When Nazz were on top form their hallmarks were a tight, clean, fresh sound backed with worthy harmonies and intelligent lyrics; their best work either zipped along like a blast of fresh air through an open window or flowed smoothly in thoughtful close harmony ballads. There was a bit of a down side, in that they were something of an anglophile band and at times tried to emulate rock sounds produced The Who, Small Faces or Kinks and this output tended to be pretty mundane really.
So this compilation of all of their work is something of a mixture. Their ballad and harmony work such as `Hello Its Me' (their one big hit single), `Crowded' & `If That's The Way You Feel' are timeless and show a promise that would flower in band composer Todd Rungren's solo career. The best of the faster paced work is displayed in such tracks as `Open My Eyes', `When I get My Plane' and `Forget All About It Now' when they seemed to remember they were an American psychedelic garage band and fully embraced that mixture, against those `standard' rock tracks such as `Kiddie Boy' and `Under The Ice' which are pedestrian, even if there is a lot of 'sound' in them.
When I play the album I generally play selected tracks from the two CDs and yet I do not regret buying the set because the best of their work was so very good; dare I say it, but with the right breaks and guidance they could have rivalled The Beach Boys of 'Pet Sounds' to 'Surf's Up' vintage.
The package itself is also very good value for money with a mini-biography of Nazz built into the notes and against each track which album it figured on, so you could create the three albums for yourself.
I would recommend this to anyone because of the magic that Nazz created in their short productive life.
