The Alarm - The Best of The Alarm (1998)

The Alarm are an alternative rock band that emerged from North Wales in the late 1970s. They started as a mod band and stayed together for over ten years. As a rock band, they displayed marked influences from Welsh language and culture. By opening for acts such as U2 and Bob Dylan, they became a popular alternative rock band of the 1980s, retaining a small but loyal following to the present day. (wiki)

The Best of the Alarm is a generous collection, containing all of the Alarm's standards plus several solo cuts from their leader, Mike Peters. All of the group's hits and best album tracks are here, making this an excellent choice for either the curious or the casual fan. A reissue of a collection originally released in 1998, The Best of the Alarm added two new singles — "45 R.P.M." and "Superchannel" — that weren't on the original program. (itunes)

The Best Of The Alarm
1998
THE ALARM
Mike Peters (v), Dave Sharp (g), Eddie Macdonald (b), Nigel Twist (d)

Bit Rate: 320kbps

Track listing

1. "68 Guns" - 3:16
2. "Spirit of '76" - 6:59
3. "Rain In the Summertime" - 3:46
4. "Strength" - 3:34
5. "The Stand" - 2:47
6. "Where Were You Hiding When the Storm Broke?" - 2:59
7. "Majority" - 3:25
8. "The Deceiver" - 3:34
9. "One Step Closer to Home" - 4:30
10. "Presence of Love" - 3:20
11. "Sold Me Down the River" - 3:01
12. "Rescue Me (Tearing the Bonds Asunder Radio Edit)" - 3:03
13. "Absolute Reality" - 3:26
14. "Unsafe Building (Live)" - 3:47
15. "Knocking On Heaven's Door (Live)" - 4:25
16. "Walk Forever By My Side" - 3:34
17. "A New South Wales" - 3:20
18. "Love Don't Come Easy" - 4:14
19. "Blaze of Glory" - 3:18
20. "45 R.P.M." [The Poppy Fields] - 3:13
21. "Superchannel (Radio Edit)" [The Alarm MMVI] - 2:44

nWu Bonus

"Rescue Me" (Live)
"Absoulte Reality" (Acoustic)
"Strength" (Extended Version)

Videos

"Absoute Reality" (Live)
"One Guitar/Rescue Me" - Reading SUB April 13, 2010

Mike Peters: Vocals, guitars, harmonica - born Michael L Peters, 25 February 1959, Prestatyn, Wales.
Dave Sharp: Guitars - Born David Kitchingman, 28 January 1959, Salford, England.
Eddie Macdonald: Bass - born 1 November 1959, St Asaph, Wales.
Nigel Twist: Drums - born Nigel Buckle, 18 July 1958, Manchester, England.

EMI also released "The Best of The Alarm and Mike Peters":

The Best Of The Alarm (1998)

The Alarm are an alternative rock band that emerged from North Wales in the late 1970s. They started as a mod band and stayed together for over ten years. As a rock band, they displayed marked influences from Welsh language and culture. By opening for acts such as U2 and Bob Dylan, they became a popular alternative rock band of the 1980s, retaining a small but loyal following to the present day. (wiki)

The Best of the Alarm is a generous collection, containing all of the Alarm's standards plus several solo cuts from their leader, Mike Peters. All of the group's hits and best album tracks are here, making this an excellent choice for either the curious or the casual fan. A reissue of a collection originally released in 1998, The Best of the Alarm added two new singles — "45 R.P.M." and "Superchannel" — that weren't on the original program. (itunes)

The Best Of The Alarm
1998
THE ALARM
Mike Peters (v), Dave Sharp (g), Eddie Macdonald (b), Nigel Twist (d)

Bit Rate: 320kbps

Track listing

1. "68 Guns" - 3:16
2. "Spirit of '76" - 6:59
3. "Rain In the Summertime" - 3:46
4. "Strength" - 3:34
5. "The Stand" - 2:47
6. "Where Were You Hiding When the Storm Broke?" - 2:59
7. "Majority" - 3:25
8. "The Deceiver" - 3:34
9. "One Step Closer to Home" - 4:30
10. "Presence of Love" - 3:20
11. "Sold Me Down the River" - 3:01
12. "Rescue Me (Tearing the Bonds Asunder Radio Edit)" - 3:03
13. "Absolute Reality" - 3:26
14. "Unsafe Building (Live)" - 3:47
15. "Knocking On Heaven's Door (Live)" - 4:25
16. "Walk Forever By My Side" - 3:34
17. "A New South Wales" - 3:20
18. "Love Don't Come Easy" - 4:14
19. "Blaze of Glory" - 3:18
20. "45 R.P.M." [The Poppy Fields] - 3:13
21. "Superchannel (Radio Edit)" [The Alarm MMVI] - 2:44

nWu Bonus

"Rescue Me" (Live)
"Absoulte Reality" (Acoustic)
"Strength" (Extended Version)

Videos

"Absoute Reality" (Live)
"One Guitar/Rescue Me" - Reading SUB April 13, 2010

Mike Peters: Vocals, guitars, harmonica - born Michael L Peters, 25 February 1959, Prestatyn, Wales.
Dave Sharp: Guitars - Born David Kitchingman, 28 January 1959, Salford, England.
Eddie Macdonald: Bass - born 1 November 1959, St Asaph, Wales.
Nigel Twist: Drums - born Nigel Buckle, 18 July 1958, Manchester, England.

Biography

With idealistic spirit, a powerhouse live show, and bigger than big hair, the Alarm were part of an early-'80s wave of bands (the Call, Big Country, and the Waterboys among them) who dealt in soaring anthems inspired by the righteous idealism of punk. Clearly influenced by the impassioned political fervor of the Clash, to their hard-driving guitar rockers. Their stage look was unquestionably a product of the '80s, with enormous spiked-up hair accompanying a cowboy/old-time cavalry wardrobe. Yet the numerous comparisons to U2 in the press were not unfounded; despite a more conservative sonic palette, the Alarm had much the same earnest intensity, the same messianic ambitions, even the same vague spirituality. Likewise, the Alarm seemed to covet a mainstream breakthrough in the vein of The Joshua Tree's conquest of the pop charts, and polished up their sound accordingly, with mixed creative results. The British music press habitually savaged their records as derivative and pretentious, but this meant little to their zealous following who supported the band to the tune of over 5 million sales worldwide and 16 Top 50 UK singles.