Despite what anyone would have you believe, rock 'n' roll, and even punk rock has always been concerned with esthetics.

If something is ugly, it's ugly with a purpose.

Time, the new two-disc set from '70s punk icon/poet Richard Hell, is indeed ugly, but thankfully the reason isn't anything as manipulative as to tweak nostalgic memories of the dirty early days of New York's burgeoning CBGB scene in light of the recent passing of Joey Ramone or even the forthcoming Hall of Fame induction of the Ramones and Talking Heads.

The warts and hiss and distortion and muffled sound and general poor quality that afflicts many of the tracks on the album are simply part of the unavoidable and forgivable annoyances when presenting some of the most influential music to come out of that place and that period in time.

Disc one contains, for the most part, studio material previously only available on the cassette-only R.I.P. compilation, and features tracks Hell recorded with the Heartbreakers - the band that also included former New York Dolls Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan - and his other band the Voidoids.

Songs range from the fabulous Love Comes In Spurts to the punchy I'm Your Man, the slow and mournful Betrayal Takes Two, the later sax-helped tracks The Hunter Was Drowned and I Been Sleepin' On It, and there's even a studio recording of Chinese Rocks. This was, Hell explains in the liner notes, given to him in a partially completed form by Dee Dee Ramone because the Ramones didn't want to do a heroin song - they, of course, later did record it and took it as their own.

The quality on the discs ranges from the full and crystal clear to the thin, tinny and raw, but rarely does it get in the way of enjoying the material.

The sound of the all-live second disc - most is from a headlining concert Hell and the Voidoids recorded in London during an 1977 opening tour for The Clash, the other part is a New York benefit show a few months later - is across-the-board poor, yet still, both sets are extremely cool to hear as an historical document, as well as examples of rock in its rawest form.

Hell considers the London show one of their most aggressive performances ever - thanks to his drug use, the New York vs. London punk attitude, and his general displeasure with the U.K. tour - and that comes across in the show.

It's also fun to hear Sex Pistol singer Johnny Rotten, who took in the show that night, goading the audience into bringing Hell and his band back for an encore - a ripping version of the Stones' Ventilator Blues.

Despite having been recorded from the soundboard for a radio show, the CBGB show is also pretty crude, but valuable for the version of The Kid With the Replaceable Head, and Elvis Costello joining the band onstage to sing You Gotta Lose.

Track Listing DISC ONE