I find that this 1978 sampler from Columbia Records is a mixed bag - five great tracks, four that range from "decent" to "pretty good", and one "meh".It opens with "Rat Trap" from the Boomtown Rats, a solid yet quirky slice of late-Seventies punk, and the "decent-pretty good" track on this compilation that comes closest to being great. Next up is the Bliss Band's "Slipaway", a fantastic track that, in a fair and just world, woulda been a bigger hit. Ditto the Jan Park Band's cover of Melanie's "Runnin' After Love (Making it Easy This Time)". Then the disc hits a slump with Dane Donohue's song "Casablanca", in which the only real memorable things are a pretty catchy chorus and a nice ending guitar solo. Side A closes with a live version of "Rock 'n' Roll the Place" by Eddie Money, and it's not a bad track, but really I'd rather they have put the studio take on here.The record bounces back on Side B with Jules and the Polar Bears' "You Just Don't Wanna Know", another scorcher complete with tight guitars, quirky vocals from Jules Shear, and some great horn work. Unfortunately, it's followed by Phoebe Snow's cover of Paul McCartney's "Every Night", a middling track that tries to redeem itself with nice guitar work, but ultimately falls flat. Fortunately, Flint saves things with their fun cover of the Supremes' "Back in My Arms Again". The second-last track is Valerie Carter doing Andy Fairweather-Low's "Da Doo Rendezvous", and Valerie delivers it greatly. Closing things out is "Constant Love" from David (James) Holster, a number that surprised me with its reggae overtones.All in all, it's a good snapshot of just what was going down at Columbia Records in the late Seventies that mostly slipped by the majority of music buyers' radars.