The brilliance of this collection is that it combines the standard Brit-punk anthems by the Sex Pistols, the Damned, the Buzzcocks, and Stiff Little Fingers with other great songs that typify the variety and range of punk-era independent music from both sides of the Atlantic. The songs are so well chosen that the punk aesthetic is further revealed by the inclusion of songs that characterize pub rock, new wave, and other related genres. The usual punk suspects ("New Rose," "Anarchy in the UK") are all here, along with many other treasures: Dr. Feelgood's "Milk and Alcohol", Devo's "Mongoloid," Jonathan Richman's "Roadrunner," Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer," and Television's "Marquee Moon." The less commonly anthologized punk selections are inspired, too: the Ruts' "Babylon Is Burning," Generation X's "Ready Steady Go," and X-Ray Spex's "Identity," along with the seminal "Sheena is a Punk Rocker." The conception of the genre is expanded further to include Elvis Costello, Iggy Pop, XTC, Joe Jackson, the Pretenders, the Tubes, and Blondie, and their presence overcomes the tendency for boring repetition on a very long collection.

With their 1998 comeback disc, The Last Wave of Summer – their first album of new material since 1984's Twentieth Century – Aussie rock legends Cold Chisel proved that they still had "the stuff." A tad shy of the standard of their heyday albums of the '70s and '80s, Summer is still formidable rock & roll. As the band's first release in the CD age and, at just under an hour running time, LWOS was considerably longer than their previous studio albums. Hence the makeup is a little different. There is more down-tempo and lighter fare here, which shifts the feel from the usual short sharp-shock of a Chisel disc to a quite different type of listening experience.

Years of struggle had turned Cold Chisel into one of Australian rock's all-time great bands – many would argue the greatest. But the years had also taken their toll and, by the early '80s, rifts had begun to drag on the band. Drummer Steve Prestwich called it quits in June 1983. Two months later, the band put out a press release saying it was disbanding and in December played its final concerts to sold-out audiences at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. The shows were filmed for the documentary Last Stand: this is the film's soundtrack and the cream of those concerts. Undoubtedly a chunk of Aussie rock history, this album also stands purely on the strength of its content.

Little Bob Story was a French rock band with strong rhythm 'n' blues influences. The band was fronted and formed by Italian born Roberto Piazza in Le Havre in 1974. Their first album "Off The Rails" ("Living in the Fast Lane" in France) was released on Chiswick records in the UK in 1977, and the band successfully rode the pub rock wave along with the likes of Dr. Feelgood and Graham Parker And The Rumour.
"Livin' In The Fast Lane" is an infectious, oomph-packed slab of dynamism which drew from the same inspirational well as punk rock.

Twentieth Century is the final studio album for Australian band Cold Chisel until the group reformed in 1998. The album was written and recorded over various sessions during the period of the band's break-up and during breaks in their final tour. It was released in early 1984 and peaked at No. 1 on the Australian albums chart, their third consecutive album to do so. It charted for a total of 46 weeks. Twentieth Century was the first recording to vary the core members of Cold Chisel, with Steve Prestwich having been sacked during the previous year's tour of Germany. For all but three songs, he was replaced by Ray Arnott. The band had announced its intention to separate in August 1983, and by December had played its final shows (before reunion), months before the release of the album.

Look no further than Aussie quintet Cold Chisel's second album, 1979's Breakfast at Sweethearts, along with the band's eponymous debut disc of the previous year, for the material that took them from little-knowns to mighty pub rock monsters and beyond. In fact, the songs on this album may comprise the best set of any of the band's non-compilation studio discs. But alas, it is a masterpiece tainted by a poor recording job. Cuts like the mean-streets stomper "Conversations," the thudding "Shipping Steel," and the drug-paranoia song "The Door" contain little of the venom they spewed forth when played live.

Singles – The UA Years is a terrific double-album set that chronicles all of Dr. Feelgood's major singles, from 1976's "Roxette" to 1986's "See You Later Alligator." Although the hits-only approach leaves out some major Feelgood songs, Singles remains a first-rate retrospective, and for many years, it was the best Dr. Feelgood collection available. The 1997 double-disc Twenty Five Years of Dr. Feelgood later replaced Singles as the definitive retrospective, yet there are enough songs on this collection to make it worthwhile for serious fans who don't want to spring for either the box set Lookin' Back or the entire catalog.

Not long after the 1994 release of Plugged In, Dave Edmunds chose to tune out, slowly winding his way back to his native Wales, where he essentially acted as a hermit. Occasionally, he'd show up on-stage – or on Jools Holland's Later – but his active career essentially ceased, punctuated by the live album A Pile of Rock (a title often recycled in his career) documenting a one-off European show from 1997, plus a 2000-era largely instrumental album called Musical Fantasies. With this in mind, the release of …Again in 2013 is big news: it appears to be his first new album in nearly two decades. This isn't the case. …Again is a curious thing, a 15-track collection that contains no less than nine of the 11 songs on 1994's Plugged In, along with "Return to Sender," his contribution to the Otis Blackwell tribute Brace Yourself (released in 1994, but recorded in 1991), plus five new songs. It's not quite enough to be considered a full-fledged comeback but it's slightly more than tossed-off bonus tracks, too, as these new contributions spin the Plugged In material in a slightly different direction.

Fifth album by London-based country/pub rock band features 11 tracks, drawing heavily on the US west coast sound at the time. Initially recording began in 1973, but the sessions were never completed, the album never released, & the band split up. Eventually , in the winter of 2002, the original band members, with a new drummer, finally completed their fifth album. Includes original illustrated artwork along with a booklet containing new liner notes by band member Malcolm Morey.

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the release of “Reaffirmation”, a comprehensive anthology by the unsung heroes of British early 70s rock, Help Yourself.
Help Yourself were a terrific, idiosyncratic band that straddled the line separating prog and pub rock in the era both sounds were at their peak. Unlike the vast majority of prog bands, Help Yourself were grounded in country-rock, blues, and folk (which includes British folk), not pop, classical, and jazz, and unlike most pub rockers, they had an expansive definition of rock & roll that stretched far beyond boogie. This elasticity is what made the band interesting, both then and now, and it's showcased on the terrific 2014 compilation Reaffirmation: An Anthology 1971-1973, a double-disc set that has the bulk of their highlights and captures all their delightfully odd quirks…