''In the Beginning There Was Rhythm'' is a 2002 compilation album compiled by Stuart Baker and Adrian Self and released by

Soul Jazz Records Soul Jazz Records is a British record label based in London. Outside of releasing records, the label also publishes books, occasionally films and performs as a DJ set. The music releases labels from a variety of genres, including reggae, house ...

. The album consists of

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

from the United Kingdom from the late 1970s to the early 1980s made in the United Kingdom.

Release

''In the Beginning There Was Rhythm'' was released by

on 28 January 2002. The album was released on compact disc and vinyl record.

Reception

From contemporary reviews, Andy Kellman of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

found that the album "does a spectacular job of combining the known with the not so known" and that the album showcased "post-punk's breadth, showcasing within the grooves, jabs, and rattling waves of static the style's influences (disco, funk, reggae, Krautrock, electronic experimentation) and the styles that the style influenced (indie rock, post-rock, almost every stripe of dance music that followed) at the same time." Kellman felt that "one might bemoan the exclusion of

Public Image Limited In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

, Associates,

the Normal The Normal is the recording artist name used by English music producer Daniel Miller, a film editor at the time, who is best known as the founder of the record label Mute Records. Background In 1977, Miller had split up with his girlfriend. A ...

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, or other bands crucial to the ideology, there's no denying that ''In the Beginning There Was Rhythm'' is a great gateway into this expansive, fruitful, trailblazing era." Chris Dahlen of

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praised the album stating that "Every track on this album cooks with the excitement of musicians trying new things." and "doesn't have a single limp tune" while stating "If there's anything's wrong with the disc, it's that it's too short; the story of post-punk could take up several box sets. The disc comes with 35 pages of liner notes, but the record itself doesn't tell a story or connect the songs. Many bands got left out, and it would also be interesting to hear how the bands developed-- for example, to watch the early Human League with its craptronic keyboards and all-guy line-up grow into the band that created the synth-pop masterpiece ''

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''." Garry Mulholland of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' gave the album a four-star rating, stating "to the ranting agit-prop commitment of Gang of Four and Pop Group. ''In the Beginning'' is essential missing-link history – and body-rockin' fun". In ''

Muzik ''Muzik'' was a British dance music magazine published by IPC Media from June 1995 to August 2003. ''Muzik'' was created by two former ''Melody Maker'' journalists, Push and Ben Turner. Push was the editor of ''Muzik'' from its launch until he ...

'', their reviewer "TM" gave the album a five out of five out of five rating, calling it "a choice selection ..from the fertile post-punk period" when "bands thought nothing of combining politics and philosophy with imported dance rhythms and edgy industrial angst." concluding the album was "Fantastic. Listen and learn." Matt Galloway listed the album as a "Critic's Pick" in ''

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Now ...

''. Galloway noted that tracks like "Knife Slits Water" and "She Is Beyond Good and Evil" were "Groundbreaking stuff" but "hasn't aged particularly well" while finding "Coup", "Sluggin' Fer Jesus" and "Being Boiled" were "More natural and still fresh-sounding".

Track listing

Track listing adapted from back of album sleeve and liner notes.

Credits

Track listing adapted from back of album sleeve and liner notes. * Stuart Baker – compiler, sleeve notes * Adrian Self – compiler *

Jon Savage Jon Savage (born Jonathan Malcolm Sage; 2 September 1953 in Paddington, London) is an English writer, broadcaster and music journalist, best known for his history of the Sex Pistols and punk music, ''England's Dreaming'', published in 1991. ...

– editing * Pete Reilly – mastering * Duncan Cowell – mastering * Sir Dan Flea – design * B.Uttocks – design * Pierce Smith – repro man * Angela Scott – licensing

References

Sources

* * * * * {{cite magazine, magazine=

, title=Compilations, author=TM, page=71, date=January 2002, issue=80 Post-punk compilation albums 2002 compilation albums Soul Jazz Records compilation albums