My first encounter with GBH (or Charged GBH as they seemed to be interchangeably known as) was when they appeared playing their 1982 single “Gimme Fire” on the roof of “The Tube” TV show. For a fifteen year old just starting to get into harder edged music it was almost an epiphany. Not only did they look cool as feck, Colin Abrahalls' mohawk was (and still is!) a sight to behold, but their brand of energised thrash punk connected on a purely visceral level. 

After I'd managed to track down the “Gimme Fire” single I was frustrated by the lack of any other available GBH product, either in the local record store or the stores in Newcastle, and promptly forgot all about them until after I'd discovered Metallica via their 2^nd album “Ride The Lightning”. In an interview promoting that album they actually cited GBH as a formative influence. My interest renewed I tracked down this compilation of the bands early singles and EP's and recharged  (pun intended!!) my enthusiasm for this more accessible form of thrash. There was no way, as a budding rhythm guitarist I could hope to play any of “Ride The Lightning”  but most of “The Clay Years” seemed within my reach, a situation that remains pretty much the same 20-odd years later.  

GBH tackled both humourous and serious themes in equal measure and dido so in a direct fashion in much the same way as the Ramones but without the pop sensibilities and with a little more muscle. Even so the likes of  “Generals” and “Diplomatic Immunity” have lyrical themes that still hold true today. Despite the fact “The Clay Years” holds up in its content its not the most comprehensive representation of GBH from the time, “The Punk Singles 81-84” compilation is much more exhaustive collection for example,  however these fourteen tracks perfectly capture the energy of the UK thrash punk scene of the time.  

When you consider that this scene was then to prove a catalyst for some of the thrash metal and crossover music coming  out of San Francisco and New York its importance cannot be understated. Allied to the fact that this shaped a lot of my listening for the coming years, I can heartily recommend GBH of the ears as a very good thing indeed.