The Last Resort are oi! legends from Herne Bay, Kent, who took their name from the famous East London skinhead shop, and A Way Of Life – Skinhead Anthems<\/em> is their debut album, originally released in early 1982.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It spent three months in the Top 10 of the then-influential Independent Charts, and has remained enduringly popular thanks to the fact it’s been reissued umpteen times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A major influence on the hardcore and punk scenes, The Last Resort have seen their songs covered by the likes of Madball, Sick Of It All and Death Threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like contemporaries such as Cockney Rejects, The 4-Skins and The Business, most of their songs are about being proud of who they are\/where they’re from, football and fighting. By today’s standards one or two songs sound a little dated and even suspiciously xenophobic, but it was made in different times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n About half the album still features in the setlist of the revived The Last Resort line-up which exists to this today; stonewall oi! classics like Skinheads In Sta-Press<\/em>, Rebels With A Cause<\/em>, King Of The Jungle<\/em>, Violence In Our Minds<\/em> and Resort Boot Boys<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So what makes this reissue different to previous ones then? Well, it’s the most comprehensive round-up of recordings by the original incarnations of the band yet, adding 13 bonus tracks to round up everything they did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It adds all three tracks from their debut, the rough and ready and ultra-rare Violence In Our Minds<\/em> cassette single (Held Hostage<\/em> being the standout for me), plus four songs from the Garry Bushell-curated early ’80s Oi! albums <\/em>(the best being Strength Thru Oi <\/em>standout Johnny Barden<\/em> and Working Class Kids<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n There’s a handful of demos, including an early version called Stormtroopers In Sta-Press<\/em> (wisely changed to Skinheads<\/em>, to avoid being tarred with the ‘far-right’ brush).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most previous reissues have included some of these extras, but not all. However, I’m not sure any have featured Wicked Women<\/em>, from the 1982 compilation United Skins<\/em>. It was credited to The Warriors, which was, confusingly, the name used for a while by The Last Resort before they split up, though it’s now a separate band fronted by original TLR vocalist Saxby!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Complete with its iconic original cover and featuring lyrics to all the songs, this finally appears to be the definitive collection of early recordings by The Last Resort. 7.5\/10.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nBonus tracks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n