Editorial Review:

Amazon.com:
Understand from the get-go that label retrospectives are spotty affairs. Rare is the label that's free of stiffs, and Stiff Records' raison d'état was to serve as a refuge for castoffs, including a fair share of flaccid acts. The off-center likes of Nick Lowe (having recently fleed the misbegotten Brinsley Schwarz), Ian Dury, Wreckless Eric, Larry Wallis, and a very young Elvis Costello found a home with Stiff in the '70s. It wasn't a punk label, though it boasted the Damned; it wasn't a ska imprint, though Madness and Desmond Dekker recorded for the company; it wasn't a power-pop or pub-rock haven, though a number of Stiff's leading lights (Dury, Lowe, Costello, Dr. Feelgood, Dave Edmunds) fell into those categories. And it wasn't terribly long-lived. This imaginatively designed four-disc overview definitely loses momentum toward the end, but there's a humble enchantment to an overwhelming percentage of tracks here from label mainstays, the semiacclaimed (Devo, Graham Parker, Lene Lovich, the Pogues), and uncelebrated (Mickey Jupp, Mick Farren, Jona Lewie). -- Steven Stolder

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Disc 1:

1. So It Goes - Lowe, Nick
2. Heart of the City - Lowe, Nick
3. Between the Lines - Kid, C.
4. Cincinnati Fatback - Adler, Danny
5. Styrofoam - DeVare, Darrell
6. New Rose - James, Brian
7. Blank Generation - Hell, Richard
8. Stab Your Back - Scabies, Rat
9. Less Than Zero - Costello, Elvis
10. England's Glory - Dury, Ian
11. Maybe - Barrett, Richard [1
12. One Chord Wonders - Smith, T.V.
13. Alison - Costello, Elvis
14. Jo Jo Gunne - Berry, Chuck
15. Whole Wide World - Wreckless Eric
16. Kill - Sleek, Norman
17. Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll - Dury, Ian
18. Razzle in My Pocket - Dury, Ian
19. Suffice to Say - Campbell
20. Let's Loot the Supermarket Again (Like We Did Last Summer) - Farren, Mick
21. Watching the Detectives - Costello, Elvis
22. My Old Man - Dury, Ian
23. Police Car - Wallis, Larry
24. Yankee Wheels - Stenberg, Liam
25. Back to Schooldays - Parker, Graham

Disc 2:

1. I Love My Label - Lowe, Nick
2. Marie Provost - Lowe, Nick
3. What a Waste! - Dury, Ian
4. I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself - Bacharach, Burt
5. Whoops-A-Daisy - Dury, Ian
6. I Think We're Alone Now - Cordell, Ritchie
7. Jocko Homo - Devo
8. Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick - Dury, Ian
9. Semaphore Signals - Wreckless Eric
10. I'll Get by in Pittsburgh - Lewie, Jona
11. B-A-B-Y - Hayes, Isaac
12. Lucky Number - Chappell, Les
13. Solitary Confinement - Carroll, Jean Marie
14. Frozen Years - Schwarz, Brinsley
15. Take the Cash (K.A.S.H.) - Goulden, Eric
16. They Don't Know - MacColl, Kirsty
17. You'll Never Get Me Up in One of Those - Jupp, Mickey
18. Who Does Lisa Like? - Sternberg, Liam
19. Drive Friendly - Carter
20. Win or Lose - Frost
21. The Hop - Brandon, Kirk
22. One Step Beyond - Campbell, Cecil
23. Emotional Traffic - Andrews, Bob [1]
24. Inbetweenies - Dury, Ian
25. Lucky Seven - Lewis, Lew

Disc 3:

1. My Girl - Barson, Mike
2. Israelites - Dekker, Desmond
3. Buena - Carrasco, Joe 'King
4. Stupefaction - Parker, Graham
5. You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties - Lewie, Jona
6. Trouble With Love - Gregson, Clive
7. What Becomes of the Brokenhearted - Dean, James [Produc
8. Mercury Poisoning - Parker, Graham
9. Let Go - Barnes, Patrick
10. Baggy Trousers - Foreman, Chris [1]
11. It's My Party - Gluck, John Jr.
12. Green, Green Grass of Home - Putman, Curly
13. Three Bells in a Row - Crippen, Dick
14. Stop the Cavalry - Lewie, Jona
15. Going Left Right - Herbage, M.
16. Is Vic There? - Herbage, M.
17. If You Need Me - Equators
18. Wunderbar - Tudorpole, Eddie
19. Allamana - Dekker, Desmond
20. Pretend - Douglas, Lew
21. Loud Music in Cars - Birch, Will
22. Throwing My Baby Out With the Bathwater - Kingston, Bob [2]
23. Just One Cornetto - Pookiesnackenburger
24. Who Likes Jazz? - Plytas, Nick
25. You Broke My Heart in 17 Places - MacColl, Kirsty

Disc 4:

1. Sign of the Times - Barker, Stella
2. Sweet Memory - Braker
3. Language Problems - Electric Guitars
4. Breakaway - DeShannon, Jackie
5. Like Dust - Burmiston
6. Dangerous Dreams - Jakszyk, Jakko M.
7. Destination Lululand (Humdiddlededumhoowahayha) - Smegg
8. The Sick Bed of Cúchulaínn - MacGowan, Shane
9. Pick Me Up - Campbell, Hilda
10. Here Is My Number - McGounden
11. Dark Streets of London - MacGowan, Shane
12. Wild Child - Grimes, Clyde Jr.
13. A New England - Bragg, Billy
14. Pretty One - Tarney, Alan
15. Free Yourself - Grimes, Clyde Jr.
16. Sally MacLennane - MacGowan, Shane
17. Brilliant Mind - Irvin, James
18. Don't Wait Up - Astles, Paul
19. Killer Joe (Right Cross) - Galson, Benny
20. Shake Like Judy Says - Irvin, James
21. Hunting Shooting Fishing - Birch, Will

Rating: - Interesting Historical Time Capsule
Look over the list of artists on the CD, the ones you recognize - go out and buy all their CD's. While STIFF was great in the late 1970's as the conveyor of UK/Euro indie music - most of the best artists moved on - what's left is an interesting time capsule of that the last 70's and very early 80's. There is reason Humphrey Ocean & the Hardy Annuals or Mick Farren are forgotten. At the time, they were loud and brash and a nice antidote to the soft rock era of the 1970's but from that emerged Costello, Nick Lowe, and hundreds of artists you can name & remember ... and of course, leaving most of these guys & women behind ... so if you're a completist collector, you'll want these tracks but for listening beyond the names you recognize? Not so much. They are pretty much out-dated minor league stuff and the sound quality is not that great here so for a lot of reasons, you're better buying artist specific CD's or a more accessible collection of pre-new wave tracks that contain the "one-hit" wonder tracks anyway.

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Rating: - If they're dead we'll sign 'em
Disc 1 & 2 are the whole reason to buy this, with a few cuts from disc 3 thrown in as a bonus. Probably more economical to have your old 45 RPM versions converted to CD (and keep those goofy quips engraved in each record's blank space next to the label).

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Rating: - Action Packed
Stiff is one of those wacky labels that always seemed to sneak by just under the pop radar.

I received this set as a gift a few years ago, and couldn't be happier about it. This collection is so full of unknown bits of whimsy and little-known cuts by more popular artist that it starts to become more of a treasure chest than a "best of."

Ian Drury of "Sex and Drugs and Rock & Roll" fame appears as vocals on several other cuts including "Kitchen at Parties." This collection is full of simmilar fun little nuggets.

So much of the "alternative" music scene that was largely contained by British borders seems to be archived here, and it's fun to tap into it. Americans (such as myself) who always thought that the band Madness was largely a one hit wonder will be surprised by the spastic "Baggy Trousers," a song I enjoyed so much I have purchased several Madness CDs since hearing it.

While Elvis Costello originally got his start on Stiff, he has only one song here - probably a god thing, as we all have a good idea what he sounds like - leaving more room for the lesser known artists of Stiff.

There is a charming wackiness to this collection and to the whole Stiff attitude. This is a great collection for exploring what the Brits were doing while we tollerated Dexy's Midnight Runners.

Oh! Special bonus: There is a fabulous (FABULOUS) cut of Desmond Dekker's "Isrealites" on disc three. This along merits purchasing this set.

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Rating: - Instantly enjoyable.
Strange...I remember trying to search for this boxed set earlier in the year and coming up with nil for my efforts. Then, after accidentally finding it in a New York record store and acquiring it right away, I find it on here. Must be my mind playing tricks on me.

In any case, I'm not old enough to have lived through the era from which these songs sprung, but the appeal of the music easily traverses the generation gap. I haven't even yet explored all of this set and it's already been some of the most fun listening experiences I've had while listening to "older music": Elvis Costello, The Belle Stars, Nick Lowe, Kirsty MacColl...and personal favourite, spunky popster Rachel Sweet. Vivacious and highly entertaining. My only complaint is that the liner notes are somewhat flimsy. Though full of the kind of tongue-in-cheek humour that, apparently, Stiff Records was famous for, the result of the non-journalistic approach is that there's very little real information on the music, the history, the label, and the context, hidden by the cheeky writing and witticisms. I for one would've liked some more detached, professional journalism to inform me of the significance of this music such as in that Amplifier article I had read (which led me to look for this boxed set in the first place). So on the packaging front, much is left to be desired. But the music is uniquely appealing, a world of its own.

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Rating: - best of my life
I was in my teens when this kind of music was played on the radio , I lived in ex Yugoslavia and I was reading a lot about the new wave and all those stuff i England. I loved those groups but I never actually had a chance to listen all those recors ( I Lived in ex Yugoslavia for Gud`s sake ) , now I lived in Sweden and have money to buy records but I am not 13 , 14 , 15 years old anymore and the music doesn`t mean EVERYTHING to me. This box remaind me what music can do with your life and how it is to be 17 again . By this one , no metter how old you are , this is history.