When Id first read who had produced this album, I started to become a little worried. Shawn Stern of Youth Brigade, who produced some of the worst hardcore Ive ever heard, (even though it was only a greatest hits CD). If you liked RFH era Bad Religion or any Oi type band such as Sham 69 etc then your more than likely to like Youth Brigade. Unfortunately I do not. Slipping on the Better Youth Years, I was pleasantly surprised and delighted to hear a barrage of Bad Religion type melodic hardcore punk. This CD covers their three best albums, The Crew, Walk Together, Rock Together and New Wind. It ignores their alleged poppier sub-U2 years, where they wimped out and slowed down their sound, even at one stage signing to a major label (shock horror!). This transition is like what contemporaries such as Bad Religion, but even more famously TSOL, who had transformed almost overnight from hardened punks to dodgy cockrockers! This is an excellent document of an overlooked band which any fan of Minor Threat, Youth of Today et al will be able to appreciate.
