Discharge's first reissued album, Why, has been reviewed twice on this site. Now, Why is a very good album, and set the standard for this, Discharge's first "full-length" full-length, Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing, but, in my opinion it's not really deserving of a nine or ten. And, yes, I know what score I gave this, and I'll admit that I have a Discharge t-shirt, and a Hear Nothing… patch safety-pinned to my zipper hoody, but I think that this album really is deserving of the hype.

For anyone who hasn't heard Discharge, the first thing to note is that every single song sounds exactly the same. It's a very simple pattern, and despite the fact that it doesn't allow for much creativity, the "D-beat" style has been one of the most hugely influential in punk rock. There are hundreds, if not thousands of bands that have good-naturedly ripped off Discharge's sound. None of Discharge's other recordings really gel the way this one does. Earlier on, in the Why years, the guitar sound was too weak, and the song pattern hadn't really been set. Later, Never Again merely tries to recapture the power of Hear. Discharge's later work was too close to hair metal for most punk fans tastes, and their recent comeback album didn't really do it for me.

This, however, is the jackpot. Heavy metallic riffs, not-too-wanky solos, and short, to-the-point lyrics yelled right into the listener's ear. The songs are interchangeable, but the single song on this album is good enough to justify being repeated 13 times. This reissue also tacks on a bunch of singles, which essentially overlaps with the reissue of Never Again, which really pissed me off. The CD comes with a short set of half-assed liner notes, and the jewel case comes in a little cardboard sleeve, whose only purpose is to get ripped up whenever you put it back on your shelf. Still, it's an excellent buy, and completely worth your money.