According to the liner notes, the ten tracks on this compilation of 1976-1984 material contain "elements of the disco and uptempo R&B of the '70s, and hints at the evolution of house, techno and hip hop that would succeed it." That's a reasonable approximation of the territory this CD covers, though the strength with which the cuts point to the future vary pretty widely. Some of the songs are in fact pretty close to standard late-'70s - , and are not especially impressive within that genre. Yet others are quite adventurous early-'80s moves into early and -tinged music, and aren't all that easy to come by. Example: the 1980 track by , who had been featured on 's 1979 recording which was cut even before 's This follow-up, on which he was backed by , was 's only other appearance on vinyl, though the subject matter (roller discos) is certainly less impressive than the ahead-of-its-time delivery. is also heard on the 1983 effort a strangely drawling with thick mechanized beats and synth scrapes. is perhaps the edgiest slice of sound here, with its ominously echoed chanting, awkwardly guttural , and stuttering riff. Leaning yet more heavily on the electronics is 's tough hybrid (decorated by weird distorted voices, though its lyric comparing giving love to playing a video game is far from profound), and where wicka-wicka-type scratching also comes into play. Not everyone who's into this stuff will like all of the music on this disc, but it does offer off-the-beaten tracks from a transitional era that's under-documented by various-artists anthologies. ~ Richie Unterberger