Customer Reviews

The Anthology

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Howling guitars and screeching sax (or is it the other way around?), layered with Poly's shrieking little girl meets hyena frenzy voice, X-Ray Spex has undeservedly been pushed out of the spotlight of punk's history. This is an injustice. The band was no mere flash in the pan with "O Bondage, Up Yours". They actually accumulated a decent output of equally uproarious tunes.

The only thing that really prevented the band from achieving greater recognition was that they dissolved so quickly because of Poly's condition. In retrospect, many of the songs hauntingly predicted her oncoming mental deterioration. But that's an aside. What's important is the music, and this CD is an invaluable piece in the punk puzzle. No, the production isn't top-notch--not by a longshot. Still, I would recommend this CD to anyone who has never heard of this outrageous band or who only knows the one or two cuts that achieved any popularity.

Nothing I could write could do this album justice. Am I going overboard? I think not. (Well, perhaps... it is midnight, I have had three cups of coffee today, am putting off a Philosphy paper and have spent the last hour looking at David Hasselhoff reviews. Okay... no. I worship Poly Styrene...) Anyway, everything said and done, I would pay $1,000 for this CD and give it ten stars. The first CD is essential, but the second "Live at the Roxy" CD is just fun to listen to. If you don't buy any other CD this year, buy this one.

X-Ray Spex made music that any serious rock'n'roll fan simply must hear. The songs on the first CD in this collection rank up there with the best "punk" (whatever that means these days) music of all time, and sound as fresh and exciting today as anything ever recorded before or since. If you thought "Never Mind The Bollocks" was good, or if you are one who never really understood why people go on about the Sex Pistols and early punk music, you need the revelation this album will bring.

The first CD contains all the songs on the original "Germ Free Adolescents" album plus some important extras. The second CD is dead weight for the most part. It seems to contain the entire "Live at The Roxy" album in all its mediocrity, and three relatively tame songs from the reunion album.

Given Polystyrene's tirades against crass consumerism, the bundling of this extra CD is really quite ironic. An anthology for a one album band! Yeah, right! Since it's hard to find the original "Germ Free Adolescents" album these days, don't think twice about the crass consumerism behind this anthology and just buy it while you still can! Yama Yama Yama Yama Yama Yama.....

I love this album. I am so glad I found out about this rare and unique band. The album is a melting pot of punk, pop, and even a little bit of ska sometimes. Marion Elliot's (aka: Poly Styrene) lyrics attack the materialistic world, and have this rare sort of desperateness in them that I can relate to so well. There's also boredom and a sort of 'I don't care anymore' attitude (I am a Poseur, I Can't Do Anything). The theme of hopelessness and 'I can't do anything to stop this' attitude run throughout the entire album. And in a strange way, it's almost comforting. 'Oh Bondage, Up Yours!' is an excellent feminist anthem that eagerly steamrolls over the idea of objectifying women by being sarcastic. I highly recommend this album, it's more true today than it was in 1977.

This record is a Punk classic. The original LP album (if you remember what they are,) if you can find it will cost $100. Greedy collectors will drain you for more.
It appeared on CD about ten years ago, and as good as that CD was it is now out of print. This special additon includes everything from the previous CD plus demos. (Would You Believe the original LP did not include thier famous OH BONDAGE UP YOURS song.
This package has a second disc of Xray-Spex Live. It most likely is from The Roxy Recordings (a popular venue in Londontown.) The live record is also a hard to find import. This version may have cleaned the sound up.

I was in a record store today. The original seven inch single of Identity/I'm a Posseur cost $15.00. For an extra two or three dollars enjoy this ANTHOLOGY while it's still around.

We all know that punk and new wave were supposed to be the antidote to the hoary rock dinosaurs of the time (e.g. the Who sinking to the level of crap like "who are you.") But few bands captured both the energy and a coherent delivery. Lydia Lunch had wit, but lacked power. Many bands had energy, but were indecipherable in the noise. The Spex had both angst fueled drive and sophomoric alienation, adolescence in a jar, the essence of Rock 'n Roll. Not a note is wasted, not a string is twanged in vain.
My personal favorites are "Warrior in Woolworth's" ("His roots are in today--doesnt know no history, he's thrown the past away") and "I can't do anything," cries of desperately bored nihilism such as I imagine self-mutilators feel. Ululated at a volume that would give Patti Smith a hernia, but every word distinct, the "r's" elaborately trilled. And that saxophone could tear a hole in a cyclone fence.
Not every song is a gem, but the album is a prime example of New Wave at its best.

I have to agree with other voices here - the remastering process when seriously off. If you're a completist and need the extra material, by all means get the anthology, but to hear Germfree Adolescents the way it was meant to be heard, get the single disc version (or better yet the vinyl)!

Poly Styrene was well ahead of her time when she started out with XraySpex in 1976. Look at the lyrics to Plastic Bag and Germ-Free Adolescence - she was wise beyond her years and captured a unique type of punk that no one else was making. John Lydon is a big fan of this group. They amazed me with their lyrics, artwork, colour and I also liked the sax they incorporated in their songs. I disagree with Marco Pirroni (Adam and the Ants), who reckoned that no one would remember them or listen to their records these days. I do - they were an imaginative unique group like no other.

Thirty years after the fact, I couldn't explain the difference between punk, hard core, new wave, no wave and just plain good stuff. X_Ray Spex were just so good. I still have my 45 of "Oh Bondage! Up Yours!"/"I Am a Cliche" and that was all I knew of this great band. And I mistakenly figured that was all I needed to know. I picked up this CD and it's like meeting X-Ray Spex all over again. I am a junkie for "Junk Food Junkie" and "I Am a Poseur" now.

This band had so much going for it that it makes me wish that they had stayed around longer. Just as relevant as The Dead Boys, The Sex Pistols, and definitely The Clash, these guys had power and, more important, were fun. And that's what great rock and roll is all about. They had all the good stuff.

Believe it. The best Brit. Punk Album ever. Better than the Sex Pistols 'Never Mind the Bollocks' & better than the Clash's '1st'. It also boasts my favorite punk song ever 'Germ Free Adolescence' which just beats out 'Identity' & 'Day the World Turned Day-Glo' - This album has it all & was the main reason for me getting interested in the punk scene back in the 70's when I was still a school kid. The best Brit. Punk Album in the best Punk Album Sleeve ever with the best selection of Punk Tracks & the best female Punk Vocalist anywhere. Forget 'Siouxsie', 'Pauline Murray' or any of the others. No-one came close to the urban-decay/Concrete jungle screech of 'Poly Styrene' (Maybe the best Punk Moniker ever!) I know I like saying punk a lot in this review but this album really captured the punk era for me. Quick catchy songs with great guitar riffs complimenting the audio assault of Miss Styrene's completely unique voice. I'm sorry I don't know her real name but she'll always be Miss Styrene to me. I actually get very nostalgic listening to this - the good old school days when punk seemed to offer so much but was actually as hollow as the rest of the music industry. Still, anyone with an interest in British Punk or Classic Punk in general must have this album. And what a great value. You get a 2nd Disc of Alternate's/Demo's etc. (Which are more for completists than anything else) but makes for good value for money. By the way did I mention that this was/is the best British Punk album ever. Well believe it. Grab it today