NIRVANA

Nirvana's 1971 release, "Local Anaesthetic," is a departure from their typical sound, displaying a remarkable progression in their musical exploration. With just two tracks, "Modus Operandi (Method of Work)" and "Home," both of epic proportions, the album takes listeners on a journey through uncharted musical territories for the band.

The album's complex and entrancing soundscapes reflect the band's creativity here and their eagerness to break new ground. "Modus Operandi" is an experimental sonic voyage consisting of an array of influences, while 'Home' encapsulates more of what Nirvana is known for, it takes their signature style into a lengthy multi-section epic.

"Local Anaesthetic" remains an underappreciated gem in the band's catalog, and one can't help but wonder what might have been had Nirvana continued to explore this progressive path. It's a testament to their versatility and a unique chapter in their musical legacy.

NIRVANA (U.K) were around long before the Seattle grunge rockers of the same name first emerged onto the music scene in the late 1980's. A dispute over the use of the name "Nirvana", led to the American band settling out of court in the early 1990's. The British Nirvana were formed in swinging London back in 1965. Their first album of Proto-Prog "The Story of Simon Simopath" was released in 1967, and their second album - released in 1968 - deserves a place in the annals of rock history for having probably the longest album title of all time. Here it is in its entirety:- "The Existence of Chance Is Everything and Nothing Whilst the Greatest Achievement Is the Living of Life and So Say ALL OF US". Wow! That's quite a mouthful! The long- winded album title is not easy to remember at the best of times, so for the sake of brevity, the title is usually shortened to "All of Us". The album contained Nirvana's best-known song: "Rainbow Chaser". Three further albums followed:- "To Markus III (Aka: Black Flower)" (1969), "Local Anaesthetic" (1971) and "Songs of Love and Praise" (1972). Nirvana were led by Patrick Campbell-Lyons's, who released his first solo album "Me and My Friend" in 1973. Nirvana had one more album up their sleeve with the release of "Orange and Blue" in 1996, a collection of unreleased material from their earlier years. It's time now to delve into the mysterious world of Simon Simopath and find out what's the story, morning glory.

We're taking off and flying on the "Wings of Love" for our opening number. This delightful and unashamedly twee-sounding Pop tune could only have come from England in the late-1960's. The story concerns our hero schoolboy, Simon Simopath, who dreams of sprouting wings so he can fly away - just like Peter Pan - and escape being bullied at school. He later suffers a mental breakdown in adulthood and ends up in a lunatic asylum, but escapes after getting aboard a rocket and meeting a centaur and a goddess who take care of him in a place called Pentecost Hotel, where they presumably live happily ever after in a state of heavenly bliss and spiritual Nirvana. Yes, the Story of Simon Simopath really IS that wacky, and yes, you've guessed it, it's a proggy concept album before prog-rock or concept albums had even been invented. Simon Simopath is just a lonely boy at heart, and "Lonely Boy" is the title of the second song where all he wants to do is cry. The mournful lyrics might tell a sad tale, but the music is bright and uplifting as it romps merrily along on a wave of joyous hope and exuberance. There's a rousing chorus too in this lively Pop song, so it's not all doom and gloom, despite the lyrics. There's a healthy burst of optimism on the way with "We Can Help You", a bright and sparkling burst of golden Sunshine Pop which sounds as quaint and quintessentially English as a thatched cottage in the Cotswolds, or a game of croquet served with tea and crumpets on an English summer lawn. We have lift-off, because next up is the bizarrely-titled "Satellite Jockey", the most commercially appealing song on the album, which could potentially have gone into orbit and risen up into the Top 10 of the Hit Parade, back in the days when the chart placings still mattered to Pop pickers. Space: the final frontier. We're "In the Courtyard of the Stars" now for this out-of-this-world 1960's sci-fi Pop hokum. It's Proto-Prog, Jim, but not as we know it. This is a lovely jazzy Pop tune that's light years away from classic 1970's Prog-Rock.

Our silly but charming story continues with "You Are Just the One", another pleasant Psych-Pop diversion in an album full of sparkling good Pop tunes, and there's a gorgeous Baroque Pop song on the way with "Pentecost Hotel", a magnificently ornate grand hotel featuring a lush string symphony. We're getting all romantic now with "I Never Had a Dream Like This Before", a lilting piano ballad with rich orchestration, where Simon Simopath dreams of being carried away to distant parts of the universe, or failing that, watching the latest episode of Star Trek. Beam me up another great Pop song, Scotty! There's the sound of wedding bells in the air for "Take This Hand", as Simon Simopath prepares for his betrothal to his loved one, so it looks like we're headed for a happy ending to our story with this gentle Folk Pop refrain. There's a complete change of musical style for the final uplifting song "Nirvana", which sounds like a good old-fashioned knees-up in a pub. It's a Dixie-land-jazz-style number, featuring a honky-tonk piano and with the singer sounding in a merry and jubilant mood, which indeed he would be if he just got hitched to his romantic love interest. All's well that ends well in the weird and wonderful world of wacky 1960's concept albums.

This cheerfully zany slice of sixties sci-fi hokum is a Psych-Pop album that's in another universe altogether from Prog-Rock, and it's barely even Proto-Prog, but if you're in the mood for some jolly good English Pop tunes from the Beatles' era, then "The Story of Simon Simopath" might just be the album for you. The twee music is joyful and exuberant with a bright message of hope for the future, but if you hope to attain a state of spiritual Nirvana from listening to this album, then it's best to look elsewhere - back to the future of the proggy 1970's perhaps.

So, here it is. A review concerning the infamous "Local aenesthetic" by Nirvana. It seems most people are put off by the fact or notion that it doesn't sound like Nirvana used to. Well, that may be true. I am really not too familiar with Nirvana, merely a casual listener of yesteryear. Nice enough but that's it. Anyway, since I have an interest in albums generally regarded as inferior I always feel the urge to examine it, discover it's secrets and lay bare a plethora of hidden gems and artefacts. In some cases it all comes out in glory and I hear angelic bursts of trumpets but sometimes (quite often) I find the same barren wasteland as others already have done. In the case of Nirvana I dare say I have struck gold and I am truly happy for it.

I will not go into detail regarding the line-up on this album or why things are that way. I will simply draw a conclusion, based on my own wild imagination, that Campbell-Lyons listened to and picked up the wind of progressive rock and let his ship fill it's sail with that wind and enter a new realm of musical plenty. 1971 was a year when alot of progressive plants already had been planted, so I assume he had been listening to the likes of King Crimson and Genesis. Now I am not saying that the music on "Local aenesthetic" is anything like the albums by just now mentioned counterparts but it belongs to the same species, and that is progressive music. When reading about the album one gets the feeling of a man collapsing under the weight of his own lofty ambitions and musical legacy, only to crash to the ground like a burning aeroplane. I do, actually, beg to differ and here is why.

Consisting of only two long tracks the album stretches out for 35 minutes and it is 35 wonderful minutes. The music is not at all as sophisticated, as elegant or as tightly arranged as the music of Genesis or Gentle Giant and not nearly as complex. It holds a much more raw, rough edged and loosely played quality. The two tracks, or suites, are based around more or less simple melodies tied together into a whole.

"Modus operandi" opens up with something truly unique for this album, a cacophony of sounds and screams that are quite avantgarde. Soon follows a boogie section (which I by now grown accustomed to) but soon settles into a more enjoyable blues-rock fashion. The whole things develop into a hard rocking affair where the tension is mounting. It is a wonderful composition that holds a jamming sensation where improvisation takes the center stage, though contained inside a delightful groove. There's a psychedelic section aswell, which only proves a well known point: the ingredients of prog are many and diverse.

"Home", the second track, starts off with bass and percussion before a beautiful melody enters and soft, trembling vocals comes in. To me it's irresistable. Simply gorgeous. The sound is somewhat Kinks-ish, only slightly rougher. The track is yet again a builder with denser and denser instrumentation. It really rocks quite hard and intensively. It ends, after more melodious and beutiful melodies, with blues-rock and a slight return to the initial melody. Fantastic track.

I suppose that if you're into the meticulous arrangements and delicate harmonies of Nirvana pre-"Local aenesthetic" you may be in for quite a shock. The music bears little resemblance to those albums prior to this one. What you get is a raw, rough sounding piece of early progressive rock where psych, blues, hard rock, jazz and (a slight presence of) avant-garde. I.e. everything you might expect from progressive rock during the very early formative years of existence. I just love it. Sure, it consists of fairly simple melodies and the intricacy of other more complex bands is not there but what you get is really a blueprint for progressive rock where a visionary approach to music breaks the chains and heads into unknown territory. I feel very little for Nirvana as a whole but in this instance I cannot do anything else than to bow down and stick both thumbs up in the air in awe and admiration. A terrific album from start to finish that might need a couple of spins to really appreciate but then again, isn't that the true nature of prog?

4 stars from me.

This very charming album is one of the first concept/story albums around, predating the greats like THE WHO's "Tommy" by two years. The album is pretty tight regarding the story and not some loosely concept flowing about. In 10 short songs we hear the story of Simon who is bored of his work behind the computer, wishes to fly and find love. While it starts of just a bit dreamy but realistic, the story does get well, psychedelic for the lack of terms. It is very easy to follow and no one should have trouble grasping the lyrics, I think vocals Patrick Campbell are very enjoyable. The songs themselves are nice psychedelic pop and I think the comparison to BEATLES of Sgt.Pepper era isn't far behind. Not really progressive but nice little record (around 25 minutes), recommended to fans of 60's pop.

Nirvana is not the only the Grunge band of Kurt Cobain, but, between 60's and 70's a British band who could have become very popular but, for various reasons, failed to become a success band but that becomes a cult band. Nirvana was the band of Patrick campbell-lyons and Alex Spyropulos, two songwriters who decided to form a band that we could now define a mix betwwen The Beatles ("Revolver"/ "Rubber Soul" style), The Moody Blues, Procol Harum with echoes of Aphrodite's Child (pre "666") and the POP side of The Kinks. At the time the mix that I described was wanted by the labels and the Island do not let them get away, throwing them as their response to Procol Harum. Reflecting a little on this fact that I recognize that Island was sincere. Yet today rereading the style of Nirvana and Nirvana Procol Harum I find that Nirvana have produced a music aged best. Probably because most POP, most romantic and without fthe fixing patterns of R&B. Honestly Nirvana sound based less on keyboards (present, present) because the use of orchestral arrangements and a relaxing atmosphere, almost Folk, make the most intriguing the music of Nirvana. This discussion is not to say that Nirvana is better of Procol Harum because in reality both bands have produced excellent music.

"Forever Changing; An Introduction To Nirvana" is a good compilation based on 1967/ 1968 production for Island plus two songs, one from 1986 (From 1967/ 1968 and previously unreleased?) and one from 2003 (previously unreleased?). "Forever Changing" is a good introduction to Nirvana and his Baroque POP/ Progressive with good songs ("Pentecoste Hotel", "The Touchables (All Of Us)", "Rainbow Chaser", "Girl In The Park", "In Courtyard Of The Stars", "Take This Hand" and "Melanie Blue" of all, for me) and in my vision a great introduction to Nirvana if you do not own anything of this band.

Nirvana's third album pretty much spelled the end for the band, although co-founder Patrick Campbell-Lyons would keep the name alive with a series of solo recordings and the occasional reunion/tour, some of them including original member Alex Spyropoulos and even early live tour cellist Sylvia Schuster. The album was originally recorded for Island Records' Chris Blackwell and had the working title 'Black Flower', but Blackwell rejected the project as too derivative and declined to release it. The duo secured funding, reportedly from a family member of Spyropoulos, and issued a limited run titled 'Dedicated to Markos III' on the Pye Records label in 1970, which may have been intended only as a promo. There was also an Americas release on Metromedia Records around the same time. This is the same label that was an experiment on music promotion by the MetroMedia communications conglomerate. The label never managed to properly promote any of their acts including the Bay area Latin prog band Gypsy, psych band the Astral Projection, and a latter lineup of the folk revival icons Holy Modal Rounders. The only act they did manage to succeed with was the pop icon Bobby Sherman. The label folded not long after their Nirvana release and that album as well had only a limited run and is pretty much impossible to find today.

Several reissues have been published since the early nineties under a variety of titles including 'Black Flower', 'Dedicated to Markos III' and simply 'To Markos III'. The recordings for each are pretty much the same except that a couple of CD reissues include two bonus tracks, 'Shine' and 'Pentacost Hotel', one of the better known Nirvana singles that first appeared on 'The Story of Simon Simopath' and later in a slightly different version on the Campbell-Lyons solo Nirvana release 'Songs of Love & Praise'.

This is a cohesive album of sorts, with most of the tracks centering on themes of love, love lost, and yearning. One exception is the West Coast pop-psych sounding 'Christopher Lucifer' which was supposedly written in response to Chris Blackwell's refusal to release the album.

Most of these songs are glorified pop with occasional light psych leanings in the harmonizing vocals and guitar work, and more importantly some solid orchestral arrangements on songs like the opening 'The World is Cold Without You', a particularly lush 'Aline Cherie' and the mellow-jazz track 'Love Suite' with layers of horns to augment classical string arrangements, lilting piano and female backing vocals.

In total this isn't as consistent as the band's first two records, and possibly Blackwell was right not to release it at the time considering shifting musical tastes toward more pretentious progressive artists and 'cosmic' country rock that was being promoted by the Island label on the eve of the 70s. But today one has to wonder why someone didn't have the foresight to capitalize on the band's name and their penchant for complex pop-psych that was certainly at least comparable to similar works by the Beatles, ELO and even the Beach Boys circa the same period. Surely with some decent promotion some of these songs would have made decent singles and the album as a whole would have moved a respectable number of copies. Too bad, but for those who are interested in the band I'll rate this a solid three star effort that is worth finding, especially if you are a collector of obscure, semi-legendary albums from this period.

peace

I've written before that most of the Nirvana (UK) CD reissues and probably at least one of the band's reunions wouldn't have happened without the success Kurt Cobain and Nirvana (US) and the resulting lawsuit filed on behalf of Patrick Campbell-Lyons since his use of the name predated Cobain's by twenty years.

I only mention this because it's the best explanation for this collection of outtakes, b-sides, demo cuts and other rarities, compiled and released in 1995 in the shadow of Cobain's funeral. I'm pretty sure the planning for the record began prior to Cobain's death so I'm not suggesting Campbell-Lyons was trying to capitalize on the media attention surrounding that (which would have been a particularly egregious plan); but that said, I'm sure Edsel's representatives realized that they could move quite a few copies by getting them out into distribution and letting confusion work to their advantage. It's telling that all Nirvana (UK) compilation CDs and DVDs except this one feature photos of Campbell-Lyons and early work partner Alex Spyropoulos, and their artwork clearly place the music in the late sixties. This one has a sort of futuristic cover depicting a theme that few serious Nirvana (UK) fans would have associated with the band's body of work.

All that aside, the music should speak for itself regardless of how and why it got released. Here again, I can't get particularly enthusiastic. Almost none of these songs appear anywhere else in the band's discography, so anyone looking for a convenient hits package or even an anthology will be quite disappointed. About the only recognizable track is "Rainbow Chaser", a peppy pop-pych number trimmed with brass accompaniment that gained the band some fame when it first released in the late sixties. Otherwise many of these songs are either early promos or demo tracks that never made it onto studio releases when they were first recorded, several of which came from the latter days of the band after Spyropoulos left and Campbell-Lyons became pretty much a solo act.

But this doesn't mean the CD has no redeeming value. In fact, turns out the most interesting parts are the snippets of spoken-word narration Campbell-Lyons tells about certain music-industry people he has known, using them to preface related songs. "Bad Boy" prefaced by "Indiscreet Harlequin" tells of the rise and fall of Island Records A&R man Guy Stevens, best known for producing Traffic, Mott the Hoople and the Clash. "Dali" explains Campbell-Lyons' relationship with the artist Salvador Dali and is followed by the fractured love story tune "Jacqueline" which I assume was written around the same time as the band's interaction with Dali. And "Rio de Janeiro" describes a concert and collaboration between Nirvana and reggae star Jimmy Cliff on the eve of Cliff's big break, leading into "Waterfall" which features lead vocals by Cliff.

Not everything works well. "Radio UFO" is a rather sloppy mushpile of electronic sounds, dance rhythm and unoriginal guitar work that doesn't sound like anything that would belong on an album by this or any other Nirvana band. "Electric Money" is pure pop, almost glam- inspired and complete with Motown-like female backing vocals and a vapid theme covering the evils of money. Sounds more like something Sweet or Paper Lace or one of those sorts of groups would have put out. And "Tiny Goddess" sounds all the world like an early Cars demo with Ric Ocasek behind the mic.

But there are a few keepers as well, including a cover of "Girl in the Park" by an obscure mid-sixties pop-psych outfit known as The Smoke and whose only album was titled 'It's Smoke Time' (not very subtle but at least the rolling papers weren't included in the liner notes). "Pascale" is another decent song that showcases Campbell-Lyons' ability to sound very much like a young Roy Orbison when he felt like doing so. "Restless Wind" features vocals by Joe Fagin who I've never heard of, but his voice combined with call- response choral accompaniment give an otherwise pedestrian Campbell-Lyons tune a bit of a lift out of the hippie days and at least into the 80s.

The closing "Girl From Roxyville" is the strangest of all on this album, sounding very much like an 80s new-wave crooner and possibly intended to hint at future work from the Nirvana camp that never really came to fruition.

In all I think this was probably an exploitive album that would never have been released had it not been for Nirvana (US), but I do really like the real-life stories introducing a handful of the songs, and there are a few decent tunes otherwise. Still, this is clearly a compilation that will appeal (at best) only to fans of the band, so I can't give it more than two stars or more than a tepid recommendation. Pick up 1992's 'Travelling on a Cloud' for a better example of the band's best work compiled into a single hits collection.

peace

I think this album got a bad rap when it was first released, and hasn't fared much better over the years. Granted, it isn't the same band that delivered a trio of solid mellow acid folk albums in the late sixties as a trio of Patrick Campbell-Lyons, Alex Spyropoulos and Sylvia Schuster (Schuster leaving before the second album was completed but returning to appear on this one). And the sounds here are much closer to glossy pop with Donavon and Beach Boys-like undertones that also owe a heavy debt to the Beatles.

But that's okay in my mind, especially since the band as it was originally known became no more after Spyropoulos departed not long after the 70s began. What else was Campbell- Lyons supposed to do? No band, plenty of original tunes at his disposal, studio savvy, and no shortage of musical and record business connections. It would frankly have been more of a shame had he hung it up and focused solely on producing other people's music.

'Songs of Love & Praise' represents the last of an era for Nirvana, and really the first Campbell-Lyons solo record, although like I said he did have Schuster back to provide strings and backing vocals to solid effect. There are a couple of recognizable early songs as well, with mixed results. "Rainbow Chaser" is probably the best-known Nirvana song, and the rendition here is decent enough but a bit too studio-glossed for my tastes. "Pentecost Hotel" on the other hand from 'The Story of Simon Simopath' is as good or better than the original and benefits from choral backing and more pronounced piano without losing any of its mellow trippy magic.

The rest of these songs are also pretty good, and though some have panned the sometimes over-the-top string arrangements I personally find them to be soothing and pleasant when they are employed, beginning with "Please Believe Me" and the "It's Too Late" Carole King piano ripoff from her megalithic 1971 album 'Tapestry'. "Lord up Above" also emphasizes strings with some soaring cello to augment the delicate piano and guitar work along with Schuster's harmonic backing.

Campbell-Lyons does manage to throw in at least some vestiges of the band's acid folk days with a Dylan-like vocal performance set to hand percussion, strident jazzy piano and a funky bass line on "She's Lost It" and again on the brief "Nova Sketch". He also throws in some trippy fuzzed guitar on "I Need Your Love Tonight" that falls just this side of pop but manages to recall the best of his early guitar work. And "Will There Be Me" is a clear blend of late-sixties West Coast pop and poetic post-beat glib prose. Reminds me of bands like The Comfortable Chair and Blossom Toes.

The producers pull out all the stops on the lengthy "Stadium" with smooth tempo shifts, plenty of strings that give way to improvisational jazz piano, horns, and crisp percussion as well as an extended instrumentation bridge to a hazy and somewhat abstract, swirling crescendo. Fans of the more ethereal Klaatu and Alan Parsons work will appreciate this one.

The CD reissue includes "On the Road", a bonus track that apparently dates to the late sixties with carefree lyrics of endless summer set to a distinct pop folk groove. Randy California would have approved (and maybe he did).

While this is certainly not the most progressive album from a band that was not the most progressive to begin with, it is a solid and enjoyable collection of tunes that are all worth spinning a few times for those who enjoy tastefully arranged compositions that have noticeable connections to the heyday of acid folk. I can't quite go to four stars but don't have any problem rating this as a very high three star record, and would recommend it to most any acid folk, folk rock or late sixties hippie pop music fans.

peace

Here's an odd addition to the Nirvana legacy courtesy of founding member Patrick Campbell-Lyons. This was originally released in 1973 as a solo album featuring several friends and studio musicians, but was reissued in 2001 as a Nirvana (UK) CD in the wake of a renewed interest in the band. This was partially a result of an earlier temporary reunion of Campbell-Lyons and original member Alex Spyropoulos, but in all honesty was probably just as much a byproduct of lingering confusion between this band and the much more well-known grunge group Nirvana (US) following the sensational death of Kurt Cobain. Nirvana (UK) had even succumbed to the temptation of capitalizing on their second 15 minutes of fame by recording an acid folk version of Cobain's "Lithium" on their 'Orange and Blue' collection shortly after Cobain's passing.

Campbell-Lyons put together this collection of original songs during a hiatus of island living off the coast of Spain in the early seventies, and following the dissolution of the original Nirvana lineup. The themes are mostly about relationships and experiences during this period, including the poppish acid folk ditty "Friends" in tribute to several acquaintances he made during this time; "Look Out For Cassius Clay" for John Conteh, a boxer he befriended while in Spain; and the organ-laden "Mother England" on which he put a poem of the late Dominic Behan by the same name to music.

The mood on these tracks is decidedly more upbeat and light-hearted than the last couple of Nirvana albums, and the arrangements are considerably closer to pop than most of the stuff he Campbell-Lyons and Spyropoulos recorded together. But at the same time there isn't nearly as much going on musically as there was on those records either, not surprising considering acid folk was rather passé by the mid-seventies and anyone from that period with hopes of still getting records released needed to move much closer to the center of the musical spectrum.

Campbell-Lyons shopped these tracks to Capitol and British labels, eventually getting a nod from the fledgling Sovereign Records. Unfortunately for him, the label folding shortly after this release leading to a quick deletion of the album from any active catalog or distribution vehicle.

I can't get too excited about this record or any of its songs. They are decent pop tunes with remnants of the acid folk days in the slightly hippy feel of the vocals and eclectic percussion, but this is Nirvana in name only and my overall impression is one of mild nostalgia and slight disappointment. "Jesus Christ Junior" is a bit of a throwback to the first Nirvana record, and "On the Road" recalls the acid folk heyday with its loose guitar strumming and carefree lyrics, but that's about it.

The original vinyl is impossible to find, but that's just as well since the CD reissue includes 7 of the 9 tracks from the last legitimate Nirvana album "Songs of Love & Praise" so at least it's a bargain. This is a little better than a collectors-only record but not by much. But a little anyway, so three out of five stars feels right and slightly recommended if you are (or were) a Nirvana fan.

peace

This is a pretty funny album. Not that the music is intentionally humorous, but more in how it came to be. Nirvana (UK) gets into a legal tussle with Nirvana (US) over rights to the band name, which ended up being settled without too much ado. As a result of the fame of Nirvana (US) and suicide of Kurt Cobain, Nirvana (UK) enjoyed a mild resurgence of interest in their music, almost by proxy. The original duo of Patrick Campbell-Lyons and Alex Spyropoulos had actually reunited in 1985 after a fourteen year hiatus and a couple years before Nirvana (US) were even a band. In the end the unexpected and tangential publicity led Edsel Records to release this collection of rarities and outtakes from early Nirvana (UK) sessions. The band even threw in a cover of the seminal Nirvana (US) hit single “Lithium”, although it admittedly is almost unrecognizable after being given an acoustic acid-folk treatment. Still holds up pretty well though.

It’s also interesting that the album title and first two songs are all veiled drug references, “Orange and Blue” a pop-psych number with trippy guitars, keyboards and helium-laced backing vocals; while “Lithium” of course is a song Cobain always insisted referred to religion as an opiate rather than the mind-numbing bi-polar drug treatment itself. Who really knows for sure?

The rest of the album is rather ant-climatic for most folks. Old fans of the band who managed to get their hands on a copy of this CD were probably interested to hear some of the stuff that was left on the cutting-room floor more than twenty years prior. Several of these tracks have been remixed, while others seem to have been included almost untouched from their original versions. “As Long As I Can See You” for example is a decent remix and is basically a mostly acoustic Donovan-sounding pop-psych tune; while “My Little Red Book” sounds like it may have been originally mono and was simply split across stereo tracks and otherwise left alone.

None of these songs stand out really, but as an historical collection the CD is worth checking out by fans of the band as well as anyone who wants to hear some rather rare and pretty tasty string arrangements from the late sixties (on “The Face at the Window” in particular). Overall this is really not much more than a collector’s piece, but I have to say that with the exception of “My Little Red Book” it’s at least as consistent as the band’s first couple of original albums and the production is better thanks to modern technology, so I’ll err on the side of positive and stick three stars on this one. If you are really interested in this band start with their first, second and fourth albums; this should be reserved for serious fans and those who have already explored the rest of the discography.

peace