Various Artists - [FAST Product] Rigour Discipline And Disgust

Fast Product: Rigour Discipline and Disgust is the crowning, historical anthology that completely preserves the structural legacy of Bob Last and Hilary Morrison's legendary Edinburgh imprint. Released by EMI in 1993, this expanded compact disc release breathes digital life into the foundational "Mutant Pop" framework that dictated the terms of British post-punk between 1978 and 1981. Rather than celebrating standard rock-and-roll clichés, the album's unyielding title explicitly references Fast Product's rigid, conceptual, and anti-commercial corporate design philosophy—a system that treated musical subversion with the cold seriousness of an industrial manufacturing line.

Historically, this CD edition functions as an absolute masterclass in alternative curation, binding together the crucial early recordings of bands that altered the global musical trajectory. By collecting the scratchy Marxism of Gang of Four, the embryonic synth isolation of The Human League, and the brilliant amateurism of The Mekons, the compilation lays out the exact blueprint of a fracturing counterculture. The critical upgrade of the 1993 edition rests on its final three tracks, which integrate the manic, hyper-kinetic post-punk singles of Edinburgh’s Fire Engines. This vital addition brings Fast Product's timeline to a natural conclusion, showcasing the direct evolution from basic lo-fi cynicism to danceable, razor-sharp indie pop.

To absorb the seventeen tracks of Rigour Discipline and Disgust is to witness the absolute dawn of modern alternative rock and electronic music. By 1993, many of these individual songs had mutated into mythical legends, but hearing them compiled chronologically in their rawest, original forms remains a deeply shocking experience. The record completely strips away the stadium sheen that these artists would later inherit, choosing instead to revel in a tape-hiss-heavy, biting analog starkness. It is an artifact where intellectual art-school concept and pure street-level urgency smash into one another at maximum velocity, resulting in a sound that feels as jagged and dangerous today as it did decades ago.

The compilation’s opening run acts as a perfect encapsulation of post-punk's absolute lawlessness. The Mekons' "Never Been in a Riot" sets a brilliantly sarcastic, anti-rock baseline, which is immediately balanced by Scars' "Adult/ery" and "Horrorshow"—tracks bursting with a unique, gothic-tinged angular friction. The compilation truly moves into legendary territory with the back-to-back original Fast Product singles from The Human League and Gang of Four. The 1978 version of "Being Boiled" sounds like an absolute industrial miracle; its cold, primitive synthesizer drone and Phil Oakey’s booming vocals feel entirely detached from humanity. Meanwhile, Gang of Four’s historic trifecta—closing out with the original independent cut of "Damaged Goods"—unleashes a tense, danceable punk-funk explosion that birthed a thousand subsequent indie bands.

What makes this specific CD configuration transcend its original vinyl source material is the brilliant sequencing of its bonus tracks. The inclusion of later-period Mekons singles like "Where Were You?" shows a band rapidly sharpening their hooks without sacrificing an ounce of their signature socialist vitriol. However, the record’s true final act belongs to the brilliant addition of the Fire Engines. Tracks like "Meat Whiplash" and the scratching groove of "Candyskin" offer a frantic, breathless energy that captures the exact moment post-punk learned to dance, providing a thrilling sonic bridge to the subsequent C86 and indie-pop generations.

Ultimately, Rigour Discipline and Disgust is far more than a simple, nostalgiac label sampler; it is an indispensable textbook detailing the destruction and rebirth of pop music. It completely avoids dating itself precisely because every single track inside was built to actively mock and reject the commercial production trends of its day. For any listener tracing the definitive coordinates where indie-rock swagger, electronic synthesis, and avant-garde political philosophy fused into a unified art movement, this masterful EMI archive stands as a mandatory, thrillingly visceral milestone.

Ripped to MP3

1. The Mekons – "Never Been In A Riot"

2. The Mekons – "Heart And Soul"

3. The Mekons – "32 Weeks"

4. Scars – "Adult/ery"

5. Scars – "Horrorshow"

6. The Human League – "Being Boiled" (Fast Version)

7. The Human League – "Circus Of Death" (Fast Version)

8. 2.3 – "All Time Low"

9. 2.3 – "Where To Now?"

10. Gang Of Four – "Love Like Anthrax"

11. Gang Of Four – "Armalite Rifle"

12. Gang Of Four – "Damaged Goods"

13. The Mekons – "I'll Have To Dance Then (On My Own)"

14. The Mekons – "Where Were You?"

15. Fire Engines – "Discord"

16. Fire Engines – "Meat Whiplash"

17. Fire Engines – "Candyskin"