by Rob Jones
Released on 26 April 2024
When we are talking about premier punk power and a regal rebel resonance that has lasted across five decades – the UK Subs are one of the phenomenal forces that have never taken their foot of the pedal. The Subs have recorded relentlessly and as regards touring their energy is effervescent and on stage the stamina and stomp is stupendous. In among all of this action the band has played the long lost Tonypandy Naval Club on a few occasions and The Factory, Porth has also been a beneficiary of Charlie Harper and company. The UK Subs output although consistent has never been bettered than on their first five albums and to have that 1979-1982 quintet collated as a box set makes for an essential purchase. The below is what you get, so get this release date in your diary, for this is a maximum 5 star product.
• 5CD 111-track clam shell box set covers the most commercially successful years of punk legends the UK Subs.
Disc 1 is debut album ‘Another Kind Of Blues’ which reached No.21 in the National Charts. Amongst the nine bonus tracks are the hit singles ‘Stranglehold’ (No.26) and ‘Tomorrows Girls’ (No.28).
The second disc is the No.18 charting album ‘Brand New Age’ which now comes with ten bonus tracks including the hit singles ‘She’s Not There’ (No.36), ‘Warhead’ (No.30) and ‘Teenage’ (No.32).
Disc 3 is the In Concert ‘Crash Course’ album which reached No. 8 in the winter of 1980.
The fourth disc is the No.18 charting ‘Diminished Responsibility’ album. Among its ten bonus tracks are the hit singles ‘Party In Paris’ (No. 32) and ‘Keep On Running (Till You Burn)’ (No.41) plus the first two solo 45’s by vocalist Charlie Harper.
Disc 5 is 1982s ‘Endangered Species’ album which reached No. 11 in the Independent Chart and featured the song ‘Down On The Farm’ which was later covered by Guns n’ Roses on their million selling ‘Spaghetti Incident’ album. The booklet contains detailed notes on the whole era plus pictures of all relevant releases. Though ‘retired’ from full scale touring the band are still very much active on the live circuit and have British shows leading into Charlie Harper’s 80th birthday!
