THE CLIQUE
The Clique (Revola CD)
     The Clique were forever pulled out of semi-obscurity when R.E.M. covered 'Superman' for their Life's Rich Pageant LP; semi, not total, obscurity because some late '60s fans still remembered The Clique's 'Sugar On Sunday,' which reached the Billboard Top 30 in late 1969. The Houston, Texas band had been previously named The Sandpipers, but changed it for obvious reasons, recorded a few fine sides for Scepter Records, were then snapped up by White Whale, and released their self-titled album in 1969. The Clique is a fine example of various late '60s pop styles, and serves as a fine gateway into the earthier sounds of the early '70s.
     The album was produced and (mostly) co-written by the legendary Gary Zekley, who employed L.A. studio cats like Hal Blaine and Leon Russell to flesh out the sound, but it never would have been as powerful a statement without the expressive, rich vocals of The Clique's Randy Shaw. The album opens with the aforementioned 'Sugar On Sunday,' a Tommy James cover which stays true to James' patented blue-eyed gospel sound. Other standouts include the Northern Soul belter 'Hallelujah!,' the bubblegummy 'Judy, Judy, Judy' (Cary Grant was nowhere to be found on this track), the Partridge Family-esque (!) 'Soul Mates,' and the yearning 'Shadow Of Our Love,' but the most memorable track will always be 'Superman,' a primal slice of pop-psych that wouldn't' have been out of place on The Troggs awesome Cellophane LP.
     Bonus tracks include the non-LP Tommy James covers, 'Sparkle And Shine' (which eked into the Billboard Top 100) and 'I'm Alive,' a heavy rock version of 'Memphis,' and the four Scepter sides, recorded in late '67-early '68. These are probably the best Clique tracks, exemplars of that classic garage sound, and are most revealing of the band's Houston roots. Their cover of the 13^th Floor Elevators 'Splash 1' is suitably mysterious, 'Stay By Me' is kinda like psych Beau Brummels, 'Love Ain't Easy' is absolutely great folk-garage, and the frantic 'Gotta Get Away' offers some nice baroque passages. The usual fine liner notes by Steve Stanley round out this excellent package.
www.Revola.co.uk
David Bash

THE COSMOPOLITANS
Wild Moose Party (Dionysus; CD)
     The Cosmopolitans are deservedly remembered for their best tune, 'How To Make Your Husband Happy', an infectious tune which I still possess on an early 80's Shake records compilation. The song has all the key elements of their sound, sassy dual go-go girl vocals with some spoken parts, clever, off-beat lyrics and cheesy Acetone organ. Jamie Sims and Nel Moore were darlings of the early 80'sNew York New Wave scene. At times they sound uncannily like the early B-52's, the crucial difference being that the B-52's had a brace of varied original songs. The trouble is that the formula remains the same on most of the Cosmopolitans songs, so that interest begins to wane after the first few songs, the macabre ballad of 'Doug' being the exception.
     Sadly the choppy, plink-plonk New Wave rhythm parts have not stood the test of time. Several drummers are featured, but they all sound like a particularly tinny drum machine. This is especially evident on an a very weak cover of 'Walking The Dog'.
     The Cosmopolitans' reputation is not enhanced by the final two cuts, recorded at Max's Kansas City. The sound quality is so poor that it would have been better to leave these two sleeping in the vaults.
www.dionysusrecords.com
Phil Suggitt

DON & THE GOODTIMES
So Good (Rev-ola; CD)
     As many bands of the period known as The Summer Of Love were wont to do, Don & The Goodtimes continually changed musical hues, morphing from one of the stalwarts of the Pacific Northwest garage music scene to soft pop icons, within the space of only a year. So Good, from 1967, represents the soft pop period and truly stands as one of the finest examples of the genre.
     What makes So Good…well…so good is several things: the yearning lead vocals of Buzz Overman and Jeff Hawks, the sweeping arrangements by producer Jack Nitzsche and the wide-eyed romantic lyrics written mostly by Overman, which you can hear on such gems as 'The Music Box,' 'My Color Song,' and the chart hit 'I Could Be So Good To You,' which could have made The Yellow Balloon turn green with envy. The band could rock a bit when they wanted, as they do on 'Sweet Sweet Mama' and their pretty decent covers of 'Gimme Some Lovin' and 'With A Girl Like You'. Ok, so 'If You Love Her, Cherish Her And Such' might cross the line into the depths of wimpdom, but it is soft pop after all, so get over it!
     As is the usual custom, this Revola reissue appends several bonus tracks, the best of which cover Don & The Goodtimes "transition" period between garage and softness. Tunes like 'I Hate To Hate You,' 'You Did It Before,' and 'You Were Just A Child' absolutely pulsate with a Northern Soul-styled backbeat (it's true, folks!), and are arguably the best songs the band ever did. Other highlights include the b-side 'Happy And Me,' which would have fit perfectly on So Good, and the Four Seasons cop, 'Bambi'. This reissue of So Good is a landmark event-make no mistake.
www.Revola.co.uk
David Bash

THE FLAMIN' GROOVIES
At Full Speed -The Complete Sire Recordings (Rhino; 2- CD)
     At last a double cd in excellent sound containing the three albums Shake Some Action, Now and Jumpin' In The Night that the Groovies recorded for Sire in the late Seventies. Accompanying notes by the sadly missed Greg Shaw relate his doubts about the direction Cyril Jordan was taking but the music is a joy with its well chosen covers encompassing the mighty triumvirate of the Beatles, Stones and Byrds and the self written classics like 'Shake Some Action', (In two versions here), 'You Tore Me Down' and 'Jumpin' In The Night'.I was disappointed that there was no unreleased material although the different tracks from the UK and US versions of Now are here as well as 'Paint It Black' from  the I Feel A Whole Lot Better twelve inch single. I saw the Groovies put on a magnificent show in front of about a dozen people in a poorly advertised re-arranged gig in Doncaster in the late seventies where they reproduced perfectly a lot of the tracks on this cd. This excellent reissue  just reinforces what a great band they were.
www.Rhino.com
Pat Curran

GOLGOTHA
Old Seeds Bootleg (Radioactive; CD)
     Once again, here's a fine example of that rare commodity: a very good private pressing. Golgotha were based around guitarist Bruce Scofield. They were formed in 1969 and gigged around New Jersey / New York acquiring a loyal fan base which led to the Jubilee label signing them. However, the record was never released and the band printed up home made copies in 1973. Said album is a wonderful hybrid of psych, jazz rock and stoned, rural boogie. The consensus is they sound like Little Feat, but I hear a heavier Ted Munda And Friends Of The Family, which is most noticeable in the accomplished but cheaply recorded sound and quirky lyrics. The mellow jazz elements also sound very Munda, and if you like him, this will prove equally as good: great lyrics, nice harmonies and a very laid back feel that occasionally rocks. A perfect post-psych, gentle rocker.
www.radioactiverecords.net
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

BB KING
The Blues (Ace; CD)
BB King Sings Spirituals (Ace; CD)
     Ace's largely excellent reissue series of BB King's original Crown LPs comes to an end with the superbThe Blues album from 1958 and the curious and unsatisfying ...Sings Spirituals LP from the following year. WhereasThe Blues, like most of the Crown LPs, was constructed from old RPM singles - like the hit 'When My Heart Beats Like A Hammer' from 1954 -Sings Spirituals was a concept album recorded for LP release with The Charioteers vocal group in Los Angeles in April 1959. The former LP has, rightfully, been readily available over the past few decades, and the latter, understandably, hasn't, but thankfully it is Ace's inclusion of bonus tracks that make these incarnations essential purchases for BB's legion of fans.The Blues includes an alternative take of the classic 'Sweet Little Angel', the never previously reissued 'I'm In Love With You Baby' from 1955 and three of the unissued tracks recorded illegally by BB for Chess in 1958 (the fourth is available on Ace's superlative BB King box set ABOXCD8).
     Sings Spirituals consists of ten fairly pedestrian gospel standards by BB accompanied by organ/piano/bass/drums (no guitar!) with The Charioteers helping out on vocals on the likes of 'Ole Time Religion', 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot' and 'Jesus Gave Me Water'. In 1972, the original Crown LP was reissued on the Kent subsidiary overdubbed with backing vocals by The Southern California Community Choir and a welter of extra instruments, and as a taster, Ace here includes the overdubbed versions of 'Precious Lord' and 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot' in addition to the better originals. The other bonus tracks display the pop leanings of the 'Blues Boy' and include tender ballads 'The Key To My Kingdom'. 'A Lonely Lover's Plea' and Tony Bennett's 'I Am', a more lively Bennett cover 'In The Middle Of An Island' and Tennessee Ernie's 'Sixteen Tons'. The latter might have been the worst idea of all, but it does work quite well and gets the joint award for best track along with the cool blues ballad 'Story From My Heart And Soul'. 
http://www.acerecords.co.uk/
Dave Penny

BRENDA LEE
Brenda, That's All / All Alone Am I (Ace; CD)
...Let Me Sing / By Request (Ace; CD)
     Ace continues apace with its worthy reissue schedule of Brenda Lee's original US Decca LPs from the 1960s and now reaches albums 7, 8, 9 and 10, released between October 1962 and May 1964.
     Brenda, That's All ploughs a similar furrow to her 1959 debut LP of 'grandma' songs mixing updates of ancient pop songs like 'I'm Sitting On Top Of The World' and 'Sweethearts On Parade' with R&B hits of a more recent vintage such as 'Valley Of Tears' and 'Why Me?' and Country standards 'Just Out Of Reach' and  'Gonna Find Me A Bluebird'.
     All Alone Am I kicks off with Brenda's own huge hit of the same name and mines a rich seam of desolate jazz ballads like 'Fly Me To The Moon', 'I Hadn't Anyone Till You', 'Come Rain or Come Shine' and 'I Left My Heart In San Francisco', including a nice version of the swing era song 'My Prayer' made famous all over again in the 1950s by The Platters.
     ...Let Me Sing continues in the same vein with 'When Your Lover Has Gone', 'There Goes My Heart', 'At Last', 'Where Are You?' and Cole Porter's 'Night and Day', but throws in a few more contemporary covers in 'The End Of The World', 'Our Day Will Come', 'I Wanna Be Around' and Bobby Darin's 'You're The Reason I'm Living'.
     LastlyBy Request witnesses a shift into more MOR entertainment with film and show tunes such as 'More (Theme From Mondo Cane)', 'Days Of Wine and Roses', but also includes 'I Love You Because' and 'Tommy' (the distaff version of 'Tammy') and the gorgeous standards 'Why Don't You Believe Me?' and 'Blue Velvet'. Most puzzling - but welcome - inclusion is Brenda's cover of Cecil Gant's seminal 'I Wonder' from 1944.
     As usual, all four LPs had been produced in Nashville at Owen Bradley's studio with the cream of Music City talent providing the backing. Brenda's rock 'n' roll edges, as tenuous as they were even in the early days, by 1962 had all been worn smooth, so you will find precious little evidence of 'Miss Dynamite' here - still if you're hankering after some well-crafted songs expertly sung, you could do a whole lot worse than these two CDs.
http://www.acerecords.co.uk/
Dave Penny

MARVIN, WELCH & FARRAR
Marvin, Welch & Farrar / Second Opinion (BGO; 2-CD)
     I know that a few of you that read SD enjoy older rock and roll, and no doubt The Shadows rate highly in your instro pantheon; but the impression I get is that the majority enjoy music from the more colourful tail-end of the 1960s. So what's Jon 'Mojo' Mills doing raving about Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch in the pages of SD then??? Has he dropped the flowery stuff and gone back to basics? The answer is: NO! Hank and Bruce like so many other elder statesmen in rock and pop didn't want to be remembered for their golden oldies" as the 1970s dawned and felt the need - whether genuine or not -to get hip and mellow, grow out their hair and don rustic demims. The musical outcome was a suitably fashionable acoustic based, three-way vocal harmony model. One that borrowed liberally from Macca's songwriting book, the acoustic/electric West Coast hippy rock of CSN, intelligent harmony pop emblems from The Beach Boys and The Association and the chirpy Britishness of The Hollies. It's solid stuff too and certainly amongst the best of its kind to come out of Britain. The records were a mere blip on the landscape of the musician's career and it wasn't long until The Shadows got back together and did what people wanted them to do. These two albums and related singles (the band's entire output, released between 1971 and 1975) however,  show what lurked beneath the forced showbiz smiles. This was daring, innovative music with the slightest hint of psychedelia and rural bohemia. And hey, they could sing like birds too! A quick listen to SD's Andy Morten's Bronco Bullfrog should indicate that Marv's finest moments haven't been forgotten and the new clan of bendy pop lovers also rate these albums highly. If the unlikely gem Master by The Tremeloes, Honeybus, Bee Gees or Marmalade stimulate the senses the delicate nature of these finely crafted songs are sure to win your heart and soul too. Wonderful.
www.bgo-records.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

LINDA PERHACS
Parallelograms (Beatball; CD)
     Unlike Judee Sill's similarly haunting debut, ex dental hygienist Perhacs' vision of hippiefied bohemia is far more hinged. Sill's drug addled world view was often dark, fuelled by occult practice and the certain desperation an ex-prostitute, junkie has. Her music as one would expect is a rather acquired taste. Perhacs on the other hand emits a childlike awe of the freaks she saw around her and their newfound freedom; and although occasionally a little kooky she has a far more sunny disposition. Perhaps the manner in which she related to LA's seemingly utopian hippie world allowed Perhacs to both border upon it and circumvent it, giving her music a rather special quality. The amazingly complex nature of songs concerning topics as diverse as mathematics, bell bottoms and feminine emotion are accompanied by jazz-folk ala Joni Mitchell, dense multi layered vocals and early electronic experimentation. Parallelograms is cosmic, folk-music that hasn't dated whatsoever... yet is everything one would expect from the LA hills circa 1970. A beautifully fragile and timeless record.
info@clearspt.nl
www.beatballrecords.com/eng/
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

THE ROCKIN' BERRIES
They're In Town (2-CD; Sanctuary)
     A 2 CD 58 track compilation of everything the group recorded for Pye including 9 tracks not previously released, three of which, Roy Wood's 'Yellow Rainbow', Goffin and King's 'Take A Giant Step' and The Left Banke's 'Barterers and Their Wives' might have easily given the group more hits if they had been put out. The excellent notes by Roger Dopson highlight the problems the group had finding material and recording it amongst constant touring as well as the dichotomy urged on the group by their management who eroded their teenage base by trying to change them into "all round family entertainers" by booking them for a Summer season at Great Yarmouth and recording such Uncle Mac's Children's Favourites as 'The Laughing Policeman', 'I Know an old Lady' and Benny Hill's 'Harvest of Love' ( all included here), while at the same time failing to release the earlier mentioned tracks. Despite these aberrations however there is enough excellent material (including all their hits) spread over the two discs to delight all lovers of good harmony pop.
www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.co.uk
Pat Curran

JACKIE DeSHANNON
For You ( RPM; CD)
     This reissue contains all the tracks from the 1967 LP For You recorded in June and July and nine tracks from the earlier March '67 LP New Image (The missing three tracks are numbers 17-19 on the earlier RPM reissue Are You Ready For This). These albums marked a distinctive change for Jackie from her earlier folk / rock material to a more "adult-orientated" cabaret market with its mix of standards, film themes and contemporary pop no doubt at the behest of her record label but it has to be said that she manages the change with consummate ease and no lessening of quality, although the downside is that only one of the twenty tracks is a DeShannon composition. The For You LP was produced by Calvin Carter and arranged by George Tipton who had worked with Nilsson and Jan & Dean on their Batman LP. Highlights include the opening track 'Don't Dream of Anybody But Me', Goffin and Kings' 'No Easy Way Down' and Margo Guryan's 'Think Of Rain'. The earlier LP (included as bonus tracks) was produced by Carter and arranged by Marty Paich who had previously worked extensively with Peggy Lee. Highlights include Cole Porter's 'Night and Day' set to a bossa - nova rhythm and The Carnival is Closed Today' which had been a U K single for Anne Shelton.
     Since neither of these albums received a U K release at the time this is another welcome present to Jackie's fans from RPM.
www.rpmrecords.co.uk
Pat Curran

STEALERS WHEEL
Stealers Wheel (Lemon; CD)
     As well as being the album that brought the world the now cringe inducing 'Stuck In The Middle With You' (Ouch! Now where's that ear?) Stealers Wheel's self-titled 1972 debut is a majestic dose of turn of the decade pop. Soaked in influences that range from the rural rock of The Band, some oven cooked steamy Free-like bluesy rock and a studied nod to the intelligence of Macca's hallmark and Wilsonian Californian day dreaminess it's a delight from start to finish.
www.lemonrecordings.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

THE STROLLERS
Waiting Is… (Undeground Masters; CD)
     No, not the 90s Swedish retro garage maestros, this is a five-piece Malaysian band with an album from 1973. Rumour has it this crew have personnel connections to both Truck and The October Cherries (the latter of whom must surely be next on the regional reissue menu). There are no liners beyond a promotional blurb on the back, so no more information is forthcoming from the reissuer. I'm pretty sure that the play list is in a different running order from that on the back cover as well (few of the songs mention the titles so it's hard to tell!). Anyway up, it's a very nice album that on the one hand speaks stylistically of the musical times they were living in with variously crypto-Deep Purple keys led heavy rock and laid back more introspective numbers. There are also a few which hark back to the late 60s in an almost popsike or progressive pop vein. A rather rum assortment then, but not uncharacteristic of the groups of the region and the time. It's a vinyl rarity in its original form, so if this is the only format and edition it is readily available in, I would recommend you grab it. It has something for everyone, all songs seem original as far as I can tell and all are worth a listen in their own right. Both Heyday (in the UK) and Wolfgang Voelkel mail orders at least are currently carrying the title.
Paul Martin

TURQUOISE
The Further Adventures of Flossie Fillet: The Collercted Recordings 1966-69 (Rev-ola; CD)
     Living just 200 yards from the Kinks as they grew up, the young Londoners who would become firstly The Brood and later Turquoise, produced some wonderful recordings that emulated both The Kinks and The Small Faces. They would be managed by Stones roadie Tom Keylock, produced by members of The Who (as part of deal for them to get a good price on a Bentley!), and connect with Spencer Davis and sign to a subsidiary of Apple Publishing. Despite the connections and the strength of their songwrititng, neither of their two fine Decca singles made enough waves to propel them above the throng of the overcrowded market place of 60s pop. At last however, all their surviving recordings (including two as The Brood in 1966) have been gathered in one place. These have been licensed from two Turqoise members Jeff Peters and the estate of the late Ewan Stephens. Band contributions are made to the detailed and engaging liner notes researched and written by Apple specialist Stefan Granados. Before members of the group drifted off to become milkmen or join the incoming 1970s in bands like Jawbone, they laid down some most desireable wax. Their two Decca 45s –'53 Summer Street' / 'Tales of Flossie Fillett' and 'Woodstock' / 'Saynia' have all been compiled in the past and are now well known and respected numbers. Indeed their importance seems to grow with each year that passes as some of the best examples of period Brititsh psychedleic pop. What is interesting is that listening to them in the company of other unissued recordings, although they do stand tall and proud they don't simply serve to show how limited the rest of their recordings were by comparison. Rather, they stand as the most accomplished recordings in a collection of generally strong and attractive others. The Brood's 'Wrong Way' for instance from '66 may have a less confident vocal, but it sports delightful jangly guitar which gives it a definite US garage, lachrymose, folk-rock sound. 'Sister Saxaphone' (which recenty appeared on the An Apple A Day comp) has a definite Small Faces 'Lazy Sunday Afternoon'-essabout it, all mockney phonics and retro music hall piano rolls. However, its chorus lends it a Kinks like personalisation that makes for an interesting blend of the two. Similarly, 'Sunday Best' plays in the same ballpark. Two versions of the excellent 'Flying Machine' are included which is a wonderful period piece of pop, like a somewhat lighter 'William Chalker's Time Machine'. The Dave Davies penned and hitherto unreleased version of 'Mindless Child of Motherhood' is perhaps the cherry on the cake. A fine progressive pop number, their most serious composition and pointing the way squarely towards Jawbone et al to come. Forget the throwaway nonsense of the final number that is the so-called Christmas record (the group's last hurrah) and what you have overall is a fine collection and a worthy project; slaps on backs all round for those involved.
www.revola.co.uk
Paul Martin

PRICE AND WALSH
Temptation Eyes: The Price & Walsh Songbook (Revola CD)
      Michael Price and Dan Walsh were a songwriting duo who penned tunes for several luminaries, including Cher, Lulu, Austin Roberts, Barry Manilow, and Bobby "Blue Bland (!), to name but a few. They were also a solid recording act in their own right, releasing several fine sides in the mid '60s as part of a band called The Motleys, and then a few years later with Arkade (featuring the aformentioned Roberts). It's their song writing demos which are the main focus of Temptation Eyes: The Price & Walsh Songbook, and these show the pair to be versatile writers (and vocalists) who were prescient enough not only to change with the times, but to help forge a new song writing style.
     The first few songs on the disc are from 1966, and tunes like 'Try Your Best To Forget Her' and 'That's When It Happens,' show the boys to be fine practitioners of soft pop. Others like 'Virginia Grey's Ragtime Memories' and 'Small Town Commotion' are more ambitious, with oodles of tantalizing tempo and chord changes. These tunes were co-written by Gary Zekley cohort Mitch Bottler, and it was around this time that Price & Walsh hooked up with Zekley to record what would have been their debut album. Artistic differences with Zekley caused the project to end prematurely, but six songs remain, all of which are included here and display a majestic, sweeping production style and very strong melodies, the best of the lot being 'The House Of Ilene Castle' and the very British sounding 'The Mad Genius Of Shelby Square'. After their departure from Zekley, the duo were taken under the wing of the legendary Steve Barri, who was then head of A&R at Dunhill Records, and this is when the Price & Walsh sound started taking on a decidedly "Dunhill" flavor. Several of the tracks on the second half of the disc could have been recorded by The Grass Roots, and tunes like 'Always You', 'Cross My Heart,' and 'Sing Out The Love In My Heart' could have been big hits by them. Of course, 'Temptation Eyes' was a Grass Roots hit, and the Price & Walsh demo shows that the song was about 90% there already. Suffice it to say that if you're a fan of '60s and '70s pop you will definitely dig Temptation Eyes: The Price & Walsh Songbook, and if you're a fan of The Grass Roots you need to own it!
www.Revola.co.uk
David Bash

VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Cry Of Atlantis (Dionysus; CD)
     'Cry of Atlantis' is a new addition to the growing number of 'regional comps'. (I might add that the region in question is Northern New York state and across the Canadian border, not the sunken continent of Atlantis. However, when and if Atlantis is finally rediscovered, there will surely be archaeological evidence of some teen rock'n'roll and garage bands!). Sometime Shindigger Will Shade is the compiler, and knowing his broad tastes it is no surprise that this comp is sub-titled 'Echoes From Rock'n'Roll's Lost Cities, 58-67'. It does not confine itself to mid-60's garage bands, but also includes early 60's rock'n'roll, surf / hot rod, Brit Invasion, frat and pop combos. Whilst I disagree with Will about the existence of a significant 'Mid-60's mafia' who only tolerate 60's garage-punk to the exclusion of all other styles of music, I fully support his belief that the only criteria for including a song should be that it's good!
     This compilation has a lot going for it. Six of the 18 songs are by The Vistas, who gradually evolved into a really good pop band. Their third, unreleased single, 'No More Time' is truly excellent. In a couple of short years they moved from the surfy 'I Want A Cadillac' to the great garage pop of their last recording. There are many other decent tunes which are triumphs of attitude over musical ability; The Persuaders '64 instrumental, which the comp it's title, the garage / psych of the Chosen Few, the Kon Tiki's teen punk and the sloppy live frat rock anthem 'Drop Your Draws'. An additional plus is that the cover and liners are really well designed to resemble the cheesy novelty ads once found in 50's and 60's comic books. Anyone who likes a good comp will want to check this out.
www.dionysusrecords.com
Phil Suggitt

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Voyages Into... Psychedelia
Voyages Into... Garage Vol. 2
Voyages Into... Folk-Rock Vol. 2
Voyages Into... Pop-Psych Vol. 2
Voyages Into... Rock (All Voyages; CDs)
     A corncopia of fuzz, acid and flowers awaits the listener on these further five volumes of the excellent Voyages series. With 30 tracks per CD, informative notes and a slew of hilarious adverts (film, car, clubs) interspersed between the music, you can't go wrong. Okay, so the clip art "trip art" covers won't win awards and perhaps, as said about the last series, the definitions of psychedelia, psych-pop and rock are rather skewed -- well, in my books at least. Wouldn't the Turds On A Bum Ride strategy of mixing it all together work better?  Criticisms aside, the abundance of unreleased quality material throughout make these pretty darn essential. With 150 tracks to plough through I'm not even going to consider reviewing each CD, check out the site and make your own minds up... I've played each from start to finish and have dug, dug, dug. Verrrrry coooool!
http://members.aol.com/voyagescd/voyages.html
voyagescd@aol.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills