicide come across as pure rock & roll. If there is any flaw to the box, it's that most record collectors will already own the lion's share of these songs -- in fact, if they own Rhino's previous 1993 multi-disc punk retrospective D.I.Y., they'll own no less than 53 of these songs (an additional 14 songs have appeared on other Rhino titles, making for a grand total of 67 of 100 songs already released by Rhino). While this is undoubtedly a problem for some collectors, it is also true that it functions more as an overview for fans that don't already own a bunch of this on CD, and on that level it can't be faulted. True, this may contain no tracks from the Sex Pistols, since John Lydon refused them permission (allegedly because Rhino chose not to release the 2002 Sex Pistols box set in the States), but every other major player is here, and the music here is so good they're not missed at all. Finally, if a collector is wondering whether it's worth the expense to buy this box, there are three rare singles that make their debut here: the aforementioned Television and Patti Smith singles, "Little Johnny Jewel" and "Hey Joe [version]," plus an early single version of the Pretenders' "The Wait." (Note: "Little Johnny Jewel" was released nearly simultaneously on an expanded reissue of Television's Marquee Moon.) For those that can afford it, that's reason enough to pick up the set.


Track Listing:


Disc: 1

1. Blitzkrieg Bop - Ramones
2. White Riot - The Clash
3. Heart Of The City - Nick Lowe
4. Boredom - Buzzcocks featuring Howard Devoto
5. (I'm) Stranded - The Saints
6. Neat Neat Neat - The Damned
7. In The City - The Jam
8. Final Solution - Pere Ubu
9. Roadrunner - The Modern Lovers
10. Little Johnny Jewel - Television
11. One Chord Wonders - The Adverts
12. Born To Lose - The Heartbreakers
13. Search And Destroy - Iggy & The Stooges
14. Let Me Dream If I Want To (Amphetamine Blues) - Mink DeVille
15. Oh Bondage Up Yours! - X-Ray Spex
16. 1 2 X U - Wire
17. Blank Generation - Richard Hell & The Voidoids
18. (Get A) Grip (On Yourself) - The Stranglers
19. Cherry Bomb - The Runaways
20. Personality Crisis - New York Dolls
21. Teenage Depression - Eddie & The Hot Rods
22. Two Tub Man - The Dictators
23. Hey Joe (Version) - Patti Smith
24. Your Generation - Generation X


Disc: 2

1. Lust For Life - Iggy Pop
2. Gary Gilmore's Eyes - The Adverts
3. Satday Night In The City Of The Dead - Ultravox!
4. What Do I Get? - Buzzcocks
5. X Offender - Blondie
6. Lookin' After No. 1 - The Boomtown Rats
7. Don't Dictate - Penetration
8. Bingo Master - The Fall
9. Free Money - Patti Smith
10. The Modern World - The Jam
11. Chinese Rocks - The Heartbreakers
12. New Rose - The Damned
13. Ambition - Subway Sect
14. See No Evil - Television
15. Suspect Device - Stiff Little Fingers
16. Mannequin - Wire
17. Baby Baby - The Vibrators
18. Love Comes In Spurts - Richard Hell & The Voidoids
19. First Time - The Boys
20. Sonic Reducer - Dead Boys
21. Shot By Both Sides - Magazine
22. Mystery Dance - Elvis Costello
23. Trash - New York Dolls
24. The Day The World Turned Day-Glo - X-Ray Spex
25. Do Anything You Wanna Do - Eddie & The Hot Rods


Disc: 3

1. Ready Steady Go - Generation X
2. Teenage Kicks - The Undertones
3. Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll - Ian Dury
4. Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've?) - Buzzcocks
5. Rocket U.S.A. - Suicide
6. Mongoloid - Devo
7. Homicide - 999
8. Mr. Big - The Dils
9. Warsaw - Joy Division
10. Where Were You? - The Mekons
11. Lexicon Devil - The Germs
12. (My Baby Does) Good Sculptures - The Rezillos
13. The Wait - The Pretenders
14. We Got The Neutron Bomb - The Weirdos
15. Pablo Picasso - The Modern Lovers
16. Action Time Vision - Alternative TV
17. 2-4-6-8 Motorway - Tom Robinson Band
18. We Are The One - The Avengers
19. Borstal Breakout - Sham 69
20. Wasted - Black Flag
21. Sheena Is A Punk Rocker - Ramones
22. I Love Livin In The City - Fear
23. She's So Modern - The Boomtown Rats
24. Ghosts Of Princes In Towers - Rich Kids
25. We're Desperate - X
26. You Drive Me Ape (You Big Gorilla) - The Dickies
27. Dancing The Night Away - The Motors


Disc: 4

1. Hong Kong Garden - Siouxsie & The Banshees
2. Hanging On The Telephone - Blondie
3. Top Of The Pops - The Rezillos
4. Adult Books - X
5. The Sound Of The Suburbs - The Members
6. California =DCber Alles - Dead Kennedys
7. Another Girl, Another Planet - The Only Ones
8. (I Want To Be An) Anglepoise Lamp - The Soft Boys
9. Radio, Radio - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
10. Typical Girls - The Slits
11. Human Fly - The Cramps
12. Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
13. Babylon's Burning - The Ruts
14. If The Kids Are United - Sham 69
15. Alternative Ulster - Stiff Little Fingers
16. Boys Don't Cry - The Cure
17. She Is Beyond Good And Evil - The Pop Group
18. Is She Really Going Out With Him? - Joe Jackson
19. Get Over You - The Undertones
20. Love Like Anthrax - Gang Of Four
21. Peaches - The Stranglers
22. Into The Valley - Skids
23. You Can't Put Your Arms Round A Memory - Johnny Thunders
24. Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division


Album artwork and rip logs are included. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!