Nuggets scarcely sold any copies upon release in 1972, but within a few years, the LP became a touchstone for punk rock bands in search of roots and also inspired similarly formatted reissues of obscure rock tracks. Critic and future Patti Smith guitarist, Lenny Kaye, couldn’t have guessed any of this when he compiled this collection of psychedelia only a few years after the ’60s slid into the ’70s. The scope of music and attitude on Nuggets was enormous, from the gauzy-love-bead haze of The Electric Prunes to the rough swagger of The Standells, as well as The Knickerbockers’ Beatles knock-off to Count Five’s rave-up meltdown. Most tracks had a sinuous, no-flab toughness appealing to first generation punks and were marvelous examples of the power that could be compressed into a three-minute song. This new reissue of the original Nuggets is, for the first time, a standalone CD.
