Customer Reviews

Generation X

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm a big fan of this album. I've owned it on vinyl, on cassette, and I used to have the original CD release. Now, I own this version, and I'm not at all happy with it.

Take for a start, that the track listing is shuffled from the original running order. Ok, not that big a deal, I admit. But this shuffle appears to have been done, to hide the larger problems with this disc:

Four of the "bonus tracks" are not bonus tracks. They're tracks off the original album, and I have no idea what pinhead labeled them this way.

Three of the tracks on the CD, which are NOT listed as bonus tracks, actually ARE bonus tracks, as they do not appear on the original release.

Further, a bonus track which was available on the cassette release, the studio version of "save my life" isn't provided.

And finally, my biggest gripe: Track one is completely missing - "Gimmee Some Truth" that song that opened the album, appears nowhere on this CD.

After looking around for a replacement track, I've discovered that the only version of this song currently available, is the one on their Anthology box set, which is a diferent take, with different instrumentation, different lyrics, and a really annoying timing error in the first few seconds,which makes it sound like someone's turning the speed control on the record down as the song intro plays.

So, great band, great album, and completely cocked-up CD. After the muddy slowness of the original CD release, I was really looking forward to finally getting a decent copy of this album for my collection.

I'm still waiting.

What happened?

When you listen to Generation X, they had more susbtance, better dynamics, churned out more songs, and wrote cacthier, more radio friendly songs then most of the other Brittish punk groups.

It's no coincidence that Billy Idol moved on and became a big star.

This is a real good cd not only as a representative of the 70's punk movement but also because the material was just plain good as basic pop music.

What can you say besides, simply genius. Idol and Tony James interfuse stripped down rock (punk), with pop sensibilities. Idol was at the top of his game during the UK Punk Invasion, unlike such in my opinion junk like rock the cradle of love. Idol has in my mind a voice made for punk, probaly the best punk voice ever, a tie between himself and Joey Ramone, RIP. If your into 70's punk, please pick up this cd, or just download Ready Steady Go, or Kiss Me Deadly. Excellent writing, excellent music. Kiss Me Deadly is one of his best songs, that and Running With The Boss Sound on Valley Of The Dolls. IT DOESNT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS!! READY STEADY GO!

77 type,fast,catchy,poppy,clearly influeced by their contemporaries The Clash and Buzzcocks.I wish I had the remastered edition,I got the old EMI one,the drums are hollow and it has virtually no treble on the right channel,but sounds superb anyway.The last album track is a mamooth 6'+ exercise on the use of the vibrato lever,full of incredibly trebley and exciting (in a primitive PUNK way,course) guitar solos.

Generation X was one of my favorite punk bands. Like the Sex Pistols, they really only have one album to own and this is it. Thankfully its been remastered and reissued with the original artwork restored.

This album has some of the best punk of the era. What else can be said? I only wish that it contained "Time for Truth" that was on the original US release. Then I believe it would be complete.

Ready Steady Go!

The first issue one may notice with this release is that the track listing is different from the album released in the USA in the late 1970's. The USA release actually was a compilation of most of the UK vinyl tracks (minus "Listen" and "Too Personal") with a couple of singles ("Your Generation" and "Wild Youth") and one B-side (the disposable "Wild Dub") tacked on. This is identical to what transpired with the first Clash album - and to address it Epic has reissued both versions on CD. All of the original UK tracks are included on the CD reissue. My problem with this CD is two-fold. First, the studio version of "Gimme Some Truth" which was the first track on the original vinyl release in the USA is inexplicably left off of the CD. I happen to think the Generation X version is better than John Lennon's original from his 'Imagine' LP. One might note that the CD reissue of 'Valley of the Dolls' lists "Gimme Some Truth" as a bonus track but this an inferior version recorded live at the BBC, which poses a huge dilemma in that there is no accessible way to obtain a remastered studio version. For this reason, I have kept my vinyl copy. Second, while I believe remastered CD's are a benefit 90% of the time, I believe the remastering here goes overboard. The intial CD's from Generation X did lack punch but at least the instruments and vocals were balanced. On the CD reissue, the lead guitar is cranked too high. On repeated listens I have noticed that the problem many seems to be on the first eleven tracks which represent the original UK vinyl release. "Your Generation", "Wild Youth" and the tracks from 'Valley of the Dolls' do not seem to suffer from this fate. I just think the sound person was a little too enthusiastic here (if you want to listen to some great remastering check out the phenominal job that SonyBMG did with the British reissues from glam-rockers Sweet - these are amazing). If the lead guitar was toned down slightly and "Gimme Some Truth" added as a bonus this would rate five stars.

Generation X's debut is what punk was all about - complete with a fun factor that for the most part was missing from British punk at the time(with the exception of the Damned or the Adicts). Jerry Only of the Misfits said that Gen X was his favorite band, and that Billy Idol should be punched in the face for breaking them up! Their influence on the early Misfits is evident, and their influence on punk in general should not be ignored. If you want a good testament of '70's British punk (and good punk in general) then look no further. Extra noteworthy tracks included!

This is a great album for almost anyone. It's got great rhythms and melodies and best of all, singing. Billy Idol was in his early twenties when he made this album, but his voice lacks nothing of its later quality. Instead it mixes the style he is known for with the real punk music of the era. If you like Billy Idol, you can't go without listening to Generation X.

Many of the reviews here are from people who grew up on the original US version of this album. I'm quite sure that if I was one of those people, I'd find this remastered CD edition to be somewhat of a frustrating disappointment too. But I'm still relatively new to Generation X, and I think it's only fair to throw in a review aimed at people who are just discovering this band and don't have the original US album as a point of reference.

In a nutshell, this album SMOKES! Britain in the late '70s produced a lot of great punk bands, but this album is one of the most explosive, blazing records to come out of that period. Billy Idol may have gone on to megastardom in America in the '80s, but every track on this record is superior to anything he's done as a solo artist. In short, if you're a fan of punk rock or just great rock'n'roll in general and you're still new to this band, you will not be disappointed in this CD, which is a solid introduction to Generation X's early years. (Supposedly, the band got less impressive during the later part of their life.)

P.S. I've been listening to punk for a long time now. Don't ask why it took so long to come around to hearing Generation X - I'm wondering the same thing myself.

How did EMI miss the chance to include ALL the b-sides and US Version tracks that were not on the original UK release!?!?!?!?!?

No 'Gimme Some Truth' or 'No No No' (B-side to Ready Steady Go) what a shame.....I had both the UK and US LPs in the early 80's played them both to death....

What I've done is made up my own 16 track Ultimate 1st LP (I left off 'Trying For Kicks', 'This Heat' and 'Shakin' All Over' which were b-sides from the singles off Valley of the Dolls)....

'No No No' can only, to my knowledge, be found on the Australian EMI Best of (along with 'Ugly Rash' and 'Rock On' the b-sides to Dancing with Myself)...luckly I bought it in Sydney...Henry Rollins bought it off me on Ebay...funny world.