Ian Mackaye has always prided on providing value for money and this is certainly what hes doing here. Everything Minor Threat ever recorded is all usefully captured on this one disc. Surprisingly enough for such an important and influential band, Minor Threat only ever recorded 26 songs, this being due to the fact that they were only around for three years. If you were expecting another Fugazi then youd be gravely mistaken, as Minor Threat was an entirely different kettle of Fish altogether. These guys were more direct; less subtle, angry as hell and single handedly helped to define not only the hardcore but also the Straight edge scene as well, funnily enough with the song Straight-Edge. As mentioned beforehand these guys were more direct not only lyrically but musically as well. The first thirteen songs on this release are classic examples of brutal and relentless old-school hardcore punk barely pausing for breath. Tracks 15-26 are much more measured affairs but no less powerful for it. These latter tracks give some indication of the future direction Ian Mackaye would be pursuing with future projects from Embrace onwards. Its hard to say which tracks are classics, as they all are. So stop reading, go out and buy the damn thing!
