SORCERERS / MICE AND RATS IN THE LOFT

4.5 stars really!!!!

Although both JDDG albums have received Cd re-issue as had Comus, the latter had received a "complete works" double disc called Song To Comus, the former had just the two albums with hardly any more infos than what was on the original vinyl releases. This has changed recently as Cherry Tree (a subsidiary of Cherry Red and cousin of Esoteric label) issued this two disc anthology, with plenty of side infos and pictures, but sadly neglects both albums' artworks, which is indeed a shame in such a "definitive whole works" collection as the text pretends it to be in the opening liner notes.

I'm not going to spend time reviewing both albums as I've done these in their respective spaces, so please look these up to see how highly I think of these two slices of progressive folk rock. The bonus tracks tacked on at the end of the Loft disc are of some interest though, as both come from the Noy's Band, JDDG's leader next project that didn't go further than these tracks.. Indeed the first Love Potion No.9 is quite similar sonically (bar a slide-guitar or a lapsteel) to that fantastic second album, and it has the same kind of weird brilliance. The following Eldorado is certainly not as essential an addition as Potion, as it lacks that typical JDDG madness and features again the lapsteel, that gives the track a slight country feeling, but it doesn't harm the whole compilation. Aside the missing album artworks (big blunder), this 2=discs compilation would be the only Cd object you'd need about one of prog=folk best hidden gems, even if hopefully this set will change that last part.

Sometimes, albums like these are the only way to discover some of the true lost progressive rock classics of the 70's. It's how I got to customise myself with bands like Nucleus, Gnidrolog, Comus, and even the Soft Machine in certain cases. Most of these compilations are merely two albums for the price of one, but the hybrid double album of Jan Dukes de Grey's two albums from the 70's has a bit more. Following the dissolution of the band, ringleader Derek Noy tried to capture lightning once more with Noy's Band. Two average psychedelic rock numbers in ''Love Potion No. 9'' and ''Eldorado'' close out the two album set, and it's the last thing I know of that any JDdG band member released until this last decade.

Still, if you can't obtain anything of Jan Dukes de Grey, this is the album you've been waiting for.