The wait is over: Blondie’s career-spanning box set will finally be released this summer. Actually, make that box sets. “Against the Odds 1974-1982” has been in development for years; The Numero Group says in their product description that the catalogue number was assigned in 2016. Several Record Store Day releases tied to the project have been released, but few concrete details about the set – until now. The New York new wavers, who crossed into the pop charts on a wave of disco and post-punk with hits like “Heart of Glass,” “Call Me,” “Atomic,” “Rapture,” “The Tide is High” and others, will go deep with “Against the Odds“, billed as “the first ever authorized and in-depth archive in their history” – 126 tracks, 36 of them never before released, all remastered from the original tapes, with 180-gram vinyl lacquered at Abbey Road in London.
The biggest edition – a black or “Platinum Blonde” vinyl box, limited to 500 copies encompassing 10 LPs, a 10″ EP, a 7″ single and two books – will feature the six albums the band issued for Private Stock and Chrysalis between 1976 and 1982, plus a host of bonus material. The vinyl set boasts four LPs with as-yet unannounced track lists of B-sides, demos and rarities; their names are “Plaza Sound”, “Parallel Beats”, “Coca Cola” and “Home Tapes“. The 10”, “Out in the Streets“, features additional outtakes from the group’s pre-history, including a rehearsal tape from 1974 and demos cut with producer Alan Betrock a year later; on the 7″ single, there’s an unissued cover of The Doors’ “Moonlight Drive” backed with an “at-home sketch” called “Mr. Sightseer.” The first of two books feature a new set of liner notes by Erin Osmon, commentary and essays from members current (singer Debbie Harry, guitarist Chris Stein, drummer Clem Burke) and former (keyboardists Jimmy Destri, guitarists/bassists Frank Infante, Nigel Harrison, and Gary Valentine) as well as producers Mike Chapman and Richard Gottehrer, all across 144 pages; the second cover’s the band’s discography in visual form: picture sleeves, labels, and formats aplenty on 120 pages.
Now, from there, you’ve got a few choices of formats. An 8CD set includes the six original albums and two bonus discs (Home Tapes and Out in the Streets); note that despite the absence of two of the bonus discs from the deluxe set – and a product description from Amazon touting “the very best of the out-takes & rarities from the Super Deluxe Collectors’ Edition,” Numero notes that all 124 tracks appear here (along with a 128-page hardcover book). Now, if you just want the bonus tracks (52 in total), you’ve got that opportunity as well, thanks to a 4LP set with 128-page hardcover book (featuring the same four bonus LPs as the deluxe set) or a 3CD set with 164-page booklet.
they’re all due August 26th.
The Fat Angel Sings 