Great Dictations (The Definitive Dickies Collection)
Artist: The Dickies

If there's one place to plunge into the joy, madness and mayhem of the Dickies' late-'70s / early-'80s period glory days, this is it. Featuring the classic line-up, including the utterly underrated keyboardist Chuck Wagon, Great Dictations draws on both A&M studio albums and the slew of EPs and singles that made them demi-stars in the UK and... Read More

The Best of Bow Wow Wow - RECEIVER
Artist: Bow Wow Wow
Copycats
Artist: Johnny Thunders

Copy Cats is a sodden, friendly, often feisty collecton of doo-wop, R&B, and old rock & roll that covers some of Thunders' faves...Thunders' Noo Yawk nasal drawl and Palladin's breathy, death-siren wail trample these songs; an honest affection for these tunes is tempered by the smarts to occasionally poke fun at their naivete and melodrama.... Read More

Awakening
Artist: The Last

If you wanted a history of power pop in one lesson, you could do worse than put on Awakening. The album starts out with two classics -- the Byrds-like blast of "No Love" and the punk-pop gem of "Assembly Line" -- and moves through nine more tracks of upbeat melodic brilliance. Joe Nolte was on an incredible songwriting streak here, and of those... Read More

Los Angeles/Wild Gift
Artist: X

Since X's first two classic releases -- 1980's Los Angeles and 1981's Wild Gift -- were relatively short albums, and since they were also released independently, both were combined as a CD reissue in 1988. Los Angeles/Wild Gift presents 22 tracks of indispensable X. Recorded just as the L.A. punk scene was gaining worldwide attention, you can... Read More

Skaboom
Artist: The Toasters
Community Score: 5.33

The Toasters originally released their second album Skaboom! back in 1987, on the Celluloid label. By 1994, five more full-lengths had followed, and it was a sign of their success that the group at this point decided to reissue Skaboom!, along with eight bonus tracks.

Four of these tracks comprised the band's Recriminations EP, which... Read More

History Never Repeats: The Best of Split Enz
Artist: Split Enz
Community Score: 10.00

Split Enz are probably best remembered in the U.S. for their new wave-era singles; History Never Repeats: The Best of Split Enz collects all of the major singles from the band's A&M albums in a single disc package. For the casual fan, there is no better starting point. The Australian issue is far superior as a career overview however, as it... Read More

Ramones Mania
Artist: The Ramones
Community Score: 5.56

Ramones Mania is a relentless collection of 30 tracks from the Ramones' first ten albums, ranging from the classic Ramones to the less-than-classic Halfway to Sanity. Although not all of their great '70s songs are included, it boils down the highlights from the inconsistent '80s albums quite effectively, making it a useful summation of their... Read More

Generation X - UK
Artist: Generation X
Community Score: 5.90

Original Debut is a reissue of the U.K. version of Generation X's first album. Cocky and commercial -- and sporting some of Billy Idol's better lyrics -- Original Debut is more like glam or straight power pop with punk themes than pure punk. The guitar freakout at the end of "Youth Youth Youth" is the sort of noodly guitar jam you might not... Read More

The Best of A Flock of Seagulls - JIVE
Artist: A Flock of Seagulls

Liverpool's A Flock of Seagulls are best remembered for lead singer Mike Score's hair (and their number ten hit "I Ran [So Far Away]"). The quartet actually scored three lesser hits aside from that archetypal '80s smash. The kinetic "A Space Age Love Song"; the cascading, multi-layered "Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)"; and the sweeping... Read More

Younger, Louder & Snottier (The Rough Mixes)
Artist: Dead Boys
Community Score: 7.50

The Dead Boys' debut album, Young, Loud & Snotty, stands as a superb document of the original late-'70s punk rock movement, full of nihilism and rage and just plain bad taste. These are the original rough mixes done by lead singer and punk rock poster boy Stiv Bators, guitarist Cheetah Chrome and engineer Bob Clearmountain before Genya Ravan was... Read More