This 12-song compilation brings together three pivotal moments in Overkill’s career: its 1984 debut EP (tracks 9 to 12); a 1987 club appearance in Cleveland (tracks 2 to 6, originally issued on 1987’s !!!F**k You!!! EP); and, to close out its golden decade, two tracks from a 1990 appearance in New York (“E.vil N.ever D.ies” and a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Hole in the Sky”). The '80s were Overkill’s era, and these recordings catch the band in its young prime: ferocious but still rough around the edges. Overkill was a band deeply influenced by hardcore punk, a connection underscored by a cover of The Subhumans’ “F**k You.” The Subhumans’ original was a seminal piece of caustic punk, but Overkill’s is the definitive recording. The 1987 studio version that commences this collection should be required listening for any fan of loud rock music, whether it’s punk or metal or Little Richard. It's an expression of pure rebellion, delivered with the unmitigated force of a heavily armed military battalion.