Remastered Original Recordings

Reviewed by:
David Peisner

Blondie


Plastic Letters


Parallel Lines


Eat To The Beat


Autoamerican


The Hunter


Although they grew out of the New York punk scene, Blondie were punks only in their rejection of convention. Musically, their mix of ’60s girl-group pop, rock, reggae, swing, disco, and (later) hip-hop was a reflection of their melting-pot New York City stomping grounds, and the reissue of the band’s six albums (which doesn’t include their recent and forgettable reunion record) shows just how far ahead of their time the group really was. Overlooked upon its release, Blondie’s self-titled debut is an extraordinary album, highlighted by the catchy, new-wave gem, “X Offender.” Parallel Lines, which includes the band’s first U.S. hits (“Heart Of Glass,” “One Way Or Another”) still stands out, and Autoamerican, which was mostly panned when it came out, makes a lot more sense in retrospect, as songs like “The Tide Is High” and “Rapture” anticipated the sort of genre-bending that would become the standard for pop music in the ’90s and beyond. We don’t recommend sitting and listening to six albums worth of Blondie (plus bonus tracks) in one sitting, but in moderation, this stuff is still incredibly vital.