Crass - Best Before 1984

Compiling singles and noteworthy album cuts from Crass's eight year-long career, Best Before is an ample sampling of the work of one of punk's most interesting groups. The compilation begins and ends with "Do They Owe Us a Living," Crass's longtime signature tune. 

The tracks compiled here attest to the fact that to Crass, nothing was sacred. They relentlessly challenge Church, state, the media, and big business on songs such as "Big A, Little A," a catchy anthem of paranoia that incorporates an English nursery rhyme. Employing tape loops, hard punk riffs, and white noise, Crass's output as represented here gives testament to the group's daring. They even spoof on their own legal problems (many Crass records were banned in England), and they suffered no end of harassment and censorship from the Margaret Thatcher-led government they so violently opposed.

Heavyweight double vinyl produced by One Little Independent Records. Remastered by Alex Gordon at Abbey Road Studios.

TRACKLISTING:

1. Do They Owe Us A Living?
2. Major General Despair
3. Angela Rippon
4. Reality Asylum
5. Shaved Women
6. Bloody Revolutions
7. Nagasaki Nightmare
8. Big A Little A
9. Rival Tribal Rebel Revel
10. Sheep Farming In The Falklands
11. How Does It Feel?
12. The Immortal Death
13. Don’t Tell Me You Care
14. Sheep Farming In The Falklands
15. Gotcha
16. You’re Already Dead
17. Nagasaki Is Yesterday’s Dogend
18. Don’t Get Caught
19. Smash The Mac
20. Do They Owe Us A Living?