NOW Yearbook '79 and NOW Yearbook '79 EXTRA [2022]

NOW Yearbook 79, the premiere NOW Yearbook set from the Seventies, was released on September 9, 2022. The 85-song collection is the 11th set in the NOW Yearbook series.

NOW Yearbook 79 was issued in three fan-familiar formats, including a limited edition 48-track triple disc orange vinyl set along with 4CDs in either a premium book pack or an eight-panel card wallet. As has been the case with all the previous NOW Yearbooks (or NOW compilations in general), the songs are inconsistent both in volume and in their respective dynamic range. 

As I've had the pleasure to do with each of the NOW Yearbooks released up to this point in time, I auditioned NOW Yearbook 79 over the course of my daily work commutes. I really enjoyed most of the sequencing of each disc in this set with my best guess being a solid 30% unfamiliarity rate across the UK-based tracklisting. There are a lot of familiar disco tracks as well as many rock and new wave tracks that make NOW Yearbook 79 a very enjoyable listen. The lack of a consistent master volume amongst all tracks made little difference as I tend to turn up tracks I like or am unfamiliar with while turning down the tracks I really don't care for or skip them altogether.

The 12th installment of the NOW Yearbook series appeared in my mailbox just before Halloween 2022. The 67-track NOW Yearbook 79 EXTRA was released on October 21, 2022, and like all the Yearbook Extras that preceded it, it is a 3CD set in a six-panel card wallet.

We skipped a step in our usual review process this time around and paired NOW Yearbook 79 EXTRA with Paul English's always enlightening Now Yearbook Extra Plus 79 playlist before listening. This combined 112-song playlist features more than a few unfamiliar songs (the discolicious Sparks track, which I recall only hearing a few times prior, inspired a thoroughly rewarding exploration of the duo's complete discography) and a whole mess of well-loved favorites I had first heard back in 1979.

We are now(!) halfway through the NOW Yearbook series. What's next? We've already covered the 13th volume. Number 14 surprised everyone. We'll feature it soon. Probably

NOW Yearbook Series

01    NOW Yearbook '83 [2021]
02    NOW Yearbook '84 [2021]
03    NOW Yearbook '83 EXTRA [2021]
04    NOW Yearbook '84 EXTRA [2022]
05    NOW Yearbook '82 [2022]
06    NOW Yearbook '82 EXTRA [2022]

07    NOW Yearbook '81 [2022]

08    NOW Yearbook '81 EXTRA [2022]

09    NOW Yearbook '80 [2022]

10    NOW Yearbook '80 EXTRA [2022]

11    NOW Yearbook '79 [2022]

12    NOW Yearbook '79 EXTRA [2022]
13    NOW Yearbook '85 [2022]