Rhino vs. Easy Action vs. Revenge vs. Bomp

Revenge Records

The GOOD - The first label to show The Stooges some serious overdue posthumous appreciation was the French label Revenge Records
                   beginning in the 1980's with a series of CDs and the first ever Stooges box set Night Of Destruction. These included
                   previously unheard songs such as "Wet My Bed" and "She Creatures Of The Hollywood Hills". Many other labels including
                   Bomp and Easy Action have copied Revenge's stuff over the years and much of their output has never been bettered in
                   terms of quality.

The BAD   -  The Stooge listening experience on Revenge was a generally lo-fi affair with the vast majority of the material sourced from
                  cassette tapes, albeit low generation ones. The Stooges rehearsal tapes reportedly came from Ron Asheton's personal stash.

The UGLY  -  I realize English was not their first language but giving an unreleased Stooges song the title of "My Girl Hates My Heroin"
                  was a bit idiotic. Fortunately when Bomp later came out with some alternate versions of the song they gave it the much
                  better title  "Wild Love".

My RANKING - #4

Rhino Records

The GOOD - Stooge fans had grown so accustomed to only getting unreleased material from the Raw
                 Power era that getting anything from the Elektra era had started to seem like a pipe
                 dream. But the dream became reality in the late 1990's with the release of The Complete
                 Funhouse Sessions box set which included previously unreleased songs. While one could
                 argue that this set didn't really improve upon the original album, the same could not be
                 said of the deluxe edition of The Stooges which followed. This featured full length versions
                 of "No Fun" and "Anne", the smoking extended instrumental sections of which gave new
                 insight into the original band as the extended part of "Anne" was reportedly the lost 1968
                 song " The Dance Of  Romance".

The BAD - Serious quality control issues. Both the John Cale mixes on The Stooges deluxe as well as
               the live set "Have some fun: Live At Unganos" were issued at the wrong speed.

The UGLY - A lot of Stooge fans felt duped when both the Complete Funhouse Sessions as well as
               Have Some Fun: Live At Unganos, both billed as limited edition, were both later re-
               released.

MY RANKING #3

BOMP Records

The GOOD - With BOMP's Stooges series The Iguana Chronicles there were no snazzy box sets. There
                  weren't even any unreleased songs (at least to my recollection). What there was was a
                  steady meat n' potatoes diet of rare and unreleased studio outtakes, rehearsal sessions
                  and live material that never disappointed. The great thing about The Iquana Chronicles
                  was its sheer regularity. For about a ten year period fans could look forward to a new
                  release every year. The Iguana Chronicles ended abruptly in the new century with the
                  last release Wild Love in 2001. Stooge fan Henry Rollins has reportedly taken control of
                  the Bomp tapes though it is unclear what of quality there is left to release.

The BAD -   Between the laughably ridiculous claim of material being from master tapes (Open Up
                  And Bleed CD), to the overdubbed audience applause (California Bleeding CD) that fooled
                  nobody to the inexplicably deleted Iggy stage banter (Double Danger CD)  it is clear
                  Bomp didn't always make the wisest decisions.

The UGLY -  According to legend when James Williamson went to cash the check he received from
                 Bomp for the stash of Stooges tapes he delivered , the check bounced. Maybe its just a
                 myth or maybe it was rectified but the story has persisted.

My RANKING - #2

Easy Action Records

The GOOD  - While the aforementioned labels were all devoted exclusively to either the Columbia
                  or Elektra era Stooges, Easy Action Records shattered those constraints with releases
                  spanning the years 1970 - 1974, and including all major lineups. Not one, not two, but
                  three great box sets ... and more still to come? I don't know but they are the only of the
                  4 labels still putting out Stooges material.

The BAD - EA can seem a bit disorganized at times. When the Heavy Liquid box set was first
               announced in 2005 it had ever evolving content though I prefer the content they eventually
               settled on. Some minor snafus on the last release Theatre Of Cruelty.

The UGLY - The late Natalie Schlossman was a bit miffed when EA plucked the tape she donated from
                the Popped set and put it out as the stand alone release A Thousand Lights CD. But I'm
                sure it was just a misunderstanding and that it was rectified to everyone's satisfaction.

My RANKING - #1