The first eponymous titled 999 went down well and caught the rising tide of pop/rock punk and capitalised on the their live act and frequent touring.

Separates caught them and and so many other bands at a point where they wanted to diversify.

Originally to be called Emergency then then they finally arrived at...999! A Superb debut full of snappy spiky well crafted punkyish tunes including Emergency, No Pity and Me & My Desire. A mixture of tempos, ideas and full of commercial promise. The band on the front of what has to be one of the classic punk album covers was a riot of colour and also featured that most unpunk of instruments ... a piano.

"With the piano shot we thought we'd like to do something that would go against the grain a  bit. Other people would sit at it with nice lighting and that's why we chose to lay in it and get our feet all over it...Its nice to have an art thing as well, there's no reason why you can't have it both ways, every record is in a cover so you may a well use it to its best advantage. We had the reception for our album in an art gallery..." Jeremy Gluck Sounds 1.4.78

"There's power in these grooves and I'm still astonished at a record which not only captures the whole essential energy of the new wave but also threatens to be well received in every corner of the rock market." Kim Davis NME 11.3.78

Perhaps in an effort to get a hit Martin Rushent (Stranglers and Buzzcocks producer) was brought in and the sound is definitely more polished.