Search - Family :: Old Songs New Songs

OLD SONGS NEW SONGS

Stuart Jefferson | San Diego,Ca | 03/13/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A total of five discs(the 5th is a bonus in the first 1,000 sets) each 39,60,63,58,71(bonus disc) minutes approximately.



Family were seemingly on the edge of "making it" during their heyday,except in the U.S. where they enjoyed a small but rabid following. The vocals were for most,an acquired taste,the songs were seemingly difficult to "get into",but the guitar work was always good if not sometimes ferocious. They were looked upon in their time as a cult band-which was a death knell for the band. I still feel that the best way to find out about this band is through their first few albums. Saying that,this set is pretty fine.



The first disc is made up of versions of some of their songs that have never been available on cd. The track listing follows the album (with the same title as this box set) that this group released in the late sixties/early seventies. As always with this band,the more you listen the more you hear. The track "Observations From A Hill" is a perfect example. The wavering vocals set into the British combination of r&b and psychedelia is a fine track,but for the uninitiated,it takes a bit of getting used to. The arrangements and the instrumentation used on Family albums was a combination of the usual rock band instruments and sometimes something unexpected-which gave this group it's identity.



The second disc has three unreleased demos(tracks 1,6,8) and three live tracks(9,12,14) among a sampling of their music. People familiar with this group will have their favorites on this ,and the other discs in this set. The demos have a bit of tape hiss when played at volume,or with good headphones,but it's not really objectionable.



The third disc also has three live tracks(11,12,15) with the rest being selections from their original albums. As I said,Family is best enjoyed with their individual albums for maximum impact,but this a good sampling of what they could do.



The fourth disc,with four live tracks(3,8,11,12) is a continuation of the "Family story" and follows the same path as the previous discs. It's too bad that the song titles aren't listed under this set on Amazon-that would go a long way in helping everyone(especially fans) know just what is here. Suffice to say this is a good addition to their original albums.



The bonus disc is made up of unreleased demos(tracks 1-5) with the remaining six tracks being live recordings unreleased from 1970 in Germany. The sound is a bit rough on these tracks,to the extent that there is a disclaimer about them not being of releasable quality. But they go on to say that any true Family fan would want these sides,but they decided not to include them in the set proper. There is certainly music of worth here,but the decision to release this as a bonus disc is the right one. That said,there is a lot of great slamming rock and roll on this disc,and the quality issues fall to the wayside somewhat because of the music's intensity. But I must warn listeners that the sound (recorded from the audience) is pretty muffled,but it's still nice to have. Hopefully fans of this band will get this disc in their sets. The live tracks are as follows: "Part of the Load","Drowned In Wine","Holding the Compass","Good News Bad News","The Weaver's Answer","A Song For Me".



The accompanying book-style packaging is of high quality. The only real gripe I have is that the four discs are "snapped-in" and could fall out easily if you're not careful. This is a trend that more and more companies are following-I wish they would protect the discs in a better manner. The "bonus" disc is in a cardboard sleeve and is loose in the package,as is the Isle of Wight program-however their value is worth having,so either be careful when opening the package,or simply put them somewhere safe. There is a 26 page book-style story of the band which is interesting and tells the "Family" story,with period photographs sprinkled throughout. Even those who have followed this group for sometime will learn something new about both the group and the times way back when(when I was telling all my friends to listen to this group) they were gigging very hard,trying to get ahead. One of the coolest things in this set is a color recreation of the 1970 Isle of Wight festival program. This alone will transport you back to this era when all types of music was given a chance to breathe and grow. It's a shame that this group had to finally settle for cult-status-but it's nice to have this set finally released. Maybe they will garner a few more fans to help spread the story and this wonderful,quirky music. If you're looking for something other than the usual "British Invasion" stuff-look no further.



ADDENDUM: May 7,2009-I'm just a little bit shocked that more people haven't looked up this title and jumped on it. Even though this group was never really popular,I thought that a box set of this magnitude would have generated a bit more excitement. Yes,there were only 1,000 sets (supposedly) put out for sale. But only two reviews? None in the major music magazines. When this group was releasing their albums originally,there was not all that much excitement either. I thought,with time,that this group would be accorded the accolades it deserved. Apparently not. I still feel it's a crime that FAMILY are not more well known and revered. Their combination of r&r,folk,blues,and a bit of "prog" was a breath of fresh air,both originally,and now. I will never understand people-especially those "tuned in" to great music,as to why this group was never held in higher esteem. They were consistent,original,and stayed true to their sound. With the original price of twenty dollars for this set-it boggles my mind that there was no interest. Oh well,at least I can sit back and listen to some great music,wondering what went wrong for this one-of-a-kind band.

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Drowned in time

Junglies | Morrisville, NC United States | 01/06/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I was really keen to get this box set for one reason and one reason only - the first release on CD of the album of the same name which was and still is a remix of already released material.

I was encouraged in that regard by the publicity blurb which proudly claimed that the box set included a certain number of previously unreleased tracks and there was a bonus cd for the first thousand purchasers.

So far so good as their has been a dearth of unreleased material from the band and from the subsequent Chapman-Whitney Streetwalkers. I might add too there is little material from Chappo which has to be bought from the UK or Germany but that is another story.



Having had the album since it's release I must say how disappointed I am with the set, given that the majority of unreleased tracks are from the Old Songs New Songs album. Given that the others are apparently included in the reissues of the original albums, not available at the moment in the US, it is an expensive purchase just for that. I understand too that the label is also in the habit of making available the limited edition bonus discs to more people than the original specification which diminishes the value of the boxed material.



Now as far as the album itself is concerned I am overjoyed that I have it at long last and I cannot fault the content. But for the whole package I can only award four stars and would comment that the fans would have been better served by a single or even a double disc of previously unreleased material rather than be milked again especially on top of the remastered reissues.





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For fans and collectors only

Kevin P. MacNutt | West of the sun and east of the moon | 02/25/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I have to say, as a huge fan of Family's music and a music collector in general I found this a worthwhile purchase, but would not recommend this as an introduction to the band. One major issue I have is with the sound quality of the disc with represents the original "New Songs, Old Songs" compilation from 1971. As most Family fans know, this compilation consisted of remixed, previously released material from 1968-1970. Apparently the master tapes for this compilation are missing, so it has been apparently mastered from vinyl sources which sounds a little thin and compressed which may be more from the attempt to hide the vinyl noise rather than the source itself. Alot of the other rarities suffer from similar sound issues as they were taken from either old acetates or, if you get the version with the bonus disc, some of the live recordings are from an audience tape which sounds a little distant. Everything else is available as bonus tracks on the recent string of reissues including much of the live material and the single sides. Like I said, great for the Family fan who has it all, but if you are new to the band, I would recommend sticking to their individual albums."