Rating: 4/5
Review:
Some great, some OK, some terrible
This compilation is excellent in many ways. It’s terrific value,
the notes are very good indeed and the compilers have dug out some
real obscurities along with some better-known and in some cases very
famous bands performing more out-of-the-way material. Musically, the
quality is very mixed, though.
The thing is, I was
there. I was aged 13 to 19 during this period and music was a big
part of my life. Some of this is very familiar to me, some I’d
never heard before and there is both great stuff and tracks whose
obscurity is thoroughly well deserved. Just the opening of Disc 1
epitomises the collection: Come Join My Orchestra is a nice but
rather average track, Honeybus, Clifford T. Ward and The Strawbs
contribute interesting and enjoyable songs, The Freedom’s The
Better Side is another decent but unmemorable song and then there’s
the dreadful Acorn Street by Michael Blount and Toast utterly
destroying a very beautiful Paul Simon song...and so on. This
mixture of the great, the OK and the terrible persists throughout the
80 tracks here. Others’ taste will differ from mine, of course, so
you may disagree over individual tracks, but I expect most listeners
will find a mixture of stuff they like and stuff they really don’t.
The collection is
pretty representative of some aspects of the period (there are
certainly plenty of harpsichords, strings and flutes) and there is
stuff here that you’re unlikely to find anywhere else. Personally,
I’d be happy if I hadn’t found some of these tracks here either,
but there’s also plenty to like and at this price it’s well worth
it for the good stuff. Recommended.
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