Showing an admirable restraint considering their era's glut of unnecessary best-of collections, Social Distortion waited nearly three decades to release their first, and in true punk-rock form, they keep it at a brief 11 tracks and include only the best. GREATEST HITS is a lean affair as career retrospectives go, so hardcore fans may be a little let down by the lack of deep cuts or rarities included. For new or casual fans, there is no better place to start for this radio-friendly punk institution.

With only two cuts from their first record--"Mommy's Little Monster" and "Another State of Mind"--the band seems to be downplaying their roots in punk ferocity and concentrating more on their middle period when they ably absorbed combined rockabilly and country sensibilities. "Story of My Life" and "Ball & Chain" are both included from their self-titled 1990 LP, as is "Ring of Fire," a So-Cal punk reading of the Johnny Cash classic that pits the band as his heir. It is Ness's charisma and world-weary baritone that manage to find comfort in simple melodies despite life's ravages. Even on the later output--such as the post-alternative explosion misstep WHITE LIGHT, WHITE HEAT, WHITE TRASH and SEX, LOVE AND ROCK 'N' ROLL--their first release after the death of their original guitarist, Dennis Danell--Ness's voice cuts through the sometimes tired by-the-numbers barrage, simultaneously rattling and soothing the listener's ear. GREATEST HITS includes the best of these moments when Ness's intense vocal timbre and gifts as a storyteller intersect.

It's a bit startling to realize that Social Distortion will be celebrating their 30th anniversary in 2008 (with the 25th anniversary of their first LP happening the same year), especially since in the mid-'80s it seemed an open question if Mike Ness would live out the decade, let alone keep making records in the 21st century. Given that they've outlasted so many of their peers on the Orange County punk scene, it's fitting that Social Distortion should get the "career spanning anthology" treatment, and while Greatest Hits only contains 11 songs, it does manage to feature representative cuts from all the band's studio albums up to 2004's Sex, Love and Rock 'n' Roll. Starting with the SoCal sneer of "Mommy's Little Monster" and "Another State of Mind," the band moves onto deeper and more roots oriented material with "Prison Bound," and starts to hit their stride with three tracks from their self-titled 1990 set, "Story of My Life," "Ball and Chain" and "Ring of Fire." Ever since, Ness and his bandmates have shown a knack for finding heart, soul and genuine emotional weight in their tales of life along L.A.'s margins, and this disc coheres as well as any of the group's albums to date, and shows why they still matter to their fans -- they've always stayed true to their sound and their ideals, and the new track that closes out this disc, "Far Behind," demonstrates that hasn't changed. Greatest Hits could stand to be longer, but as a summary of Social Distortion's career and what they do best, it does the job with flying colors and never wears out its welcome. Who knows, in 25 years, they may have a second volume ready for fans. ~ Mark Deming