New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Nearly five decades and more than 40 million record sales into the band's chart-topping and world-conquering career, Blondie's debut archival collection has earned a nomination for Best Historical Album at the 2023 GRAMMY Awards. The recognition for Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982, released via UMe and The Numero Group, honors the herculean and collaborative efforts of Blondie's Debbie Harry, Chris Stein, Clem Burke, Gary Valentine, Jimmy Destri, Frank Infante and Nigel Harrison, alongside box set producers Tommy Manzi, Steve Rosenthal and Ken Shipley, with mastering engineer Michael Graves and restoration engineer Tom Camuso, who for the past six years have resurrected and assembled "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).
Explore Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982, watch the unboxing of the 17-lb Super
Deluxe Edition, and see
Debbie Harry discuss the collection with
Jimmy Fallon in a recent appearance on The
Tonight Show
In addition to all six of the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers and two-time Grammy nominees' initial studio albums (Blondie, Plastic Letters, Parallel Lines, Eat To The Beat, Autoamerican, The Hunter), remastered from the original analog tapes and cut at Abbey Road Studios, Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982'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, it "perfectly captures the band's legacy" (Pitchfork, Best New Reissue).
Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982 marks the twelfth GRAMMY nomination for The Numero Group, and the most in-depth physical release the label has manifested throughout its nearly twenty-year history. Available in four different formats - a Super
Deluxe Edition with 10 LPs, 1x7" and 1x10" 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- Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982 is also accompanied by hundreds of pages of liner notes, dozens of previously unpublished photos, and an illustrated discography with hundreds more pics sleeves, 45 labels, international sleeve variants, flexis, cassettes, and even 8-tracks.
Praise For Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982:
"The boxed set 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" - New York Times
"The most comprehensive recounting yet of the band's classic releases, and offers a compelling argument for Blondie's premier status" - Vogue
"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
"[Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982] makes the case for their singular presence in American music...perfectly captures the band's legacy" - Pitchfork, Best New Reissue
"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" - Top40-Charts.com
"Blondie opens vaults for a hefty box set celebrating cool" - Associated Press
"Mind-blowing…the fan's Holy Grail of archival songs" - Salon
"It's such a joy to have this extensive and deep of a box set...a timely, teachable moment" - NPR Music
"A textbook example of how to do justice to a band's legacy" - Paste
"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
"Blondie fearlessly traversed genres and influences to create an ever-evolving sound and establish themselves as vanguards in the early punk and new wave days...this work has been immortalized in the all-encompassing box set" - AV Club
"NY punk's most dazzling supernova gets overdue consummate box set" - Classic Rock, 9/10
"A historical juggernaut documenting the first eight years of CBGB's most successful export. This collection documents the band's sonic evolution as it happened" - SPIN
"If any pop group's discography deserves a lavish release like Against the Odds it's Blondie" - PopMatters, 10/10
"Mind-boggling expansive set covering the original era of new wave's coolest crew… It really does redefine what can be achieved in the world of catalogue repackaging" - Record Collector, ★★★★
