File Under: Pop Rock Dynasty

Today we take Fat Wreck Chords for granted. It is hard to believe it has been in existence for twenty years. This three disc retrospective gives us an opportunity to see all that Fat has given us. I know Fat has its detractors, frankly, I don't understand that. For twenty years Fat has been putting out mostly pop edged punk rock and from what I understand, cutting a pretty good deal with the bands. In those twenty years many labels have sprung up, cheated bands and fallen away. Yet Fat stuck to Fat Mike's dream and became one of the most consistent labels out there. Anyway, whether you like it or not as you look at this three disc set, you realize that a lot of Fat songs have been the soundtrack to your life.

I suspect that most people reading this have a pretty good idea of what bands would be featured on this 78 song epic. Lagwagon, Tilt, No Use For a Name, Bracket, NOFX (of course) and a ton of other bands show up. The first disc is a greatest hits of sorts with 33 songs from as many bands.

The second disc is all demos from a wide arrange of bands. Some of these songs made the proper record in another form, others are heard here for the first time. This may be the best reason to buy this release, you will hear an interesting side to many of your favorite bands. The third disc is made up of 27 songs from the fabled Fat Club seven inches. So get off eBay boys, you can get all those songs here.

The packaging also includes a picture discography of all the releases Fat has put out along with a bunch of the bands talking about when they got signed to Fat. This gives you reason to actually go out and buy the CDs instead of downloading the songs.

Do you need this if you have this collection? I have many of them, but still am glad I have this, if only for the second and third disc.

- Dave Baker

Bonus Material:

Strung Out is one of my favorite Fat bands, so here ya go.