Various Artists - Burning Ambitions [A History Of Punk]

Possibly the first serious attempt by Cherry Red at gathering some of the best bands from ’77 through to ’82 who wore the grubby T-Shirts of punk, in one seminal gatefold double album. As noted by many commentators who love to state the obvious, no shows by The Clash, Sex Pistols, Banshees or The Ramones for a history of punk seems more like lawyers from the big labels getting involved. Although prominently a collection of UK bands there are a few classics from the colonies with The Saints, The Heartbreakers and Dead Kennedys keeping it real. Some of the other personal highlights hidden within the soft folds are The Adverts, Swell Maps, The Lurkers, Spizzenergi, Killing Joke and Vice Squad. If you want a quick and entertaining education covering some of the best music from the punk era, Burning Ambitions has it all, well almost!

Essentially a round up for the UK82 generation, Burning Ambitions is a double album stuffed with 38 tracks charting the rise of punk from ’77 onwards. The sleeve sports an excellent pastiche of Sgt Pepper’s and there is much fun to be had spotting the various punk personalities that replace the famous faces of Peter Blake and Jann Hanworth’s original.

But you can’t judge an album by the cover and Burning Ambitions also delivers strong content, kicking off with Buzzcocks’ Boredom off Spiral Scratch, The Fall’s debut Bingo Masters Breakout and Wire’s ubiquitous 1, 2 X U. There’s a nod to punk roots with the inclusion of The 101’ersKeys To Your Heart, and some choice indie cuts from Swell Maps (Read About Seymour), Dave Goodman (Justifiable Homicide) and ATV (Life).

The second LP charts the rise of the third/fourth wave of bands, including Vice Squad, The Exploited, Angelic Upstarts, Blitz and GBH. A quick poll of the Punks Not Dead But I’m Not Far Off Facebook group highlighted Burning Ambitions as one of the most loved punk compilations.

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