Like many ‘classic’ bands of the seventies and eighties, Discharge‘s back catalogue has been regularly plundered by record companies over the years; By my reckoning this is the nineteenth compilation/box set release of the band’s recordings, but, although there aren’t really any unreleased gems or rare nuggets to be found here, it’s a pretty worthy collection nonetheless.

The last one we reviewed, Protest and Survive (BMG, 2020) was far from exhaustive and suffered from some pretty major sins of omission. This new release, out now on Cherry Red offshoot Captain Oi! zeroes in on a tighter time span and is far better for that. Plus, it features all my fave Discharge raves in the one space!

As the title suggests, this release features The Why? Mini album and the band’s debut full length, Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing, plus attendant EP’s and singles, resulting in a double album extravaganza of d-Beat that won’t fail to take you back to the band’s glory days. If you’re a long time fan, it’s probably inessential, but if you are new to Discharge it would be hard to think of a better starting place than this.

Tracks like The Possibility of Life’s Destruction and The Final Blood Bath are just as chilling as they were in 1982, and the relentless onslaught of churning low end (Rainy‘s bass sound has to be a cornerstone of hardcore to this day) and Bones‘ punk/metal blitzkrieg guitar boppage allied to the unholy barking of Cal is still a rabble-rousing delight to this day. The addition of the Warning – Her Majesty’s Government Can Seriously Damage Your Health EP is a big bonus to these ears (underrated at the time, it fits seemlessly with what went before now, in my not so humble opinion), as is the full, unexpurgated runtime of my own fave Discharge release, The Realities of War EP.

Well put together, at forty five tracks in duration this is probably all the Discharge you’ll ever need. Enjoy!

Why/Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing is out now.