Mercury Albums Anthology

Runaways (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 16, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Hip-O Select
• ASIN: B0036ZKLL4
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,395 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Cherry Bomb

2. You Drive Me Wild

3. Is It Day Or Night?

4. Thunder

5. Rock & Roll

6. Lovers

7. American Nights

8. Blackmail

9. Secrets

10. Dead End Justice

See all 22 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Queens of Noise

2. Take It Or Leave It

3. Midnight Music

4. Born To Be Bad

5. Neon Angels on the Road To Ruin

6. I Love Playin' with Fire

7. California Paradise

8. Hollywood

9. Heartbeat

10. Johnny Guitar

See all 19 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Theirs was a story truly born on the streets of Hollywood and left for all to review in the annals of recorded music. The history of the Runaways, now coming to life again on the big screen (with Kristen Stewart in the role of Joan Jett), is one of discovery, strong determination, bravado, teen lust and what would later become, to some, "a can of worms."

But what we have to reflect back on are four albums: The Runaways, Queens of Noise, Live in Japan, and Waitin' For the Night. All 42 songs that were included on those original albums made for Mercury are contained on two CDs and available now from Hip-O Select.

In 1976, after making several personnel changes since their seminal formation just a year prior, the newly assembled, five-member, all-female, L.A.-based band--all underage minors at the time--and their Svengali-like producer, Kim Fowley, caught the attention of Mercury Records and, soon enough, the dotted lines were signed. In a span of under three years, with different band members and collaborators, they generated three studio albums and one live recording, taped at performances in front of enthusiastic crowds with their biggest fans present in Japan. The phenomenon of this early grrl band may have been lopsided with their spotty, regional appeal, but they broke the mold and set the trend for future female rockers to come.

Comprised of teenagers using various "stage names," the original members often referred to as "jailbait rockers" within the industry--Joan Jett, Cherie Currie, Lita Ford, Sandy West and Jackie Fox--had stars in their eyes and a fire in their bellies. And they learned their instruments on the fly while developing their songwriting skills under the supervision of Fowley, who maintained his role of producer as tensions mounted over a few short years and the band, since all was not rosy below the surface, inevitably began to disintegrate and change course. That's happened to a lot of groups for various reasons if you check the record books. With the Runaways, it, too, was probably a matter of time--but their time is certainly now.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific collection of The Runaways four Mercury albums, March 21, 2010

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mercury Albums Anthology (Audio CD)

With the Runaways biopic getting a major market push, it was a no-brainer for their oft-ignored catalog to get a fresh reissue. Contained in this set are the three studio albums the group recorded for Mercury (The Runaways, Queens of Noise and Waitin' For the Night), and a live album originally released as an import (Live in Japan). This represents the heart and soul of the Runaways' catalog, and though a post-Mercury album (And Now... The Runaways), an odds `n' sods collection (Flaming Schoolgirls) and prehistoric demos (Born to Be Bad) can be found, they're the province of completists. For those new to the group's repertoire this four-LPs-on-two-CDs set will tell you everything you need to know - if not a bit more - about the group's recorded legacy.

The Runaways' self-titled 1976 debut tells most of the story: five girls who are both a legitimate rock group and puppets of their Svengali producer, Kim Fowley. The dynamic of teenage hormones, rock `n' roll dreams and jailbait marketing gave the album both muscle and sexual sizzle. Joan Jett proved herself a songwriter with an uncommon touch for evoking mid-70s Los Angeles teendom, and she and Cherie Currie sang with a conviction that couldn't be faked. The band's playing could be plodding and clumsy in spots, but it was still surprisingly powerful. The group's 1977 follow-up, Queens of Noise, followed the same template, but within it you could hear the group was a year wiser to the perils of rock `n' roll. Abused by their managers and worn down by the road, they were staring at the madness that would cause the band to implode.

The group's live album, recorded before an enthusiastic audience in Japan, shows how well the act translated to the stage. As on their debut, the playing isn't particularly refined, but Currie shows herself to be a commanding front-woman, and Sandy West holds down the beat with power and authority. The Runaways' final studio release for Mercury, Waitin' For the Night, saw the band reconfigured: Cherie Currie and Jackie Fox were gone, and with them went some of the band's overt sex appeal. The former's vocal spotlight fell to Joan Jett, the latter's bass playing to Vicki Blue, and the focus to the band's music. Jett seized the opportunity to assert herself as group leader, rising to the challenge of writing most and singing all of the album's tracks. In the album's wake Jett proved, at least to listeners, if not immediately to the record industry, that she was a star in the making. Lita Ford's two metal-tinged originals also pointed to post-Runaways commercial success.

If you're new to the group and not ready to invest in the anthology, the self-titled debut album is the place to start. If you want to get a feel for their career arc, the short collection 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Runaways or the out of print The Best of the Runaways effectively sample their catalog. But if you're hooked and want to hear it all, there are winners to be found on all three of their studio albums, and the live release fleshes out the picture of rock `n' roll life on the road circa 1977. The Runaways weren't the greatest rock band of their era, but they were trailblazers whose albums captured a time and a place from a young, female perspective that was, and remains to this day, theirs alone. [©2010 hyperbolium dot com]

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Runaways rule!, March 24, 2010

By 

Kurt Woods - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mercury Albums Anthology (Audio CD)

It's about time we got this collection. The Runaways may not have been hugely successful in America in the Seventies, but they certainly deserved to be. They weren't taken too seriously by many people, but those people probably never bothered to listen to the music. Their musicianship shouldn't be dismissed, either. Lita is a good lead guitarist, Joan is a riff monster on rhythm, and Sandy is rock solid on drums. The Runaways kicked ass, and their music holds up today.

I've been a Runaways fan since the beginning. I have all five of their original albums on LP (the fifth album, And Now...The Runaways was not released domestically). I hadn't listened to those albums in many years until I got this collection. I have the best-of set released by Mercury a few years ago, but I hadn't heard most of their music in many many years. I was surprised by how good it really is. There are very few weak songs in the entire two-disc set.

The first album sets the tone for their career. "Cherry Bomb" still seems outrageous after all these years. Today we have boring crap like the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus. I don't think you'd hear any sixteen-year-olds today singing songs like "Cherry Bomb" or "Neon Angels On The Road To Ruin." For me, the best track on the first album is the cover of Lou Reed's "Rock & Roll." It just kills.

The second album, "Queens of Noise", picks right up where the first album left off. They continue to rock hard with songs like "I Love Playin' With Fire", "Born To Be Bad", and the title track. "Johnny Guitar" is not one of their finer moments. It doesn't help that Cherie's vocals are so far down in the mix that you can barely discern the words. Other than this track, it's a killer album.

The third album, "Live in Japan", has some tracks from the first two albums, plus a couple new songs and a couple of excellent covers. Especially noteworthy is the killer cover of "Wild Thing."

The final Mercury album, "Waitin' For The Night", finds Joan as the undisputed bandleader, following the departure of Cherie. While this is a killer album, I still wish Cherie had stayed with the band. I just love her "throaty bellow" (as one critic called it). Don't get me wrong: I'm a huge Joan Jett fan, but Cherie's voice is unique. While Joan had been the primary songwriter from the beginning, she now found herself fronting the band. Though she was still developing her vocal skills, her songwriting on this album is excellent, especially on "Don't Go Away" and the title track. Her genuine teenage rage comes through clearly on such songs as "You're Too Possessive."

I have one complaint about the packaging. The booklet has more pictures of the four-piece version of the band than of the original five-piece, which seems very odd, considering that their first three albums were done as a five-piece. Also, while the album covers are reproduced in full CD-booklet size, it would have been nice to have the back-cover pictures of the albums, and the great picture of the band from the inside of the first album.

All in all, this is a most worthy collection of killer music by a band that didn't receive the attention it deserved when they were around. Perhaps the new film will help rectify that to an extent.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Queens Of Noise long overdue collection, April 3, 2010

By 

Bloodbath_and_Beyond (usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mercury Albums Anthology (Audio CD)

In the mid 70's if you wanted to be a female performer you had to be a Joni Mitchell folkie/singer-songwriter, or a maybe a Linda Ronstadt type. The Runaways, 5 teenage rockers that sang about booze, sex, and rock lifestyle just as good as the pioneers of the style at the time (Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Kiss, Foghat, AC/DC) did it..were pretty much trailblazers in creating hard rocking female bands. The only other comparable forerunners being England's Girlschool, because honsetly, while they were cool at the time the Go-Go's and the Bangles just weren't rocking. Featuring lead singer Cherie Curie (decked in lingere), guitarists Joan Jett and Lita Ford, bassist Jackie Fox and drummer Sandy West; the band was put together by Kim Fowley who had been an unsuccessful record producer since the 60's, and also had a rep for gimmick acts. So this one wasnt taken very seriously in 1976/77 when this group of jailbait punker chicks emerged. Fowley of course wanted to get to the top with the band and Joan Jett just wanted to actually be in a band and make rock n roll. The other members had similar ambitions but unfortunatly it didnt turn out well as mainstream America didnt know what to make of it and radio programmers ignored the bands 3 albums. The Runaways, Queens Of Noise (1977) and Waiting For The Night (1978), which was fronted vocally by Jett after Curie's departure. This collection features all 3 albums plus their Live In Japan(where they were huge) album which was recorded before Waiting For The Night but wasn't released in America.

The 2010 biopic spurred more interest in the group and Hip-O records issued this great 2 disc anthology. The sound is great, all four albums are there and the packaging is pretty cool, featuring the album covers in gatefold-outs, and a nice booklet with pics and a summary of the group. If you aren't familar with the Runaways musically this probably isnt for you but fans of the band should love this if they dont already have the CD's or want an easy place to get them all. If you want it put simply, The Runaways were teenagers and some members had just learned their instruments at the time, so its bare bones rock and roll. Although Jett's knack for hooky and melodic yet crunching rock n roll is the most apparent aspect of their sound. It's forceful party rock, in your face, and still 30 years later their most famous song Cherry Bomb sounds dangerous and cutting edge. Of course not everything is classic here but the major highlights include gems like Queens Of Noise, Take It Or Leave It, Thunder, School Days, I Love Playin' With Fire, Gotta Get Out Tonight, Little Sister, Neon Angels and the Joan Jett tour de force Don't Go Away. Out of 42 songs that might seem scarce, but its up to you to pick your own favorites, these are just the bonafied essentials that any novice should check out.

After all the credit given a little too late (heavily influential to all female rockers that came ahead, misunderstood in their time etc etc) this is just a great powerful mix of punk and hard rock. The tunes are killer no matter how simple some might sound. And Lita Ford's guitar showcase Johnny Guitar proved she wasnt a lightwieight on the strings, though you'd never tell just by hearing Kiss Me Deadly which revels in typical of the time 80's techniques, she plays some tasteful licks on here. Despite that so much is focused on Fowley's near exploitation and complete control of a bunch of teenage hopefuls of a once by gone 70's chick band, the music holds up and if you're into down and dirty rock this is a great set of music for you. So if you're dedicated, shell out the cash and dig into a great footnote of rock history.