Product Description

Though they were hardly U2 in terms of mass appeal, the Undertones were one of the most important bands to come out of Ireland in the New Wave era. Like the Buzzcocks, they started out combining punky energy with poppy hooks and melodies. Feargal Sharkey's unique, high, tremulous voice and guitarist Damian O'Neill's sharp songwriting put them leagues ahead of most of their peers. Their brief but productive career isexpertly chronicled here.
Their first single, "Teenage Kicks", was one of the seminal pop-punk records of the late 1970s. Many of the band's early songs took a fresh perspective on the familiar travails of young adulthood. As they movedalong, though, the Undertones matured by leaps and bounds, as heard here on the likes of "It's Going to Happen" and "Julie Ocean". Their last efforts incorporated a strong pop-soul flavour, and foreshadowed Sharkey's solo attempts at pop stardom, but ultimately this collection shows that the Undertones never made a real misstep, and often produced sparklinggems that still shine as brightly as ever.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Teenage Kicks
2. True Confessions
3. Smarter Than You
4. Emergency Cases
5. Get Over You
6. Really Really
7. She Can Only Say No
8. Jimmy Jimmy
9. Mars Bars
10. Here Comes The Summer
11. One Way Love
12. Top Twenty
13. You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It)
14. Let's Talk About Girls
15. My Perfect Cousin
16. Hard Luck
17. Don't Wanna See You Again
18. Wednesday Week
19. Told You So
20. It's Going To Happen
21. Fairly In The Money Now
22. Julie Ocean
23. Kiss In The Dark
24. Beautiful Friends
25. Life's Too Easy
26. Love Parade
27. Like That
28. Got To Have You Back
29. Turning Blue
30. Bye Bye Baby Blue
31. Chains Of Love
32. Window Shopping For New Clothes

Disc 2:

1. Wednesday Week
2. Told You So
3. It's Going To Happen
4. Fairly In The Money Now
5. Julie Ocean
6. Kiss In The Dark
7. Beautiful Friends
8. Life's Too Easy
9. Love Parade
10. Like That
11. Got To Have You Back
12. Turning Blue
13. Bye Bye Baby Blue
14. Chains Of Love
15. Window Shopping For New Clothes

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29890 in Music
• Released on: 2008-02-26
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Box set, Double CD

Customer Reviews

Completely, completely essential
When I'm in a car, travelling at speed, with the sun out one of the first albums I'll reach for is the Undertones.

The vim, verve, panache and life in their music is I think second to none. The following singles are crucial to any lover of shiny freshly minted pop.

Teenage Kicks
Here Comes The Summer
Get Over You
You've got my number ( why don't you use it )
Wednesday Week
It's Going To Happen
Julie Ocean

And some great b-sides

Let's Talk About Girls
Mars Bars
Hard Luck
Top Twenty

I'll just say a couple of things about some of these. Firstly 'You've got my number ...' is a completely unrecognised gem. Reaching only #39 at the time it has one of the best riffs of all time - Michael Bradley in the liner notes says his jaw 'just dropped' when Damian O'Neill played it for the first time. Much is made of Brian Wilson's 'pocket symphony' concept - but this song - with the way the riff inverts, and they way the middle 8 builds to a forttisimo , followed by the knockout punch of the ending is exactly that and far less lauded.

Secondly 'Here Comes The Summer' is a 1:59 song - with a middle eight. Unbelievable compactness and all the better for it's terseness and brevity it shows a discipline and imagination that is an object lesson in great songwriting. It just shrieks summer.

But this album, and the Undertones in general are about having fun - not serious journo posturing. You'll find tight, unpretentious music that nevertheless bubbles with energy and talent. What other band could write

( on Mars Bar )

There's glucose for energy
Caramel for strength
The chocolate's only there
To keep it the right length

- and it doesn't sound like some daft novelty record.

32 tracks. What are you waiting for?

Virtually a greatest hits of the UNDERTONES
I ran across a greatest hits like double cassette or something of the UNDERTONES and didn't pick it up. I'm such a fan of theirs I shoulda. I got this years later and glad I did. There's like one song on it I hadn't heard from their albums and from a few 7"s of theirs I have.

To me the UNDERTONES are the greatest power pop band of all time. It's a combo of the strong guitars, the excellent song writing and maybe even Fergal Sharkey's unique voice. They make great records and I understand they do an amazing live show. I missed 'em the one time they played San Diego in like 1981. Bummer.

If you only own one UNDERTONES record, this would be the one. Real nice packaging too, showing all the covers of the various 7"s. I've been able to gladly hear their music for about 25 years now and it never gets old. Heck, I even like the softer material they did after the first two incredible albums. chris bct

Undeniable teenage pop.....
From the first snare crack of Teenage Kicks we are catapulted into the vortex that is teen-heartache...Feargal Sharkeys unique voice makes your legs still wobble at the knees,whilst the abrasive guitars give us the strength to stand tall as this wonderful song ploughs its own furrow into our hearts...Timeless.They carried on writing kitchen-sink musical dramas and traumas,with the odd nod towards da brudders Ramone,but this lot had a Derry edge and the wit to set them apart from the rest..Work,rest and play....After the fizzing dynamics of the early songs,the ideas are still there,witness the naive steps to Beatley psychedelia....unheard of and unusual at the time,that is attempted on Julie Ocean and Wednesday Week...The enthusiasm appears to have slightly waned on the final few tracks and as they are still producing classy pop,its best that they ended on a slight dip than in a hole..at least they didnt get the Human League in to advise them!