Customer Reviews

Punk Singles Collection

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

 

 

Lead by singer/songwriter T.V. Smith, the Adverts were much more than their semi-hit Gary Gilmore's Eyes. There's a wide variety of styles here, from the old-school thrash punk of One Chord Wonders to the sweeping mini-epic Cast of Thousands. They only had two albums, but they had a legacy of outstanding singles that's tough to match.

Ah the good old days of true died in the wool British punk! Loved this CD, The Adverts are truly punk worth listening to. The songs have a melody (often a missing feature in punk) but are still edgy and authentic.

Seven singles, fourteen songs and an entire career in one handy package. Considering the band's brief-but-turbulent tenure, and that this covers two wildly divergent LPs, it's remarkable how well it holds up as a cohesive album. The first four tracks consist of the band's first two pre-LP singles and B-sides (the respective A-sides were re-recorded for CROSSING THE RED SEA); the CD progresses chronologically through the last B-side, the perfectly dolorous 'I Will Walk You Home', which is also the last track on the mischievously maligned, beleaguered CAST OF THOUSANDS LP. The only complaint I have about this particular collection is directed toward the truncated A-side version of the wonderful 'Cast Of Thousands', but hey- -it says right on the front that it's a singles collection and not a best-of. Wish they'd recorded another seven or so singles, though.

this cd is amazing. there are so many great songs on this album. the only downside to this is that if you want to get some of their other great songs you have to purchase one of their other cd's which has alot of overlapping songs with this one. other than that this cd is an absolute must.

The Adverts only have one essential record (their first), so this might seem like an unnecessary compilation for a band who only released 2 LPs! However, the CROSSING THE RED SEA material on this disc is almost entirely made-up of alternate recordings used for the singles that predate the CROSSING sessions, so you're actually duplicating very little in your collection by adding this disc.

More importantly, you get both sides of their debut single, with "One Chord Wonders" (in a tighter, punkier arrangement than the re-recording on CROSSING) and "Quickstep", which did not appear anywhere else. An outtake from the CROSSING sessions appears later on ("New Day Dawning", now included on the CROSSING CD reissue), as well as "We Who Wait" and a live version of "New Church".

And, finally, for those who would rather not spend their money on CASTS OF THOUSANDS, you get to hear the "highlights" from that disc, too...

All in all, this disc is a great addition to your CD collection if you've got CROSSING THE RED SEA and want to hear more of this woefully short-lived band.