SEDUCING DOWN THE DOOR

"Almost" I say, because SEDUCING DOWN THE DOOR was very thoughtfully put together, and it includes representative tracks from all major albums Cale released during this period, including a few that are very hard to find on CD.

Thus, listeners can enjoy themselves with such obvious highlights from Cale's career as "Amsterdam", "A Child's Christmas in Wales", "Fear is A Man's Best Friend", "Thoughtless Kind" and "Cordoba": songs which are easily on the same level as anything ever written by John Lennon, Neil Young, Nick Drake, Randy Newman or that OTHER guy from a well-known New York Band Sponsored By Andy Warhol. There are acoustic ballads, orchestral ballads and there's plenty of near-psychotic rock 'n' roll: a little of everything, really!

Nevertheless, a few of the choices seem perverse. "Buffalo Ballet" and "Ship of Fools" would have been far more suitable selections from FEAR than the dreary, eight-minute "Gun", and surely the haunting "Cable Hogue" (off HELEN OF TROY) far more deserved to be here than minor tracks such as "Dirty Ass Rock 'n Roll" or "Pablo Picasso".

So if you're already familiar with John Cale and like his style, but you don't own any of his albums, I suggest you go straight for FEAR or MUSIC FOR A NEW SOCIETY, and take it from there.

However, if you simply adore anthologies, and you want one that has been compiled with a great deal of respect for the artist concerned, you can't go wrong with the album under review.