Violent Femmes (20th Anniversary Edition)

For their deluxe, two-disc reissue of the Violent Femmes' classic first album, Rhino pulled out all the stops, not only remastering the album and offering extensive liner notes, but adding a full 26 bonus tracks. Of these, 22 are previously unreleased — the ones that have appeared before are demos and rare U.K. singles, plus a song previously released as a flexidisc in Alternative Press. The rest is a cornucopia of rarities: three songs that never were recorded in the studio ("How Do You Say Goodbye," "In Style," "Her Television"), live cuts from the early '80s (including versions of songs that would pop up on later studio albums), demos, even early interviews. Sure, this is stuff that is primarily of interest to collectors, but the great thing about this release is that this rare material is equally enjoyable for fans who just love the first album, not everything the Femmes did — it proves that the brilliance of the debut was no fluke, and these songs are as captivating on stage and in demo form as they are on record. One of the best deluxe reissues of 2002, all told.