Customer Reviews

Stiff Records Box Set

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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Don't be afraid to plunk down the $50+ dollars on this box set - its totally worth it. It features great songs you know by Ian Dury, Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello, which are all great to have in one location. But the real reason for picking it up is the gems by the groups you probably never heard of. Roogalator's "Cincinnati Fatback" is a undulating slice of glutinous, dirty funk from Porkopolis. "Between the Lines" by the Pink Fairies is the most scorching, out-of-control bar blues since the Rolling Stone's "Rip this Joint." Tenpole Tudor generally rocks, as do Madnesses' early hits. And there's some hilarious novelties like "Kill" by Los Trios Paranoias that is a affectionate poke at the punk aesthetic, a dead-on parody right down to its two note guitar solo and uber-nihilist lyrics ("I wanna cut me liver out and pin it on yer braces!"). There's three disks of great stuff (the fourth disk is pretty weak, actually), and its amazingly varied and fun stuff, from solid pop to pub rock to new wave to unclassifiable stuff. Not every song is great, but enough are. Highly, highly recommended.

The Stiff Records Box Set is one of those "best I ever bought" type things. With an average of 24 songs per cd, it was a terrific value, and I figure the only thing better would be to actually own the albums from which the songs came. Sure, the quality of selections is kind of scattered. And I do have the songs on album of some of the artists, so although they may be the best cuts of the collection, they don't hold much value for me. But the rest is terrific. For anyone who first got into music in the late seventies, (and didn't like Journey and the Bee Gees), it's like the best indie radio program ever. An all-time great.

This Box set is very fun. There is so much to listen to that you never get bored of it. On the other hand, some of the songs are pretty terrible. There are great artists and bands such as Ian Dury, Jona Lewie, and The Pogues.

I was happily surprised at the quality and selection for this box set. I had heard only some of these songs over the years, but listening to the arrangement put together for this collection helped me recognize it as a tremendous time capsule, revealing the origins of New Wave. There's plenty of solid late punk and even a little funk. For me, it's interesting to consider that this was the sound just before the birth of MTV...then things kind of took a left turn and became very synthesized. While there remained a handful of quality acts during the 1980s, many rock roots seemed to suddenly be dismissed.

It's true that even the most devoted music fan can miss some gems over the years. This box set is great opportunity for many to discover a ton of great artists and forgotten songs.

Dig in and enjoy!

VERY fine collection - the only real complaint I have is the audio itself. The levels are really low ("Whole Wide World" is just this side of inaudible) and some of the sourced audio is mushy ("Mercury Poisoning" sounds like an okay-sounding boot).

On the other hand, the song selection is spectacular and the liner notes are a fun bit of propaganda.

i found this in a used cd store for $15 bucks when i was 19 years old, i bought it because i liked elvis costello, but i found it to be one of my most treasured possessions. my car was broken in to a few years ago, and they got 2 of the best discs- i still listen to the leftovers but i'm always looking to replace it. totally willing to pay $50 plus- highly recommended.

Stiff Records was a renegade, independent record label formed in England that released all varieties of music from power-pop to punk to ska to reggae and everything in between. It was the label that artists like Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Graham Parker, Ian Dury, Madness, Devo, Tracey Ullman, Dave Stewart & The Pogues got their start on. From its creation in 1976 to its demise in 1985, Stiff Records took chances on artists and put out records that may have not been released elsewhere. The label's first release shows it knew what it was doing, it is the brilliant Nick Lowe single "So It Goes" backed by "Heart In the City". Stiff gave the artists the freedom to experiment and push the boundairies of conventional music. The four discs are chock full of great songs and you get a generous helping of them with each disc averaging about 20 songs. To be honest, not all the artists are in the league of the above mentioned ones and many of the songs that are included range from forgettable to just plain bad. But this shows the spirit of Stiff. They left it all out there, from good to bad, from normal to weird, you hear it all. Nick Lowe summed up the general feeling towards Stiff wth his ode "I Love My Label".