The Step-Forward Years 1977-82 is a 4CD, 89 track clam shell box set that contains all that Punk legends Chelsea recorded during their time with the seminal Step Forward Records between 1977-82.

It includes BBC sessions, a superb In Concert recording and all of their Step Forward singles, plus demos and monitor mixes.

Led by vocalist and front man Gene October, Chelsea were one of the pioneering bands on the British punk scene, with a tough sound and a populist outlook typified in songs like Right to Work and Urban Kids.

Thanks to October’s tenacity, they became an enduring presence in U.K. punk, and though the band sounded a bit faster and louder on latter-day albums like 2015’s Saturday Night Sunday Morning and 2005’s Faster, Cheaper & Better Looking than on early efforts such as 1979’s Chelsea and 1982’s Evacuate (and October’s voice showed signs of wear over time), their commitment to the essential rudiments of first-wave U.K. punk never wavered.

CD 1: Chelsea
1. I’m On Fire
2. Decide
3. Free The Fighters
4. Your Toy
5. Fools & Soldiers
6. All The Downs
7. Government
8. Twelve Men
9. Many Rivers To Cross
10. Trouble Is The Day

Disc 1 is debut album ‘Chelsea’ which is now bolstered by the singles ‘Right To Work’, ‘High Rise Living’, ‘Urban Kids’, ‘No One’s Coming Outside’, ‘Look At The Outside’ and ‘No Escape’.

UK’s Chelsea were a longtime Punk Rock name of their country and, simply put, their self-titled 1979 debut is a clone of Ramones, New York Dolls and The Clash.

Which here is not a bad thing, in and unto itself, for it kicks off with an Alternative Ulster-imbibed cut in I’m On Fire and the harder-edged Decide and then come the melodically-forthright rocker Free The Fighters, the great bopper Your Toy, the gripping, drum-led chugger Fools & Soldiers, the vibrant, underrated All The Downs, then we get the mid-tempo, rhythmic Government, the fervent Twelve Men, the album rounding out on their stoically-charged cover of Many Rivers To Cross, closing on the brilliantly enthusiastic Trouble Is The Day.

BONUS TRACKS – THE STEP-FORWARD SINGLES 1977-80: 11. Right To Work 12. The Loner 13. High Rise Living 14. No Admission 15. Urban Kids 16. No Flowers 17. No-One’s Coming Outside 18. What Would You Do 19. Look At The Outside 20. Don’t Get Me Wrong 21. No Escape.

CD 2: The BBC Sessions - John Peel 27.6.77
1. No Admission
2. High Rise Living
3. Right To Work
4. Pretty Vacant
5. Blind Date

JOHN PEEL 3.7.78
6. No Flowers
7. Urban Kids
8. Come On
9. I’m On Fire

The BBC Sessions - Kid Jensen 10.10.78
10. Twelve Men
11. Trouble Is The Day
12. Come On
13. Urban Kids

Mike Read 7.9.79
14. Fools & Soldiers
15. Don’t Get Me Wrong
16. Look At The Outside
17. Trouble Is The Day

In Concert 29.9.79
18. Fools & Soldiers
19. Twelve Men
20. I’m On Fire
21. All The Downs
22. Free The Fighters
23. Trouble Is The Day
24. Your Toy
25. The Loner
26. Urban Kids

The second disc contains 26 tracks recorded for the BBC. A superb quality nine track In Concert recording is joined by studio sessions for Radio 1 DJ’s John Peel, Kid Jensen and Mike Read.

This next disc is a quite excellent collection of live tracks done for and on older radio shows and hearing all the tracks back now, well, each session is a delightful flashback of pure, unadulterated musical wonderment, that’s for sure.

CD 3: Rarities
1. Right To Work (Monitor Mix)
2. Government (Demo)
3. No Admission (Demo)
4. Curfew (Demo)
5. Twelve Men (Demo)
6. All The Downs (Demo)
7. Trouble Is The Day (Demo)
8. Your Toy (Demo)
9. Free The Fighters (Demo)
10. No Escape (Different Mix)
11. I’m On Fire (Remix)
12. Decide (Remix)

Live at the Music Machine 1978
13. Come On
14. Twelve Men
15. All Together Now
16. High Rise Living
17. Urban Kids
18. The Loner
19. No Flowers
20. Right To Work
21. Decide
22. Your Toy
23. Urban Kids (Encore)

Disc 3 is titled “Rarities” as it features 12 rare demos and monitor mixes alongside a show recorded at London’s legendary Music Machine in 1978.

Moreover, it also includes a brilliant live set entitled Live at the Music Machine 1978 where all the hits, and a few concert-only gems are emphatically, and devilishly enthusiastically brought forth.

CD 4: Evacuate
1. Evacuate
2. How Do You Know
3. Cover Up
4. Looks Right
5. Tribal Song
6. War Across The Nation
7. Forty People
8. Running Free
9. Last Drink
10. Only Thinking

Bonus Tracks: The Step-Forward Singles 1981-82
11. Rockin’ Horse
12. Years Away
13. Freemans
14. I.D. Parade
15. How Do You Know (7” Version)
16. New Era
17. War Across The Nation (7” Version)
18. High Rise Living (Remix)
19. Stand Out

The final disc is the 1982 ‘Evacuate’ album which is bolstered by the singles ‘Rockin’ Horse’, ‘Freemans’, ‘How Do You Know’, ‘War Across The Nation’ and ‘Stand Out’.

In my humble opinion, Evacuate is Chelsea’s finest moment. Guitarist Nic Austin wrote most of the songs that feature here with vocalist Gene October only constant among all the rage and paranoia on two singles: the titular Evacuate and the rousing War Across The Nation.

The title track, a single at the tail end of the previous year, and the pensively titled (but viciously incendiary) Only Thinking bookend the original album with all the savagery for which Chelsea’s live show was still renowned; in between times, Tribal Song and War Across the Nation detail October’s own ruminations on the state of things, decrying youth’s preoccupation with private cults and fashions, when it should be united once more in the spirit that made punk the first credible threat to the establishment since the initial years of rock & roll.

The section of The Step-Forward Singles 1981-82 opens with the thunderous Rockin’ Horse and the propulsive Years Away and then we get the early punk-tastic vibes of Freemans, the melodic rocker I.D. Parade, the pop-rock of How Do You Know (7” Version), the forceful New Era, one assumes the drug-fueled alt-rocker War Across The Nation (7” Version), rounding out on the foot-tapper High Rise Living (Remix), closing on the upbeat Stand Out.

The whole set is completed by a booklet packed with informative liner notes and pictures of all relevant record sleeves.

Vocalist Gene October still leads the band to this day and they are regular crowd pleasers at the main European Punk festivals.

Official 4CD Purchase Link