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The Jam were in the grand tradition of great British singles bands which begins with the holy sixties trinity of Beatles/Who/Kinks and passes on through to the Pretenders, Madness and the Smiths in the 1980s, and on to the likes of Blur. What distinguishes them from the others is that, with the possible exception of Madness, they are by far the most ineradicably English of all those bands. That was a strength and a weakness - it gave them a sense of identity, but it also mired them in that English working class sensibility. The Jam were huge in the UK, had a university level following in places such as New Zealand and Canada, and were unknown anywhere else. Their other flaw was once identified by Who guitarist (and Jam fan) Pete Townshend: the Jam lack a sense of humour. This dourness sometimes makes the band unnecessarily heavy listening. It is possible to deal with heavy themes and maintain a light touch - a lesson the Jam could have learned from all their 1960s-era mentors.

That said, this collection does show the remarkable progress of this band. The opening four tracks, are from the first two albums and show the Jam as, to put it bluntly, a second tier punk outfit. But it was on the Jam's third album, All Mod Cons - released in 1978 and represented here by the Kinks' cover `David Watts', plus `A bomb in Wardour St', and the remarkable `Down in the Tube Station at Midnight' - that the group began to grow. The next couple of years saw the Jam hit its peak - a slew of singles like `Strange Town' and `When You're Young' had some great playing, plus lyrics which catch the alienation of late teens life. "Tears of rage run down your face/But still you say it's fun" sings Weller on `When You're Young.' The pinnacle was `Going Underground', a tight rabbit punch of a single from 1980, and a superb guitar and vocal attack from singer/writer/guitarist Paul Weller.

The band followed that up with the magnificent `Sound Affects' album and from there things started to unravel. That album contained some of Weller's best ever tracks - songs such as `That's Entertainment' which truly synthesised the band's influences and did something new with them. But Weller decided he wanted to be a soul star, and took the band in that direction. Sometimes this worked (even if `A Town Called Malice' sounds like the Supremes) and sometimes it didn't. However the band went out on a high - `Beat Surrender' is a rousing, stomping roar of a single - a fitting end to a band which had the integrity to get out while they were still on top.

Again my son turned me on to this band, The Jam. And as I listen to these tunes, I hear a few riffs that Green Day might have borrowed. These boys can do a hook like anybody. Every and I men every tune is really good. I 'm glad I have a son who can help his old man find some decent music. The Jam ...buy it now!

The band cut too many great tracks to sumarize on a single CD. However, "The Compact Snap" plus "The Jam Collection" do manage to get the best stuff onto TWO CDs; I recommend going that route instead.

These guys should have been bigger.

They were great musicians. Played in a power trio format, Bruce Foxton's bass was powerful, countered the melodies of the guitar, and was up front in the sound. The guitar playing was right out of early The Who. Paul Weller developed into a real fine musician

And boy, live these guys were the real deal! They rocked!

When punk/new wave died, they were ignored and changed their sound. They should have stayed with their original sound! The Stylel Counsel stunk and even know Weller is worshipped in England, The Jam was his zenith!