Anthology (CD - 2002)

"STIFF LITTLE FINGERS", "ANTHOLOGY", "EMI", "CD", "PUNK" This is the definitive collection of singles, and B-sides from Northern Irish punk legends Stiff Little Fingers. The three CD set also includes live tracks recorded in 1989 at the Brixton Academy.

The Northern Irish punk rock band Stiff Little Fingers gained their initial inspiration from the egalitarian approach of bands like the Clash. Their songs reflected the everyday experiences of youth in and around the troubled province of Ulster, which was the scene of almost daily civil strife and sectarian violence. During their brief heyday in the late 1970s and early '80s, the band were among the cleverest and most ferocious purveyors of melodic, message-oriented punk rock on the U.K. scene, while their stripped-down sound influenced later 1980s and '90s U.S. punk rock bands like NOFX, 7 Seconds, Green Day, and Bad Religion.

Culling a variety of tracks from among the band's first three albums, ANTHOLOGY features the feral attack of songs like "Alternative Ulster" and "Suspect Device," as well as the Clash-influenced "You Can't Say Crap on the Radio" and later, more lyrically and musically sophisticated tracks like "The Price of Admission" and "Beirut Moon." This three-CD set also includes a live set recorded in the late 1980s during one of the band's frequent latter-day reunion shows.

An updated replacement for 1983's ace double-LP singles collection, A and B-sides, All the Best (then issued as a farewell when the band initially split-up), Anthology takes that tracklist and adds nine later songs off the singles from the four LPs that have come since the band returned circa 1988. While this revised collection is still somewhat weakened by the necessary inclusions of the lesser, cheaper-done debut single versions of "Suspect Device" and "Wasted Life" over the fireball re-recordings/classics on 1979's immortal first LP (and true punk rock touchstone) Inflammable Material, otherwise, there is nary a wrong turn. It's an effective simple document that charts the band's sure-footed evolution from Belfast's potent answer to the Clash -- and makers of one of the hottest, most exciting, and strife-torn-reflective LPs ever-to a cranking power-pop outfit (and, since coming back, a still-effective group still monkeying with the later formula). If this collection does nothing but remind that there was still so much to enjoy in 1981-1982 SLF singles from the later LPs Go for It and Now Then..., such as "Bits of Kids" and "Just Fade Away," then it can at least reflect that the group was never static or unafraid to alienate their initial second-wave punk base. Finally, disc three further tacks on the older Virgin live LP See You Up There! for those who missed that. ~ Jack Rabid minimize