New Model Army - Small Town England (1997)

Joining New Model Army's seminal 1984 debut, Vengeance, with a collection of tracks recorded for BBC Radio 1 around the same time, Small Town England is the ideal representation of the group's pre-Capitol/EMI output. Replete with original bassist Stuart Morrow, who gave singer/guitarist Justin Sullivan's charged anthems a dark, powerful bottom, this two-disc set chronicles a fiery post-punk band on the brink of greatness. Early singles like "Bittersweet" and "Vengeance" are preserved in all their glorious thump (thanks to merciless kitman Rob Heaton), but the real reward for diehards is in the rarely heard radio sessions.