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There was once a time when punk rock wasnt so much about squeezing the most distortion out of a Marshall stack or how many beats per minute can be beat out of a poor, overworked snare drum, rather, it was about crafting an honest-to-goodness rebel sound.

Theres few bands left together that can boast roots that stretch back to punks earliest era - Mad Parade is one of them, and its finest moments from the 80s punk scene are gathered on this compilation. As the Californian punk scene made strides to separate itself from hardcore, Mad Parade laid out these early tracks and tempered its fury with a mid-tempo precision thats almost forgotten since punks early days. While Re-Issues collects a couple full lengths (Mad Parade and A Thousand Words) as well as a couple EPs (Right is Right and Second Chances), this album doesnt just dust off some old tracks: it shows just how powerful a band with its own sound can be, regardless of its lack of high-strung punk trickery.

About as classic as mid-80s punk can get, Mad Parade helped define an era, a fact this compilation showcases with nearly every track. Though the bands guitars hold the same sound as other bands of its era like Youth Brigade or Wasted Youth, Mad Parades music holds a slightly more aggravated tone to its music. Whether the band takes a ragged riff and pushes it across an upbeat, anthemic Praying for a New Day, or cranks out a frenzied rocker with Facing the Crowd, the quartet delivered a sound that wore punks street-smart roots proudly on its sleeve.

Mad Parade wasnt just another pack of angry punks, however. There was a genuine love for rocknroll inspiring the band, a love all too often absent from the arsenal of many a punk band. Full of guitar-centric riffs and in-the-rafters backing vocals, this album also shows Mad Parade could old-fashioned rock just as good as any British band. Songs like Hollywood Vampires, with its expansive backing tracks and horror-rock material and the slow and easy Laughing, which shows the band could pull off a heavier vibe when needed, bear a passing resemblance to the Damneds interplay of vocal and guitar melodies.

Though Mad Parade does throw some curves into its sound on this collection, Re-Issues does have a tendency toward redundancy. With more than 78 minutes of Mad Parade to dig through, this album somewhat outlasts its lifespan, simply by a matter of overexposure. While never completely overbearing, the bands songs lose some of their spice by the end of this album. As an alternative to several previous releases, however, this record does offer fans a ton of material for a cheap price.

- Matt Schild