Awesome 21 collection of Mr. Hell’s long & storied career. From his garage rock early days to the ur-punk of The Heartbreakers & Voidoids. Eventually he goes full circle and plays with people who’ve taken his inspiration like the Dim Stars (Thurston Moore, Steve Shelly, Don Fleming). Richard Hell should be as honored not only alongside his comptemporaries but honored as an unsung legend of rock n’ roll.
((((1)))) Velvets influenced, strolling rock n’ roll with nice raw guitar.
(((((2))))) Wonderful 60’s garage twang ‘ala 13th Floors Elevators (Btw, Sonic Youth does a great cover of this).
(((((3))))) Unpolished, fuzzier than the Ramones cover. Maybe the first authentic NYC punk song?
((((4))))) Complex riff with a solid early rock/50’s jazz structure. Great guitar sound
(((((5))))) Fast, wild punk rock. Tho’ more of a 60’s/early 70’s guitar instead of the buzzsaw tone that came later.
(((((6)))) Awesome jagged tempo ‘ala “Radio Clash” but with a more 60’s vibe (think The Animals).
(((((7))))) Power pop before the fact? Much different than the Neon Boys version. Sounds more personal & heartbroken here.
(((((8))))) Fast rock n’ roll danger. Similar to early 70’s Alice Cooper or The Who in their prime.
((((((9))))) Loose & fun sound. Nice bass breakdowns from Mr. Hell & a wild Ron Asheton-like guitar break.
(((((10))))) 60’s Brit rock meets Americana? Fantastic guitar chords & overall playing.
((((11)))) Drug mania awash in wild guitars.
(((((12))))) Swingin’ power-pop with twin leads! Awesome!
(((((13))))) Funky as hell with a catchy chorus.
(((((14))))) Burly, fuzzy guitars with a roaming’ through the badlands feeling.
(((((15))))) Weirdly tuned ‘ala his bandmates usual style. Strange mix of various eras of underground NYC rock & an anti-war theme. (See it’s not about the cartoon duck!)
(((16))) Ballad with a bit of the Tex-Mex twang.
((((17))) Real strummy with a weird vocal approach & distorted 2nd guitar.
((((18)))) Snake-y, it’s nice how the vocals & the 2 guitars don’t always match yet fit the beat perfectly.
((19)) Strange conga beat & really weird vocals. Doesn’t really work.
(((((20))))) Excellent T.Rex cover with killer bass sound & cool sax work from Jad Fair.
(((((21))))) Live & direct version of #4. Authentic live sound, makes it sound like you’re (almost) there.