Blondie

Plenty of Blondie compilations have appeared over the years, but the band endorsed Against the Odds: 1974-1982, a comprehensive complete chronology available in four separate incarnations: a Super Deluxe Collectors' Edition containing ten vinyl records (plus bonuses) and a Deluxe eight-CD set that both contain newly remastered versions of Blondie's first six albums plus 52 bonus tracks, then a Deluxe four-LP set and a triple-CD version that solely feature the non-LP bonus material. Some of the bonus tracks cover B-sides and single mixes that have been in circulation for some time, but there are a grand total of 36 unreleased tracks, most taken from the personal collection of guitarist Chris Stein, who is also the source for much of the memorabilia and pictures seen in the two hefty sets of liner notes accompanying the box. The bonus material runs the gamut of Blondie's career, ranging from edgy early demos from 1974 – they had the basic elements of "Heart of Glass" in place even then, here heard as "Once Had a Love" – to some stray synth mixes Stein commissioned for a project in 1982.

This terrific live footage of Blondie shows the band playing a collection of songs from their first two albums, Blondie & Plastic Letters - it pre-dates their big success of Parallel Lines. Some punkers would say it shows the band at their peak…

Blondie turned to British pop producer Mike Chapman for their third album, on which they abandoned any pretensions to new wave legitimacy (just in time, given the decline of the new wave) and emerged as a pure pop band…