Original Album Series

this is a great 5 cd set of the vintage brisley schwarz catlog of the early 1970s, this band was basically probably the first band that would kick off the infamous uk pub rock scene wich did not really explode all over london until around 1973/74 with the likes of DR FEELGOOD, EGGS OVER EASY, BEES MAKE HONEY, DUCKS DELUXE, TYLA GANG, KILBURNE AND THE HIGH ROADS, LITTLE BOB STORY, THE HAMMERSMITH GORILLAS as well as JESSE HECTOR solo &my favorite MICK GREEN AND THE PIRATES!!as well as all the others, nick lowe wrote the entire first album for brinsley schwarz and was one of the sole songwriters for the band in the early 70s, they did a host of early gigs with the likes of love sculpture and dave edmonds as well as crushed butler ( jesse hector) and that whole scene, the band really did not score big hits in the uk/europe or the us but had a very powerful uk pub rock underground fan base, over here in the us the only outfit from this genre that hit us shores to some popularity was DR FEELGOOD in 1975 & 1976 before wilco left the band ( MY FAVORITE NEXT TO THE PIRATES ESP THE WILCO YEARS 1973 TO 77) as far as i know and have heard i think brinsley schwarz made it over to the us in 1972 or there about but did not make any impact so the record company never had them back over again, it is to bad this band did not hangaround a bit longer as i think by 1976 or so they would have done better, anyway this is a great collection here with all 5 albums in mini lp style replica sleeves, the remastering is ok and the discs sound very good, i wish bonus tracks could have been added but for the price here you get a fantastic complete basic brinsley schwarz collection as if you had the original lps on vinyl, for the price???? you cant beat this budget reissue and i have always loved that song down in mexico............................

Brinsley Schwarz is such a good band; the best of the bands that started the Pub Rock movement in England. Nervous On The Road and Silver Pistol were the two albums I really wanted from this set, but all of the albums are worth having. The Rolling Stone Record Guide (2nd edition 1983) actually called Despite It All "...perhaps the best country-influenced rock LP ever made." I'm not sure I'd go that far but it is a very good album. The only thing that could make this set better would be the inclusion of their final (sixth) album, The New Favorites of Brinsley Schwarz.

I purchased this collection to hear more in-depth what pub rock was all about, and to get a taste of early Nick Lowe. There are fewer pop hooks mixed into the countrified pub sounds than one might have expected, given the Lowe connection. Maybe he was trying too hard to sound like a laid-back California roots rocker. There's a lot of musical talent gathered with singer-songwriter-bassist Lowe, guitarist Schwarz, keyboardist Bob Andrews, and guitarist Ian Gomm, who shows up on the later albums and contributes some nice songs, as well. Taken together, these five albums probably will not jump up and grab the listener, but they likely will wear well over time and repeated listening.

I remember seeing these album covers in the local record shop in the 70's. After hearing them now I know I missed out by not getting them. I'm glad I have them now.

5 first albums for $15! Best bargain ever!

Great Band, Great Buy,Great Price, Nick Lowe (bass, guitars, vocals) and Brinsley Schwarz (guitar, piano, vocals) How could you possibly go wrong?

Excellent collection. I wish I had known of these records 30 years ago

Decent overview of a great, underrated band! Very nice set!