To be clear, though the title might imply that this is a 1980s U.S. hardcore punk best-of anthology of sorts, it's actually pretty much a soundtrack to the film documentary American Hardcore, in which most of the 26 songs appear. Nonetheless, it does serve as a decent overview of the scene, if you want to take it that way, and is all the more re...

To be clear, though the title might imply that this is a 1980s U.S. hardcore punk best-of anthology of sorts, it's actually pretty much a soundtrack to the film documentary American Hardcore, in which most of the 26 songs appear. Nonetheless, it does serve as a decent overview of the scene, if you want to take it that way, and is all the more refreshing for not concentrating on the more famous/notorious cuts you might expect from such a compilation. There might be just one song (Flipper's "Ha Ha Ha") that was heard by most college radio listeners back in the day, leaving room for some songs that were appreciated in their time but haven't found much play on the reissue scene, like the Freeze's "Boston Not L.A." That doesn't mean that there aren't recognizable bands here; in fact, there are quite a few big figures in the hardcore scene, including Black Flag, Bad Brains, D.O.A., the Circle Jerks, Minor Threat, MDC, the Adolescents, 7 Seconds, Negative Approach, and Flipper. At the same time, there's room for groups that might not be as automatically recognizable to those who didn't grow up during the era, but nonetheless had a noted (if not always terribly talented) presence in the genre, like Die Kreuzen, D.R.I., Jerry's Kids, Gang Green, and Scream. It certainly is as hard and fast as the legend boasts, the 26 tracks adding up to a mere 37 minutes of playing time. That might still be too long for the many general rock listeners whose patience with the assaultive hardcore sound is thin, but for those who want a helping without feeling like they're getting bludgeoned to slow death, it might be just the right amount. One does wish there were more detailed liner notes for such a historically minded compilation of a scene that's been given relatively little exposure on reissues by well-distributed labels like Rhino; the annotation has little more than years, songwriting credits, and a brief summary from the film's writer/producer and director/producer. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide