20 Odd Years- chosen as one of the Albums Of The Year 1999 by Record Collector Magazine and the Robert Elms Show on BBC London Live 94.9.

In the Press: extracts from the reviews for 20 Odd Years:

"Punk Gunslinger, mod soul boy, the hip kids' Sinatra and, just maybe, Greatest Living Englishman, Vic Godard is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. This double-CD compilation shows the full extent of Godard's gift.The Subway Sect's 1978 single 'Ambition' is nervy Rock 'n' Roll spray-painted with sophisticated soul. They then played on their backs at an Yves St. Laurent party in Paris and no-one could touch them. During his career, Godard shunned monotony and bandwagon-jumping in favour of innovation. He merged Northern Soul with firebrand guitars, post-war swing with big band; he did it first and this is your chance to hear it done best. In terms of blazing creativity and purity of intent, Godard's only contemporary rival was Kevin Rowland. Godard's latter-day material, however, burns brightly and confirms his status as one of the greats."
- Ben Clancy, Melody Maker (UK)

"Vic Godard finally gets the compilation he deserves; a 2-CD 45-track trawl through some of the most wilfully eclectic and melodic back pages of the post-punk era. Tantalising glimpses of the shelved 1978 Sect LP reveal how much of a loss that great band's demise was."
-Steve Ripon, Mojo (UK)

"Combining a ferocious oppositional stance with twitchy neurotic power and attritional monotone dirges, Godard's songs captured the spirit of the [punk era] as well as their more celebrated peers. Though the singles, 'Ambition' and 'Nobody's Scared', were instantly revered, their first album was never released (Rhodes sacked the band). [Tracks] released here for the first time confirm Godard's seminal power.
- Gavin Martin, Uncut (UK)

"Vic Godard is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy"
- Ben Clancy, Melody Maker, October '99.

TRACKLIST:

cd1
1: Nobody's Scared.
2: Parallel Lines.
3: Chain Smoking.
4: No Love Now.
5: Exit - No Return.
6: Ambition.
7: Rock and Roll Even.
8: Birth and Death.
9: Stool Pigeon.
10: Enclave.
11: Empty Shell.
12: Split Up the Money.
13: Vertical Integration.
14: Same Mistakes.
15: Malicious Love.
16: Imbalance.
17: Nullify My Reputation.
18: Johnny Thunders.
19: Keep Our Chains.

Bonus tracks:
20: Outrageous Things.
21: Place We Used to Live.
22: Ambition.
23: We Oppose All Rock 'n' Roll/Sister Ray (live at California Ballroom, Dunstable).

20 Odd Years - 44 tracks and over 2 1/2 hours long- spans the years from 1977 to the present day. It features Vic's personal choice of the finest tracks from his entire catalogue, along with rare and demo versions of songs old and new. Also, for the first time, there are four tracks from the legendary 'lost' 1977 punk album (six if you include the songs that were released- Ambition and Rock And Roll Even). To round off the collection there are newly recorded songs, including Wayward Biro and Nasty Man plus at long last a finished version of 'The Place We Used To Live', co-written by the late Mathew Ashman.
All the tracks have been digitally remastered, by Motion's own 'Doctor of Music', Mike Coe- meaning that the sound quality is improved pretty much across the board. The 'lost album' versions of 'Parallel Lines', 'Chain Smoking', 'Exit No Return' and 'Ambition', have only previously been heard sounding pretty rough on Overground's 'We Oppose All Rock 'n' Roll' and 'Ambition' CDs. The tracks from 'What's the Matter Boy' have also been extensively rennovated - did you know that the tinniness of the original album is a result of Bernie Rhodes speeding up the tapes and losing most of the bass on the way? The remastered versions are at the correct speed and have the bottom-end restored.

This album is available through normal retail outlets and from Motion Online Shopping

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Audio Samples from the album:
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