Reviews

The great thing about "greatest hits" collections from moderately underground punk bands is that there usually aren't any real radio hits required for inclusion in the collection. Often, the best and/or most popular live songs from the course of a band's career comprise the compilation. The downside is that if you're already a fan of the band, you most likely own most of their stuff already, which is kind of the problem with any compilation. They'll of course try to sell it to old fans on an extra, previously unreleased track or two, but rarely is it really worth the money.
 
I bring this all up because as a reviewer, much like Tony Sly addresses in the opening of All the Best Songs' liner notes, it's pretty easy to look at a collection such as this skeptically. As Sly says, the idea itself can be "lame." Luckily, veteran (20 years) melodic punkers, No Use For a Name, have taken a great approach to their "best of" collection, and old fan or new, All the Best Songs is definitely worth the $10.
 
Sure, 24 of the 26 tracks are old, and one of the unreleased tracks is just an electric recording of one of the songs Sly originally did on the acoustic split with Joey Cape of Lagwagon. But the song selection is solid, and the band has taken a mix tape approach to the comp, instead of just tracks-by-album. The booklet alone will make it worth the money for serious fans. Besides hundreds of pictures, concert bills, laminates, and more, there are liner notes for each song, and a few of Tony's are simply ridiculous, made-up stories. Each band member, and even members from the past, all share extensive stories from their days with the band. There's quite a bit of content, and most of it is interesting and entertaining.
 
For newcomers, it's a great collection of tracks sure to get you well acquainted with one of the best melodic punk bands out there, twenty years ago and today. The strong songwriting and energy of NUFAN has always stood out in the punk scene and All the Best Songs stands as a testament to twenty great years.
 
So, a "best of" compilation from a moderately underground punk band? If it's a band like NUFAN and the care has been taken to make it much more than a way to re-sell old material? I'll buy it. And here's to hoping for another couple decades of great music from Tony Sly and company.