Blonde And Beyond-Rarities And Oddities

Most new wave bands tended to have short flashes of brilliance. Not Blondie. They were a great singles band, but they weren't limited to that they also made strong albums and, as the rarities collection Blonde andBeyond illustrates, they had a lot of terrific material that never made it on the official records. Like most odds-and-ends collections, Blonde and Beyond is a little scattershot, which is only appropriate for a compilation comprised of demos, B-sides, live tracks, and foreign language versions of familiar hits. Still, the treasures make the digging worthwhile, since the keepers here including early versions of "Denis" and "X Offender," "Poets Problem," "Underground Girl," and a live version of "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" rank among the group's very best efforts and are certainly worth the time of any true fan.