Hard work was hardwired into
Dr. Feelgood's DNA. They never left the road, not even after the death of their lead singer
Lee Brilleaux in 1994. Nearly two decades after his demise, a lineup of
Dr. Feelgood containing no original members continues to grind out gigs across the United Kingdom, a testament to the band's take-no-prisoners aesthetic, even if their presence tends to obscure what made the
Feelgoods so special in the mid-'70s. It took Julien Temple's 2009 documentary Oil City Confidential to remind the world at large about
Dr. Feelgood's crucial place in history, how they turned pub rock into something tougher, harder, leaner, and meaner, something that paved the way for punk rock just a few years later. Oil City Confidential told the story, but it's
All Through the City (With Wilko 1974-1977) that provides the supporting evidence. A four-CD/one-DVD box chronicling everything that the original lineup of
Brilleaux, guitarist
Wilko Johnson, bassist
John B. Sparks, and drummer John "The Big Figure" Martin recorded during their four years together,
All Through the City contains all the vital music
Dr. Feelgood ever recorded. They'd make other good records -- 1978's Private Practice and its hit single "Milk & Alcohol," for instance -- but this is the music that made the band's legacy, and it still packs a wallop: this is intense, gritty, hard rock & roll, its love of old R&B tying it somewhat to the past but the vicious vigor of the performances still feeling modern. This lacerating energy is best felt on the live performances -- their hit album Stupidity and the television performances collected on the DVD -- but their first two LPs, Down by the Jetty and Malpractice contain much of the same nervy spirit, conveyed by
Wilko's slashing cubist guitar and
Brilleaux's growl. On the welcome disc of rarities that concludes this set, some of the thought behind the band's evolution is evident -- an early version of "Roxette" betrays some deep doo wop roots that the group defiantly shook off just a year later -- but that only strengthens the case for
Dr. Feelgood. They knew precisely how to trim away the fat, they knew what mattered: the hard angular riffs, the throttling rhythms, the sense of malicious malevolence that pervades even the love songs. All of that is showcased on
All Through the City, a box set that captures
Dr. Feelgood in all of their rage and glory. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine