Hail

As with a number of other 1980s Flying Nun releases, discographical confusion surrounds this title, with the original 1988 New Zealand vinyl release and the US release that same year on Rough Trade being notably different. The 1990 New Zealand CD provides the best overall option, presenting all the tracks from both the original Hail and the 1987 Life in One Chord EP in a blended order and excellently showcasing the band’s earliest years of dramatic but not overbearing rock on strong songs like “Dialling a Prayer,” “So Long Marianne” and “Grate.”