Against The Odds: 1974-1982[8 CD]

Blondie's first six studio albums are reissued here, along with many bonus tracks and two discs of supplemental material (most never before heard). Presented in a box with a book chock full of photos and track commentary and information.The new remasters sound excellent. They are not "brickwalled", so compared to mastering of most new music released in the past 10 years or so, these sound a little quieter (a good thing). Sound is so clean with punchy bass and great dynamics. Vocals and instrumentals sound so clear and crisp. This is how remastering should be done. The difference between these and the 2001 remasters is noticeable, though not necessarily night-and-day. I thought the 2001 remasters were very good (though the volume between some discs did vary, despite all being released the same year). I find these to be superior, even with some of the bonus tracks that were carried over - the Private Stock singles, for example, which were supposedly sourced from vinyl on the 2001 reissues. The new remasters are a definite upgrade to those tracks. Much of the Home Tapes material is just as clear, not muffled or muddy as you might expect from something labeled a "home recording".The selection of bonus material, most of which is brand new, does leave a little to be desired. Call Me is included on Eat To The Beat, but it is the shorter version whereas the 2001 reissue of Autoamerican has the original long version as a bonus track. I've listened to the long version so many times that it feels like the definitive version of the song, and really the one that should have been included in this set as it is a quintessential Blondie track (there was absolutely enough room to include a couple more minutes of the song on the disc). The Spanish/English-language version of the song is included which is longer than the one included, but still shorter than the original long version. The extended version of Heart Of Glass would have been a nice inclusion as well. I see other reviewers complaining that a lot of the 2001 reissue bonus tracks were not included here. Okay, maybe... but I'd much rather hear previously unreleased material, which is what is mostly included here. I will agree that there was a lot of unused space on the Out In The Streets and Home Tapes discs where they could have thrown some more rarities at us, but I'm overall satisfied with what was included. The Chris Stein mixes and Mike Chapman vocal demos are pure fillers and throw-aways, in my opinion, as they don't really add much value to the set.Another reviewer noted issues with skips when ripping these discs to your computer or a device, and I can confirm this as well. I copied these to my iPod to listen to them at work and towards to end of Parallel Lines and the beginning of Eat To The Beat I noticed some songs had skips. I thought it was just my computer, but now I see it could be a widespread issue. I've re-ripped and the problem seems to have cleared up (though some individual songs took two or three rips to get a clean copy).In closing, I thought this was an excellent box set highlighting the career of one of the most influential bands of the 70s and 80s new wave/punk/disco era.. the packaging is high quality and the new remasters are beautiful. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to these albums, and I only got to page through the book yet. Blondie fans, buy it for the presentation and audio quality, and hold onto your 2001 reissues for a handful of tracks that were not included in this new set. Highly recommended!

It's a must-have.

Rather well remastered box set of all their albums (except for pollinator) with many alternate takes and demos. No live recordings which is too bad. The large hardcover book is worth reading for fans especially the track by track commentary by band members.

The set is everything I hoped for

This Blondie Against the Odds cd box is of course for fans. Nothing new other than the book with commentary from each band member for every album song. Nice graphics and top presentation. That is five starsAbout the music which is what matters the most the new remasters are good, but not so different from the 2001 ones.I wish they could have remixed all these albums in 5.1 surround, Dolby Atmos and other high definition audio. Blondie is such a rich sounding and melodic band that would have been a treat to have those mixes in Blu-ray. Hopefully sometime in the near future they plan to do that, but don't wait too long please.

Just got it today so have not had a chance to listen to it yet. I just got it for the music cuz my original albums are on cassette and got played so much they don't work anymore so wanted to have CD copies of them and looking forward to hearing the extra songs...Don't know why the book has to be so heavy and huge...OMG...like carrying a ton of bricks or something...way too heavy for me...you would think with a book that size they could make the print larger so I could actually see it to read it...unfortunately I cannot see it to read it. I wish they had a pdf version available to those who purchased it so I can actually read the book and see what it says...an audible version would be even better to hear the stories in the book...just sharing my initial thoughts...

This box set contains the band's first six albums, plus demos, alternate takes, and other rarities, for a total of eight CDs.Many of the extra tracks have appeared on previous releases, so it's hard to say that there is a lot of new material here. However, the sound quality appears to be better than that of previous reissues, suggesting that this set is a welcome upgrade.Aside from being able to get all of those first six albums in one fell swoop, perhaps the real draw of this box set is the 128-page hardcover book that comes with it. Lots of great photos, plus an album by album, song by song review of the contents with comments from the band and its producers. The CDs are stored in pockets in the inside front and back covers, with each disc in its corresponding album sleeve. The whole thing fits into an LP-sized slipcase.Now, this set is by no means complete. A check of streaming sites and discogs will reveal plenty that has not been included, such as 12-inch mixes and live recordings included on b-sides. But the most notable omission is a real head-scratcher: the 12-inch "disco version" of "Heart of Glass". This is especially curious because for many years it replaced the album version on Parallel Lines. Fortunately, it can be found on a 2018 digital EP released by the same company (so presumably the sound quality would be similar, if not identical)—but leaving out the best-known version of the band's best-known song seems like a poor decision, especially since there is more than enough space on the Parallel Lines disc to accommodate it.

Good start, missed opportunity.Many of the bonus tracks on the 2001 cd remastered are missing!Why when there is so much space on the bonus cds???How they missed these, about 10 in total

A must for Blondie fans!

Me hubiera encantado que el libro fuera de 12", la presentación del libro es extraordinaria y la idea de integrar los 6 álbumes de estudio y los dos álbumes extra dentro del libro me parece excelente idea. La remasterización tienen cinco estrellas, realmente puedo decir que le dieron una nueva vida a todos los éxitos del grupo. Lo único malo es que esta edición no incluye Heart Of Glass (Remix Original incluido en The Best Of Blondie), tampoco incluye Calle Me, Wardchild y Live It Up en sus versiones largas, así como Heart of Glass en su versión instumental, afortunadamente cuento con ellas por otras ediciones de sus discos por lo que para mí no fue porblema que no se incluyeran en esta edición que básicamente está muy completa.

Merece muchísimo la pena esta recopilación.Todo en perfecto estado 👌🏽

I've been a Blondie fan for 30 since now, since their hiatus years when a reunion didn't seem like it was an option. Much of this isn't new to me - I had all the albums when they were remastered in 1994, as well as various collections and remix albums - so how exactly was I going to justify essentially buying it all over again? I settled on the deluxe CD edition after much deliberation (I'm sure the vinyl super deluxe set was spectacular but I just never get round to listening to vinyl...) and I'm happy with that choice.What surprised me with so many demos and alternative versions was how good some of them are and how worthwhile their inclusion is: the Private Stock single version of X Offender is a little more motown than the one you're used to, and you could argue that the first take of Bermuda Triangle Blues is better than the one that ended up on Plastic Letters. A few of the bonus tracks had appeared on earlier reissues and 1993's 'Blonde and Beyond', and it's a shame some other previous bonus tracks are omitted - extended versions of War Child and Call Me really added something to the originals beyond simply elongating them and showcased Clem's drumming to a greater extent for starters.The presentation hardback book is full of insights and interviews, though I was quite disappointed to find that some of the band's comments were recycled from historic interviews and some of the track-by-track commentary included general comments that didn't always relate to the track in question. It also seems to rush through the last two albums when compared to the first four.That said, it's a beautifully packaged set designed with care and detail. The eight discs sit inside the covers in their own slip cases and the remastering sounds great. I've enjoyed reading the book as I revisited each album I've heard many times before, and that I never seem to tire of. You're unlikely to be reading this as a casual fan looking for a greatest hits package - but on the other hand, that's how I got in to them all those years ago and I can well recommend this as a timeless collection.And if you are a big fan that already has these albums, it's still well worth picking up.

Di tutto e di più su una delle più iconografiche glamour punk band Usa. Per capire quanto ci fosse di rock nella Music di quegli anni e di quanto Andy W. mettesse del suo….