Record Rack

** Mighty Mighty Bosstones, “Live From the Middle East,” Mercury. Middle East being a Boston club hosting these punk-ska mutants. “Live” emphasizes just how many of the Bosstones’ tunes are several songs in one, switching rapidly from Slayer-like hard-core metal to ska rhythms to the poppier side of Chicago. It also emphasizes that Dickie Barrett, celebrating all things Boston to the point of obnoxiousness here, sure can’t sing. Not Fishbone, but not bad.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.