:: Various Artists - The Rock 'n' Roll Disease

Various Artists

New Rock, what a load of cobblers! It‘s enough to make you hate rock, which is what makes this timely release such a blessing. Over two adrenalin-charged CDs, The Rock 'n’ Roll Disease spits out gem after gem of classic rock from both past and present, absolutely none of which would get played on Melbourne radio station Gold 104. It covers the infamous originators The Stooges and MC5, through to the current crop of big-hitters enjoying the New Rock phenomena like The Datsuns and The Hives, not forgetting the man who started it all, Bo Diddley. Being an Australian release, homage is deservedly paid to the homegrown talents of Radio Birdman, Powder Monkeys, and The Saints. The list goes on. The spotlight is also shining on a slew of lesser-known rock-pigs such as the improbably-named Norwegians, Turbonegro, 60s garage-rockers The Swamp Rats (who?) and dirty soulsters, The Bellrays. This is a fantastic party album and, thanks to David Laing's snappily erudite annotation, it is also an education. Although why he saw fit to include Jet and pass over AC/DC is anyone's guess.