Penis Envy, number three in the revisited double CD Crassical Collection is a double CD presentation containing the 2009 remastered original Crass album on CD1 and, on CD2, additional related tracks mastered in 2018 at Abbey Road Studios and largely featuring Eve Libertine in a variety of guises, plus a fold-out poster of the original cover and an illustrated booklet containing lyrics and contextual notes.
Penis Envy, released in 1981, was the third LP by Crass. Eve Libertine takes the lead vocals throughout the album (the one exception being de Vivre's turn on the unnerving portrayal of hospitals and waiting for death, Health Surface). A powerful and challenging record, Penis Envy uses the brutal, cruel description of sexism and rape on the opening track, Bata Motel, as a launching point for a comprehensive rip through societal control and repression throughout. Smart enough to target everything from the mechanics and business of selling romance (Smother Love) to gender stereotyping (Systematic Death) and back again, lyrically the sharpest cut is toward those who choose to accept such a system rather than reacting back against it.
Released 02/10/20