The Adicts formed in Ipswitch around 1975. The band consisted of singer Keith “Monkey” Warren, guitarist Pete Davison, bassist Mel Ellis, and drummer Michael Davison. Taking inspiration from A Clockwork Orange, the band wore all white clothing and black bowler hats topped off with Monkey decked out in white face paint. The band have been recording and touring for many years on and off while being able to keep some of the original members with them. As of 2018, the band is still touring, so go out and see them if you can.
This is a 69 track five CD clamshell box set housing all the recordings by Pop Punk legends The Adicts between 1982 and 1987. Pictures of all relevant record sleeves, press clippings, and in-depth liner notes are featured in the CD booklet which also includes many rare and unseen pictures by Tony Mottram. The band’s debut album, Songs of Praise, was self-released in 1981 and is not included with this set.
I remember seeing pictures of this band in magazines and being intrigued because of their look, and when I finally was able to hear them, the gimmick of the clothes and makeup didn’t matter anymore since the music was so good. Sound of Music on CD 1 is a solid punk rock album from start to finish. The single “Chinese Takeaway” is still fun after all of these years and “Disco” is a fun track that kicks ass as well. The album holds up well and will definitely be one that you will play over and over again. On CD 2 we get Smart Alex, an album with a bit more polish to its sound, but still sounding tight and terrific. The album is not as rough and tumble as the first one on here, but has some great songs such as “Tokyo” and “Bad Boy.” CD 3 gives us Fifth Overture, which takes a sharp turn with the added keyboardist and lightens up the sound a whole lot. If you were to not know that this was the Adicts, you would never guess that it was them, but it was the ’80s and a lot of bands tried to do things differently to get on the charts. The fourth CD is the rarities album and contains 18 non-album tracks like “Viva La Revolution” single and the Bar Room Bop EP plus b-sides and 12” mixes. A very cool collection of songs that are harder to find and add to the fun of this collection. The final CD is a live on and shows the band at the top of their game playing a blistering set that will make you crank it up nice and loud.
With the remastered sound and such a terrific collection of music, putting this one on and hearing a great band is a no-brainer. It’s great that bands like this are still out there and doing what they do best.
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Altered Frequencies 