Today, nearly five decades and more than 40 million record sales into their chart-topping and world-conquering career, Blondie have released their very first authorized, archival collection. Out now on UMe and The Numero Group, Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982“makes an argument for Blondie’s greatness, both musical and visual,” says The New York Times. “It’s the definitive account of a sound, attitude, look, and aesthetic that proved inspirational to generations of artists across a spectrum of genres.”
In addition to all six of the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers’ initial studio albums (Blondie, Plastic Letters, Parallel Lines, Eat To The Beat, Autoamerican, The Hunter), which have been remastered from the original analog tapes and cut at Abbey Road Studios, the box set’s 124 tracks feature 36 previously unissued recordings. From remnants of their first-ever basement session and bedroom demos, to rare outtakes, sketches of an abandoned album with Giorgio Moroder, covers of The Doors and Johnny Cash, the full evolution of “Heart of Glass” and so much more, Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982 “chronicles the warp speed by which Blondie transformed from a fledgling punk band into a global phenomenon” (Vogue).
Available in four different formats – including a Super Deluxe Edition with 10 LPs, 1×7” and 1×10″ in Red, White, and Black vinyl, plus Deluxe 4LP, 8CD and 3CD configurations – Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982 is also accompanied by hundreds of pages of liner notes, dozens of previously unpublished photos, and an illustrated discography with hundreds more pics sleeves, 45 labels, international sleeve variants, flexis, cassettes, and even 8-tracks. Between track by track commentary from all seven of the original band members, an exacting oral history written by Erin Osmon, and essays from producers Mike Chapman, Richard Gottehrer, and Ken Shipley, the box set delivers everything a fan has likely ever wanted to know about Blondie: how they pushed punk onto the dance floor, introduced a wider audience to hip-hop sounds, and turned from timely to timeless.
In the eight years documented on Against The Odds, Blondie produced a catalog of enduring hits that have since become a vital strand of American music’s DNA, but as this goldmine of a collection proves, “they’re still ahead of their time” (Rolling Stone).
Six years in the making, Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982 is also the most in-depth physical release that The Numero Group has manifested throughout its nearly twenty-year, Grammy-nominated history. Watch the unboxing for the Super Deluxe Edition here.
Praise For Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982
“The boxed set — the first authorized by the band — makes an argument for Blondie’s greatness, both musical and visual…it’s the definitive account of a sound, attitude, look, and aesthetic that proved inspirational to generations of artists across a spectrum of genres”
The New York Times
“The band’s brisk initial run of studio albums is accompanied by recordings both obscure and heretofore unearthed…the early sketches map out the stylistic maze the band would navigate; the beloved albums hitch youthful ardor and intellectual ambition to beats with world-conquering panache”
The New Yorker
“The most comprehensive recounting yet of the band’s classic releases, and offers a compelling argument for Blondie’s premier status…the soundtrack of a city and a culture that was taking its first steps beyond the traditions of rock music and into the future of the multimedia age”
Vogue
“Blondie were New York punk’s pop masters. They’re still ahead of their time”
Rolling Stone
“A portrait of a band that successfully transitioned from the downtown punk rock scene to international stardom”
Newsweek
“The bonus material proves just as revelatory as the remastered albums, as Against The Odds doubles as a shadow history of the city’s creative heyday”
Uncut, 9/10
“No group combined the rebellious, enterprising ambition of the punk movement with the grand and performative nature of major pop superstardom…Against the Odds tells that story beautifully”
PopMatters, 10/10
“Those original albums and, especially, the big hits are so familiar that they can seem set in stone, but when they’re paired with these raw, unheard recordings, the group’s nervy, arty spirit is resurrected, so it’s possible to once again understand what made Blondie such a striking, special band at their peak”
AllMusic, 4.5 Stars