The Maniacs, as such, barely lasted 12 months before they split. But like many punk bands from the late 70's, they came, they saw, and conquered. This album collects together a few singles, demos and studio stuff. The main man behind this high-energy outfit was Alan Lee Shaw, who's later exploits were to be found in The Damned. The majority of the writing comes via him. On the photos of Shaw, he looks a little out of place with a flying V style axe, and black suit - but there's some pretty fine songs on here. The live songs show just what a bloody tight outfit this band were, I Ain't Gonna Be History is a superb example. And bear in mind there was only three of them on here, and their overall sound is very accomplished - again, a contradictory situation when compared to the media's overview of punk's one-chord wonder ethos. Chelsea 77 kicks off the album, their debut A side, and it's a continuing eye-opener right through to track 17. Shaw was a pretty neat guitarist - it's no wonder he did rather okay after The Maniacs split. Oh, and the sleeve notes are well written and informative - a certain Mike Richmond, who used to review for Modern Dance. Small world eh?