Released in 1983, just afterPaul Weller disbanded the band at the peak of their popularity, Snap! was the first greatest-hits album from The Jam. At the original 29-track length and sequencing, Snap! is nothing short of a masterpiece, a record that briskly and bracingly tells the story of one of the great rock bands.

This isn’t just an introduction, it’s a narrative, tracing the rapid rise of The Jam from nervy, confrontational teenage punks to sharp modern pop purveyors to stylish soul-inflected rockers. Since this is a compilation, their growth is more dramatic and evident than on their individual albums, and since a lot of this growth happened on singles that didn’t reach the LPs — particularly the brilliant middle years, when Weller was spitting out classic singles like “Strange Town,” “When You