TIME MACHINE: VERTIGO RETROSPECTIVE

If Harvest had been celebrated in the four disc retrospective in a Vinyl box format , three years later came out the much more compact (disc ;-)) Deram retrospective , when came the time to celebrate the famous Vertigo label , clearly , the choice was made to choose the same firm to package it than for the Deram set. I cannot wait for Virgin to do the same for Charisma , and other labels such as Neon , Chysalis & Dawn to happen also.

Of course , these objects are of interest for collectioners , but can serve of an introduction to many unknown artist , many of whom are still hard to find , some having never been released in Cd format or even re-released as a vinyl after the first few hundred copies were dispatched. The advantage of this box is that you will not have to dish out $$$ for vinyls you have never heard before. This was the casde for me for freedom , Ronno , Clear Blue Sky and Tudor Lodge. As opposed to the Deram set , I was much more familiar with the majority of the artist on this label, (although I never actively sought collector vinyls , most of those records were released in the early 90's on the Repertoire labels and I had heard most. But this allows me to tell you that the tracks selections of the artist on the given album is fairly representative of the music on it.

Even if for an older proghead such as me, this box-set was less of a surprise , this compilation is a must for younger generation fans as the Deram or the Harvest set. I will now follow Mr. Heath's advice and look out for Ars Longa Vita Brevis box-set.