Acid-soaked motherlode!
D. Hartley | Seattle, WA USA | 12/11/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Just when you thought the mine of obscure 60's British psychedlia had been stripped, MOJO magazine's merry music geeks have gleefully assembled one of the best collections of the genre. (No, I don't work for them!) Amazingly, only a relative handful of selections cross over with Rhino's recent and similar "Nuggets II" box--so if you're a hardcore collector, it won't be too over-spendy to scoop up both. Fascinating liner notes in the companion booklet are a nice bonus (you'll be surprised at how many of these no-hit wonders, with hilarious names like Mandrake Paddle Steamer, actually represent the fledgling appearances of later-to-be-famous rock stars.) There are very few "duds" here (I could have done without some of the more silly "novelty" tunes, but that's a subjective quibble, as some might call the whole collection a "novelty"!) Sound quality is as good as you can expect, keeping in mind that 1) you are dealing with 1960's studio technology, and 2) many of these songs are so obscure that the only existing copies are probably on vinyl sources! Wisely, MOJO does mix in some Who, Kinks, Animals, Yardbirds, etc., giving the collection a nice historical balance and context for the more casual music fan. A winner!"
All encompassing..
collegemoney | 05/18/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"MOJO magazine's wide-ranging tribute to the British psychedelic age wraps its arms around pretty much everything the genre entailed. Included here are household names like Donavan, the Yardbirds, the Animals, etc. but the treasure of course lies in the obscure acts. Bamboo Shoot's "Fox Has Gone To Ground" is virtually unfindable in its original 45 format, for example. Felius Andromeda's "Meditation," one of my favorite tracks, has been comped elsewhere (i. e. on "Psychedelia") but even some of these comps are hard to find. The tune sounds like British psych performed by Gregorian chanters.
As one chronichler noted so accurately, in the US, psychedelia usually expressed itself in the form of the politically driven LP. Often in response to our country's war and turmoil. In the UK, it expressed itself in the form of the 45 rpm, often in a Lewis Carroll-like fairy tale theme.
This compilation does as good a job as any summarizing the UK approach. Get it while you can.
One gripe, the packages for "Acid Drops.." were poorly designed, the CD's often fell out and sometimes were scratched. make sure you get a good copy, but get it while you still can."
Track Listings (71) - Disc #1