The Old Testament (The Ua Studio Recordings 1977-1982)

ストラングラーズがUAレーベルで発表した6枚のアルバムに、シングル曲、B面曲やレアリティー曲をまとめて収録したコレクション作品。

A lavish package celebrating the myriad bumps, bruises, and highlights of the Stranglers' earliest and best, the boastfully titled Old Testament is a four-CD set that spans the group's first six albums (up to 1981's La Folie), also including a number of non-LP singles and B-sides. It also contains an exhaustive -- if blindly...er, boastful -- 112-page book, which makes the package all the more attractive for longtime fans who have long since hunter-gathered the rarities. It would be a major gamble to make this your first Stranglers purchase, especially due to the 1997 release of The Hit Men, which runs through the band's stylistically varied singles and doesn't indulge too much in the Stranglers' lengthy deterioration phase(s). They were productive from 1977-1981, discounting the number of album tracks that really shouldn't have seen the light of day. Make no mistake, nearly every good thing they did can be found within these four discs, save for the odd later hit like 1984's soft rock gem "Skin Deep." The band's rampant misogyny, occasional lapses into racial faux pas, and odd fixations on pointless violence can almost be forgiven through the undeniable musicianship and ability to write a great pop song, not to mention nasty corkers like "(Get a) Grip (on Yourself)" and "Toiler on the Sea." Lunkheadedness and quality control issues aside, the 80-plus songs on The Old Testament definitely prove the Stranglers to be worthy of a box set. ~ Andy Kellman|