The Stranglers - The UA Singles '79-'82 (2003)

Here's another lavish package for Stranglers fanatics -- one that must be a sight for sore eyes, since an endless parade of cheap cash-in retrospectives began plugging record store bins since the latter half of the '90s. This is the successor to 2001's UA Singles '77-'79, and like that set, it compiles the band's individually packaged singles from a specific time span and places them all in an attractive and compact flip-top box. Each single comes in its own cardboard pouch, with original artwork faithfully restored. All told, there are 12 discs, ranging chronologically from "Nuclear Device" b/w "Yellow Cake UF6" to "Strange Little Girl" b/w "Cruel Garden"; it also adds a single that was recorded especially for the Swedish market (a Swedish-language version of "Sweden"), along with one that was recorded for those in France (a French-language version of "Don't Bring Harry"). Following the earliest, most confrontational, and most energizing period of the band's recording career, the sound throughout these singles is less brutish, more melodic, and very reliant on the keyboards played by Dave Greenfield. The 13/8 harpsichord of "Golden Brown" and the peeping synth of "Thrown Away" are far cries from the knuckle-dragging earlier days of "Hanging Around," "London Lady," and "Nice 'n' Sleazy." Fans will cherish the admittedly lesser B-sides, but just having the miniature versions of the singles' artwork will be enough to keep them pleased. All others can go straight to one of the better one- or two-disc retrospectives, such as The Hit Men or even Peaches: The Very Best of the Stranglers.