SUPERNATURAL FAIRY TALES - THE PROGRESSIVE ROCK ERA

Probably one of the most ambitious prog anthologies ever made: 5 cd's and even a Roger Dean cover art. It's quite difficult to spot well-known bands that are missing here. Pink Floyd had to be omitted for some copyright problems - and oh, where's Camel?? Jethro Tull?? ... Well, at least this will most likely give new delights to almost any prog fan, whatever subgenre (s)he prefers.

For me, there were many interesting discoveries or bands I had been waiting to hear, e.g. NEKTAR (from Remember the Future); some French and Italian prog - all too unheard by me before -; 'Under the Sky by PETER SINFIELD; fantastic 'Lothlorien' by ARGENT; an amusing SUPERSISTER song 'Radio'; enjoyable 'Let's Eat' by HATFIELD & The NORTH; very charming 'Dear Little Mother' by Danish SAVAGE ROSE (an arty band featuring a unique lady singer - could be included to PA); and a mindblowing 'Sunrise' by ARTHUR BROWN & KINGDOM COME. Some new names weren't up to my taste, such as PRETTY THINGS, MAGMA, HENRY COW or FAUST, but on the other hand it's good that they have a very wide picture of prog rock. I also appreciate not-so-obvious inclusions like WISHBONE ASH, MOODY BLUES (these two should be more obvious as they tend to be), KLAUS SCHULZE, Swedish SAMLA MAMMAS MANNA or Finnish WIGWAM.

However, the way the 5 cd's are filled, has some irritating things. 1) Why no as long cd's as possible? 2) Why two tracks by YES, GENESIS, STRAWBS, ROXY MUSIC and - aaargh - ELP? And those pairs aren't even giving two different sides of the bands, as it could have been. A waste of minutes that could be used more usefully. The whole compilation would easily fit in 4 cd's by omitting only some unnecessary 2nd tracks. 3) Some tracks have become cliches: NICE's 'America', RARE BIRDS' 'Sympathy' - as if it was the only good song they wrote. ELO is represented by horrible 8-minute 'Roll Over Beethoven'. 4) Also the package itself could have been made more handy, instead of taking awful lot of space. But a compilation this big is never perfect to anyone's opinion. Musically I give 4 stars, for the overall package 3 stars.