Great news! FLEX Book 4 is now available. I received the limited preorder hardcover edition a few days ago and have been browsing through it whenever I have a few minutes to spare. You may be familiar with previous editions of the book. It has received excellent reviews in the past and this edition is even better.
It comes in 2 volumes and has:
- more than 10,000 records listed and reviewed, many for the first time
- extensive coverage of punk, hardcore, powerpop, synth, new wave records from 1975 - 1985
- details with song titles, pressing info, band location, reissues, etc
- 7,000 new reviews; many previous reviews updated and rewritten
- sleeve scans
So far I am quite impressed by the coverage of obscure and rather unknown releases. There are many Canadian records that I was surprised to see included. I'm not especially knowledgeable on US obscurities so I expect this book to be helpful in the future when it comes to getting more info on the latest eBay "previously unknown punk/powerpop/KBD/synth punk killer". One of the reviews I happened to read sums it up rather nicely: "It's OK and I'd pick this up from the 99 cent bin, but certainly not for the three-figure amounts that have been paid on eBay.". I could say that about a lot of US records from the 1975 - 85 period.
If you are at all interested in US records of this era this is a must have.
