Teenage Sex 42

A tough but tuneful new wave pop band from New York City, Sorrows (no "the," please) were formed by guitarist and singer Arthur Alexander in 1977 a few months after the breakup of his influential power pop combo the Poppees. With tongue slightly in cheek, Alexander described his vision for Sorrows as "ABBA meets the Sex Pistols," and he recruited his former Poppees bandmate Jett Harris to play drums in the new group, along with guitarist Joey Cola and bassist Ricky Street. Sorrows soon made a name for themselves on the New York club scene, regularly playing CBGB's, Max's Kansas City, and other hip night spots, and in 1979, the band landed a record deal with Pavilion Records, a division of CBS…

No single box set–however sumptuously packaged, however comprehensively compiled–could hope to contain the bewildering, diverse array of musical styles and opinions that was brought together under the loose description "punk" between 1976 and 1979. There were so many fresh ideas and concepts–the final, irreversible emancipation of women in rock and the creation of an entirely new, non-R&B, guitar-based music form–contained within that one word, no compilation could hope to represent it fairly. 1-2-3-4 has a damn good try, though. Five CDs, featuring 100 tracks from the good, bad and downright ugly of punk.

If ever a metal band deserved the box set treatment, it's Slayer. Love them or hate them, their accomplishments in the thrash metal subgenre is pretty much unequaled. For over 20 years, Slayer have remained doggedly and stubbornly persistent in their approach to playing the heaviest, loudest, and darkest metal in America…

‘Sharon…’ is an eclectic soundtrack for the early ‘80s covering post punk, mod revival, ‘60s revival, independent scene, rockabilly/cowpunk, garage, London soul/funk, reggae dub and commercial pop, pre C86 with its looking back and looking forward, and what it isn’t, the extremes of the SAW production line of the late ‘80s and another era entirely.

No single box set–however sumptuously packaged, however comprehensively compiled–could hope to contain the bewildering, diverse array of musical styles and opinions that was brought together under the loose description "punk" between 1976 and 1979.

Extensive 5CD/book set exploring the evolution of the Goth movement, from the glacial postpunk of the late 1970s through positive punk and into the Batcave era, dark electronica and beyond.

This is the definitive Cool. Grab it and run. You won't find a better compilation. Remixed and including notes by Mr Cool himself, Ross 'The Boss' Wilson, it sounds better than you'll ever remember. The 'hits' are on side 1 and include the extended version of 'Come Back Again'. Side 2 has live performances and some rare studio stuff. This, together with the impressive 2004 release ''The New Cool'', might be all you'll ever need to realign your swagger and cool, unless they release another.