Album Review

A bonus-stacked reissue of Discharge's 1981 debut album captures the band in full fiery flight, not only across a regular LP that remains one of the Oi! movement's most cherished long-players, but also via 14 bonus tracks that build up into a complete portrait of the group's early output. The four songs that comprised the band's debut "Realities of War" EP kick off the bonus section; the "Fight Back" and "Decontrol" EPs follow, together with two cuts recorded live on 1981's all-consuming Apocalypse Punk Tour. And across this savage blast, the manic energy and ruthless commitment that so hallmarked Discharge's early charm is captured with decade-defying accuracy; so much of the early Oi! scene sounds sadly dated today, but Discharge rise above the passing years and sound just as vital twenty years later. Why itself, of course, is equally inviolate, to complete a package that stands among the most crucial collections that the early '80s have to offer. [Captain Oi! reissued the album with bonus tracks and videos in 2007.] ~ Dave Thompson, Rovi