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Product details
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Track Listings
| Disc: 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. In The Beginning - Genesis | |||
| 2. Turn Into Earth - Al Stewart | |||
| 3. Red Sky At Night - The Accent | |||
| 4. Vacuum Cleaner - Tintern Abbey | |||
| 5. Secret - Virgin Sleep | |||
| 6. Twilight Time (Evening) - The Moody Blues | |||
See all 21 tracks on this disc
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| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You - Caravan | |||
| 2. Gypsy - The Moody Blues | |||
| 3. Garden Song - Bill Fay | |||
| 4. Atmosphere - Denny Gerrard | |||
| 5. Skillet - Galliard | |||
| 6. Sharing - Satisfaction | |||
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See all 14 tracks on this disc
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| Disc: 3 | |||
| 1. Things Ain't Working Out Down At The Farm - Thin Lizzy | |||
| 2. I'm Coming On - Ten Years After | |||
| 3. Space Shanty - Khan, Steve Hillage, Dave Stewart | |||
| 4. Cosmic Bride - Zakarrias | |||
| 5. Time Of The Last Persecution - Bill Fay | |||
| 6. Waterloo Lily - Caravan | |||
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See all 14 tracks on this disc
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This follow up to 2003's "Legend Of A Mind" is an even tastier proposition than that first box set. That is a true indication of the quality of material which Decca released back in the late 60's, early 70's. This is another 3 CD's packed with some real gems from the early days of progressive rock. Of course such compilations are going to be hit and miss, but there is nothing here that is less than interesting. There will be plenty here that even the fervent prog rock aficionado won't have heard before. Where else will you here such wonders as Tintern Abbey or Principal Edwards for instance. There are choice cuts from the obvious culprits like The Moody Blues, Caravan and Genesis. But it's the comparatively less well known acts such as Egg, East Of Eden, Darryl Way's Wolf and Touch that shine and were really what labels like Deram were all about.
Highlights for me are Egg's "Contrasong", East of Eden's "Marcus Junior" and particularly "J L T" by T2, whose "No More White Horses" (best known as being covered by Swedish prog supremos Landberk) was also a highlight of "Legend Of A Mind". The sound quality of most of these tracks is nothing short of exceptional. A credit to the producers and engineers of the day and Paschal Byrnes remastering. The packaging by Phil Smee is very classy indeed, with each CD enclosed in a mini LP style sleeve. The 48 page booklet is packed with archival photos and thoroughly detailed notes by compiler Mark Powell. This might be a budget priced box set, but there is nothing cut price about the quality of the music and presentation. A class act!
Highlights for me are Egg's "Contrasong", East of Eden's "Marcus Junior" and particularly "J L T" by T2, whose "No More White Horses" (best known as being covered by Swedish prog supremos Landberk) was also a highlight of "Legend Of A Mind". The sound quality of most of these tracks is nothing short of exceptional. A credit to the producers and engineers of the day and Paschal Byrnes remastering. The packaging by Phil Smee is very classy indeed, with each CD enclosed in a mini LP style sleeve. The 48 page booklet is packed with archival photos and thoroughly detailed notes by compiler Mark Powell. This might be a budget priced box set, but there is nothing cut price about the quality of the music and presentation. A class act!
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I'll give this 5 out of sheer nostalgia. Most of the bands/solo singers on this fab compilation notably Stud, Ashkan, Caravan, Egg, Principal Ted and Keef Hartley were the bedrock of my teenage to university years record collection. All those LPs are long lost to second hand music shops so it is great to find bits of them again to help me decide whether to seek out the albums again. Although a bargain at £12.98 this will end up being an expensive purchasive as I certainly will seek out the full albums as I did after discovering its predecessor,Legend of a Mind, which re-ignited my interest in the more obscure music of this wonderful period. The only personal downside is the large number of duplications from my current CD hoard. In spite of having 19 tracks on other albums this has still been well worth buying. The excellent remastering means that the 7 tracks from Decca's Psychedelic Scene that light up CD 1 sound almost like different numbers. In spite of the 5 stars I have a couple of quibbles eg the triple selections from Moody Blues, Caravan (brilliant), TYA and Bill Fay and doubles from Thin Lizzy etc reduce the scope for showcasing even more bands. My other quibble is that, having described Clark Hutchinson's A=MH2 in the excellent booklet,as a "stunning debut" the compiler chose a short unrepresentative track from their third album Gestalt. I recall A=MH2 as being brilliantly excessive but in need of a producer, but at least I can now track it down and avoid yet another duplication. Overall a great package with excellent production values.
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Decca have done it again, with a second 3 CD box set as a follow-up to 'Legend Of A Mind'. 'Strange Pleasures' also comes with copious notes and illustrations in a fat little booklet - and the current price at Amazon.UK (mid May 2008) is a real bargain at less than 13 quid.
In the intervening 5 years, the Eclectic label (now Esoteric) have released a number of gems from the Decca/Deram archives, so now you might cynically said 'Strange Pleasures' is cheap sampler from some of those reissues (remastered for the most part) albums - but you can't go too far with that thought. Simply there is a lot of material which you will only find on 30 or 40 year old vinyl.
Whilst 'Strange Pleasures' is equally good or better than some of the competing labels' efforts to jump on the 'Legend Of A Mind' bandwagon, this isn't quite as good or balanced as 'Legend'. The compiler has again selected more than one track from the better known bands, so we once more get a couple of Caravan tracks (which IMHO are good choice), but the two TYA tracks are far less memorable, and two Moody Blues are disappointing. Elsewhere we are taken back to forgotten recordings (e.g. minor hit singles) which smack of pop rather than underground. There are number of other obscurities i.e. bands forgotten or never heard of, (even by the few of us old enough to have been around when first released): these are a mixed blessing. Some lack music creditability for this type of sampler, as not being strongly representative and/or weak musically. However, the good news, there are others I'm most pleased to see here: the early brass rock of Satisfaction (I complained at their absence from `Legend'), the Taste spin-off Stud (experimental rock of 1970, parallelling Patto or Skid Row at the time), Darryl Way's Wolf (the first example of John Etheridge's guitar with violin, here with band leader Way) and too an echo from Decca's 1969 sampler 'Wowie Zowie', Touch's "Down At Circe's Place". I must comment as a devoted Touch fan, the biography of the band in the booklet is the best and most detailed I've read. But I also note that between the CD sets `Legend' and `Strange Pleasures', these still have not completely duplicated those tracks found on `Wowie Zowie' - does the compiler have some problems with straighter jazz and some blues rock?
Because of some poorer/less satisfactory choices than before, I felt especially with the first album of this set that I had to wade through 2 or 3 undistinguished tunes before getting back to a track that wowed me. So I guess in the end, once you are familiar with this recording you will become selective in choices, with the weak tracks destined never to be played again.
Rating: 3.5 stars having previously marked 'Legend of A Mind', a superior set, 4 stars. Admittedly I have to reassess the star ratings I've given to couple of those competing box sets issued since 2003. In particular, 'Strange Pleasures' is a box set for those with fond memories of the period, or might use this as evidence(?)of musical changes occurring 1966 to 1975.
In the intervening 5 years, the Eclectic label (now Esoteric) have released a number of gems from the Decca/Deram archives, so now you might cynically said 'Strange Pleasures' is cheap sampler from some of those reissues (remastered for the most part) albums - but you can't go too far with that thought. Simply there is a lot of material which you will only find on 30 or 40 year old vinyl.
Whilst 'Strange Pleasures' is equally good or better than some of the competing labels' efforts to jump on the 'Legend Of A Mind' bandwagon, this isn't quite as good or balanced as 'Legend'. The compiler has again selected more than one track from the better known bands, so we once more get a couple of Caravan tracks (which IMHO are good choice), but the two TYA tracks are far less memorable, and two Moody Blues are disappointing. Elsewhere we are taken back to forgotten recordings (e.g. minor hit singles) which smack of pop rather than underground. There are number of other obscurities i.e. bands forgotten or never heard of, (even by the few of us old enough to have been around when first released): these are a mixed blessing. Some lack music creditability for this type of sampler, as not being strongly representative and/or weak musically. However, the good news, there are others I'm most pleased to see here: the early brass rock of Satisfaction (I complained at their absence from `Legend'), the Taste spin-off Stud (experimental rock of 1970, parallelling Patto or Skid Row at the time), Darryl Way's Wolf (the first example of John Etheridge's guitar with violin, here with band leader Way) and too an echo from Decca's 1969 sampler 'Wowie Zowie', Touch's "Down At Circe's Place". I must comment as a devoted Touch fan, the biography of the band in the booklet is the best and most detailed I've read. But I also note that between the CD sets `Legend' and `Strange Pleasures', these still have not completely duplicated those tracks found on `Wowie Zowie' - does the compiler have some problems with straighter jazz and some blues rock?
Because of some poorer/less satisfactory choices than before, I felt especially with the first album of this set that I had to wade through 2 or 3 undistinguished tunes before getting back to a track that wowed me. So I guess in the end, once you are familiar with this recording you will become selective in choices, with the weak tracks destined never to be played again.
Rating: 3.5 stars having previously marked 'Legend of A Mind', a superior set, 4 stars. Admittedly I have to reassess the star ratings I've given to couple of those competing box sets issued since 2003. In particular, 'Strange Pleasures' is a box set for those with fond memories of the period, or might use this as evidence(?)of musical changes occurring 1966 to 1975.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
WHAT A TRIP!
If your a fan of 60's underground, then this is a great place to start! A subperb compilation that's been put together with care.
Published 19 months ago by slatts352
great set
Beautiful faux-Martin Sharp box, great sleeve notes and then the sound of Decca rifling their own vaults for what I have to assume are just a few middle aged guys with fond... Read more
Published on 30 Jun 2009 by N. Black
WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO MY SONGS, MA?
I bought this box on the strength of the positive reviews from others and the fact that I already own the earlier companion sets from Decca, Vertigo, Island and Harvest (which are... Read more
Published on 9 Dec 2008 by Mr. John K. Bishton
such enterprising music!
the ambition of most of these bands is quite breathtaking. it's a shame punk came along because it's totalitarian philosophy not only killed off the bad, but much of the good too. Read more
Published on 18 July 2008 by B.A.S.
Calm down and dont get excited
I already own many Caravan, Moody Blues and Ten Years After albums. These bands I feel are some of the better known and respected artist's to appear on this follow up to Legend of... Read more
Published on 4 July 2008 by Diggerman
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