Best British Punk
The Sex Pistols' only studio album, 1977's Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols was called 'just about the most exciting rock & roll records of the Seventies' in Rolling Stone's original review.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"One of my favorite punk albums growing up."
"Probably the only remaster we'll ever see of this album."
"Beautiful pressing of a beautifully amazing album!"
"I overall love the album itself, however the sound quality is subpar."
"If you love rock it's a must."
"a classic, what else?"
Bouncing from hard rock (the apocalyptic vision of the title track) to rockabilly ("Brand New Cadillac") to reggae ("Rudy Can't Fail") to pop (the Top 40 hit "Train in Vain"), the Clash knocked down all musical walls and, in the process, ended the argument over punk's viability in the U.S. --Billy Altman.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Good press."
"The song begins with an almost menacing tone, as Strummer sings: "London calling to the faraway towns. Now that war is declared--And battle come down." You Tube has a terrific clip of The Clash singing this, with some nice visuals involved, starting off with the clock. Raw instrumental work, supporting lines such as: "When they kick in your front door. How you gonna come? The Clash had the anger and rawness of The Sex Pistols, but were better musicians and created a more compelling sound. "Train in Vain" is an infectious and captivating song, incongruous in juxtaposition to "The Guns of Brixton." This may be the pinnacle of The Clash's career (and they had some other awfully good albums), before the creative differences between Strummer and Jones blew the band apart."
"Smashing!"
"Love this one - even better on vinyl."
"Great great cd."
Though the two-record sprawl of London Calling --with its exploratory mutations of reggae, rockabilly, and even disco--proved that the Clash weren't content to lie fallow in a punk-rock ghetto, nothing prepares you for Sandinista 's messy melange. For 36 tracks (the Clash originally released this as a three-record set for not much more than the price of one), the band tackles everything in sight, including waltz, gospel, disco, children's ditties, funk, reggae, dub, delicate instrumentals, psychedelic explorations--hell, they even play a Clash rocker or two.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"it helps I heard it when I was really young so I loved all the music I listened to."
"I used to have the vinyl of this one, with the hand drawn poster."
"It's a good album."
"Great cd."
"But thankfull to have the records all the same."
"What's great about The Clash is that they had a beginning, a middle, and an end - as punk bands should."
"This is The Clash."
Best British Ska
The Specials.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Anyway, the original album is disc one and disc two is all live tracks."
"Well, I won't debate what's the greatest ever since that is, to some extent, a matter of taste, but if you dig the Two Tone sound "Specials" is an album that you must have! This is the album that turned a lot of people on to ska in the early eighties. If you could only buy one "second wave" ska album this is the one I would recommend, even over compilations that cover more artists and sounds. I remember being envious of the few who could find the import version on vinyl (yeah, way back then before we had these new-fangled CD things)."
"I bought this in 1979 at Korvettes in Paramus, the same day I bought Pretenders 1st, and Wreckless Eric/Whole Wide World. Blank Expression a perfect winter time twilight song, You're Wondering Now fantastic closer."
"The entire band had buzz cut hairdos and dressed like thrift shop refugees complete with Sinatra type fedoras, skinny ties and ill fitting suits. Jerry Dammers was raised on the music of Prince Buster, the Skatalites, Desmond Dekker, Byron Lee and the stable of ska musicians that were part of Duke Reid's venerable British label, Trojan Records. Terry Hall as the prosecuter and Neville Staples as "Judge Dread" engage in a hilarious satire of a kangaroo court in the song "Stupid Marriage." The cover of the Maytal's classic "Monkey Man" fires a hilarious shot from the hip at the Thatcher enthusiasts in the pompous chambers of the House of Lords, comparing the Britian's nobility to inbred baboons. The addition of trombonist Rico Rodriquez, who was a transplanted Jamaican with an involvment in the ska's early Sixties roots lent the Specials an authenticity that few of their peers could claim. I don't deejay much these days, but in the early Eighties no party or dance was complete until the floor was filled with estatic dancers slamming to the riddims of "Concrete Jungle.""
"My best friend and I collected all the second-wave ska coming out of the UK that we could find like Bad Manners, The Selecter, Madness and The (English) Beat but The Specials were the best of all of them."
"This is the very definition of a classic album."
Best Britpop
a Rush of Blood to the Head is a soulful, exhilarating journey, moving from the cathartic rock of 'Politik' to the hushed tones of 'Green Eyes' without once breaking its mesmerizing spell.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Front to back it's just a great album."
"This is where it all started."
"My favorite band and the album that first made me fall in love with them - so awesome to finally have it on vinyl!"
"These cd is awesome."
"Great CD original recording."
"Super fast shipping."