DEFINITIVE COLLECTION

There have been many (too many) releases in the name of Andromeda over the years, all of which simply recycle the sole album and single they made, plus a few tracks which were left on the shelf.

In 2000, founder and band leader John DuCann decided to get involved in a project to come up with the "definitive" collection of pretty much everything the band recorded. He has therefore unearthed from his private collection a number of demos and live recordings not previously included on compilations. The original album naturally occupies pole position on the first disc, joined by the single "Go your way"/"Keep out 'cos I'm dying". The single is very much of its time, echoing the music of bands such as The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and The Move.

We then get a whole host of demos and alternate versions to complete disc one. These appear in the main to be pretty much the finished articles, although some fade in or out midway. One of the more interesting tracks in this category is "Return to Exodus", a guitar instrumental very much along the lines of Love Sculpture's "Sabre dance". The final track of this set is "See into the stars", a 7 minute blues rock jam, similar to the work of Welsh band Man.

On the second disc are 5 tracks recorded for John Peel's BBC radio programme around the time of the band's abortive effort to sign for his label in 1968. All but one of these tracks would subsequently appear in different form on the band's only album. In general terms, these versions actually sound better than the final product. "Return to sanity" for example is about 4 minutes shorter, and is thus far more focused. These are followed by two tracks recorded for the first album but left off due to lack of space. Of these "Ode to the sea" has an early Moody Blues feel and would perhaps have made a good single.

After a couple of tracks about which no information is given but which seem to simply be further demos, we find two tracks recorded even earlier in 1967. These are of historical interest only! Three live tracks are also added to the second disc. The quality of these recordings is to put it mildly awful, in fact they make your average audience bootleg sound like hi-fi. The most interesting of these is the 10 minute "Acidus", which turns out to be a lead guitar improvisation on a western theme.

The second disc is completed by the final track recorded by the band in 1970 "Step this way". There is though nothing particularly remarkable about the song which simply serves to confirm that the band had perhaps reached their destination.

The nature of the unreleased tracks is such that they sometimes appear to bear different names depending on the compilation they are on. "Ode to the sea" for example seems to be sometimes called "Ocean song". More worryingly though for a definitive collection is the inexcusable titling of "I can stop the sun" as "I can stop the song"!

In all, this is indeed the definitive collection for those interested in Andromeda. The band themselves however are frankly not particularly interesting, thus this collection is far from essential.

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