THE ESSENTIAL ATOMIC ROOSTER

This compilation bears a highly misleading title, unless you agree with the compilers that an "Essential" collection of Atomic Rooster songs could exclude the likes of "Tomorrow night", "Devil's answer" and "Death walks behind you". All the tracks here are taken from the band's latter days in 1972 and 1973. By this time, John DuCann and Carl Palmer had long since moved on, and the band had signed up with Pye's progressive arm, Dawn records.

The tracks here are therefore all taken from the albums "Made in England" and "Nice'n'greasy". With a total of 16 tracks, this release probably contains all the music from those albums you could need, including virtually the whole of "N&G". Also included is "Moods", which was only released as the B side of the single "Can't find a reason". This soft piano piece and the A side (which is the only track on the "Nice'n'greasy" album not included here) were credited to Crane/Farlowe on the single.

By this time, Vincent Crane's love of all things soul and funk was steering the band away from their prog roots into territory occupied by the likes of James Brown and the Temptations. When he got a completely new line up together to record the two source albums (the guitarist would change for the second), he brought in singer Chris Farlowe. Crane then wrote with Farlowe's voice and style in mind, resulting in a completely new Atomic Rooster, one which many fans would find alien.

In fairness, the two albums covered here are proficient and well made. They are not recommended to fans of the band's earlier works who do not know what to expect from their later releases. Given their rarity, this compilations offers a cost effective way for the inquisitive to obtain them more or less intact.

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