Love is the key (Ray Thomas) (LP 4644 - 4645)

Ray Thomas  From Mighty Oaks  (Vinyl, Threshold Records, 1975) ***  

Ray Thomas  Hopes Wishes & Dreams  (Vinyl, Threshold Records, 1976) ****  

Genre: Prog rock 

Places I remember: Chaldon Books and Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Hey Mama Life (From Mighty Oaks)

Gear costume: In Your Song  (Hopes Wishes & Dreams)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: Ray Thomas was (he passed away in 2018) the flautist and multi-instrumentalist who is known best for his work (playing and songwriting) in The Moody Blues.

These were his only solo albums, released in the mid-seventies. An open mind is required to enjoy these albums. Having an affection for The Moodies may also be a pre-requisite. Otherwise, the gentle, folky, pastoral, soft rock that is Ray's stock and trade may become an annoyance. 

The covers to both albums by Phil Travers are worth a side comment as they perfectly capture all that gentle, folky, pastoral vibe.

The songs on his debut, From Mighty Oaks, glide by very pleasantly, starting with the orchestral sweep of the opening title track which serves as a kind of fancy overture. Nothing stands out too much however, and they probably would have found it difficult to find their place on a Moodies album.

That's not the case with his second album so much. A few of these songs could have been easily used on a Moody Blues album. Ray is in fine voice and the musicians appearing on the album are in tune with his ideas. The brass inclusion adds another dimension to the songs as well.

Where do they all belong? His best work was with The Moody Blues - where he is one writer and singer amidst others, but I'm thrilled to also have these two solo albums.

Nothing left to lose (Everything But The Girl) (LP 4625 - 4628)

Everything But The Girl  At Maida Vale (BBC Maida Vale Sessions) (Vinyl, BBC Records, 2024) ***** 

Mike Oldfield  Hergest Ridge - The 1974 Demo (Vinyl, Mercury Records, 2024) **** 

Ringo Starr  Long Long Road (CD, UME Records, 2026) ***

The Moody Blues  Say It With Love (Vinyl, UME Records, 2026) ***

Genre: Alt Pop, Prog rock, Beatle pop

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Choose Love (Ringo)

Gear costume: Long Long Road (Ringo)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: The Everything But The Girl EP At Maida Vale, The Moody Blues EP, and the Mike Oldfield album were in the Record Store Day reduced price bin at JB. I find the prices on the Record Store Day releases to be crazily out of my reach so I was delighted to find these three items selling for sensible prices.

At Maida Vale has the duo working on four mood pieces - nothing pacey going on but Tracey Thorn's vocals are a treat at any speed. Ben Watt's music is sympatico with the lyrics, the 2am vibe, and Tracey's vocals.

Single is the only song that didn't appear on the parent album Fuse. It fits in well to the EP which is superb on every level.

The Mike Oldfield 1974 demo to his second album Hergest Ridge is wonderful. This could have been released in this form quite easily. Mike plays all the instruments in these recordings from The Beacon studio in Herefordshire before heading to The Manor for the final recordings. The man's a genius!

I played Hergest Ridge straight after it and it's great to compare the two. The demo lays out the path, and the proper album follows that path with gusto by adding further instruments from guest musicians (snare drum, trumpet), strings and voices.

Ringo's latest continues in the country genre with similar approach and personnel to his previous record (Look Up). He does stray from that approach once, on a re-recording of Choose Love from his 2005 album (which is, incidentally, my favourite song here). 

It's an okay album, a couple of mawkish love songs detract a little but the rest is standard weepy country territory. On the whole it's not a peak like Look Up was, but it's hard to be niggly. Ringo is 85 and still firing so good luck to him. 

BTW, I decided on a CD copy because the vinyl version was nearly three times the price at close to $90. That's crazy!

My final purchase was another Record Store Day special - a 12 inch single of The Moody Blues' Say It With Love. That and two songs on the B-side (The Story in Your Eyes/ Steppin' in a Slide Zone) are live versions taken from Days of Future Passed Live.

Where do they all belong? There are still a couple of albums in JB Hi Fi's Record Store Day bins that I have my eyes on (Yes and Joni Mitchell) but they are much more expensive items, so we'll see.

Stop press: I did pick those up when JB had a 20% off sale last weekend.

Yes I believe (The Moody Blues) (LP 4461 - 4469)

The Hollies  Russian Roulette (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1976) ***  

The Moody Blues December  (CD, Universal Records, 2003) *** 

Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass  Whipped Cream & Other Delights (Vinyl, Festival Records, 1965) *** 

John Sebastian  Cheapo-Cheapo Productions Presents Real Live John Sebastian (Vinyl, Warner Bros. Records, 1971) *** 

Argent  Argent (Vinyl, Epic Records, 1970) **** 

Argent  In Deep (Vinyl, Epic Records, 1973) *** 

Argent  Nexus (Vinyl, Epic Records, 1974) **** 

Brian Auger  The Best of Brian Auger (Vinyl, RCA Records, 1977) ***** 

Jackie DeShannon  Lonely Girl (Vinyl, Sunset Records, 1974) *** 

Genres: Pop, Prog rock, Easy listening, Folk-rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Daddy Don't Mind (The Hollies)

Gear costume: Dance in the Smoke (Argent), A Taste of Honey (Herb Alpert), Inner City Blues (Brian Auger)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: Recently, I had a trip to Auckland for a couple of days which included my usual pilgrimage to Real Groovy Records in the CBD. All of the vinyl in the list above comes from their sale bins, which always reveals some treasures.

Doing this blog a while ago, I was surprised I didn't have a copy of The Hollies 1976 album, Russian Roulette, so I found a copy for $10. It's a pretty spirited affair with some electric guitar-based rock - the title track and Louise are good songs but they are no competition for the final song on side 2 - Daddy Don't Mind. It's superb and if the rest of the album was as good as that one it would have been a five-star effort.

The Moodies Christmas album, December, only has three members appearing on it - Graeme Edge, Justin Hayward and John Lodge. It's also their final studio album. I've been after it for a few years so I was delighted to find a CD copy of it.

It's very typically The Moody Blues - some lovely orchestral backing, Lodge and Hayward's distinctive vocals, and a theme - Christmas! Most of the songs are by Hayward and/or Lodge but there are some telling covers - John and Yoko's Happy Xmas (War is Over) delivers a nice message, while White Christmas and A Winter's Tale are also fab. 

As the AllMusic critic wrote: There is no new age drivel here; its topics and themes are indeed Christian, but weigh on the side of those that are universally held: brotherhood, compassion, hope, goodwill, and generosity. In addition, it's beautifully orchestrated and produced. Its sound is pristine, and Hayward and Lodge with their trademark elegance sound as if they mean every word they write and sing.  

As I've indicated previously here, my parents were big fans of Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, but for some strange reason they didn't buy his most popular one, his fourth album - Whipped Cream & Other Delights, so I've bought a copy for them.

I doubt it was because the cover image was a bit racey. Although pretty conservative, my parents weren't prudes. So, they bought three Herb Alpert albums but decided against Whipped Cream.

The live John Sebastian album came quickly after an unauthorised live album was issued and quickly withdrawn in 1970. That one is pretty impossible to find as it's never been re-released and so it's ultra-rare. The Cheapo-Cheapo alternative lives up to its name - just John and a guitarist friend to flesh out the sound, plus a quick succession of songs.

He plays with spirit and a certain level of commitment and while he hasn't got the warmth and humour of Arlo Guthrie or the political focus of Country Joe, it's still an interesting live document. A curio, if you will.

Argent was Rod Argent's creation after exiting The Zombies (they are coming in the countdown). I've already written about their live album and their third album - All Together Now. The new band spent six months workshopping ideas and jelling as an entity - the result was Argent.

The band lineup for their 1970 debut album, Argent, was Russ Ballard – guitar, lead vocals, Rod Argent – organ, piano, vocals, Jim Rodford – bass (later on he played bass in The Kinks), Robert Henrit – drums (also a Kink later on).

It's a strong album with a rockier approach to things than The Zombies more orchestrated pop ways. Rod contributes some excellent organ to the album and Russ Ballard shows his commercial abilities to good effect. For example, Lies is a standout pop song.

In Deep is the band's fourth studio album. It includes their big hit God Gave Rock and Roll to You, another Russ Ballad effort. The rest of the album is a succession of heavier prog songs like It's Only Money. 

The vocals are also more layered on this album. The album liner notes by Rod indicate that it was a focus to improve the vocal sounds and this was job done, I believe. 

Nexus is my third Argent album coming from this visit to Real Groovy. All three were fairly dusty with fingerprint marks but a good clean with some warm water has improved all of them dramatically.

Nexus sounds HUGE. Try Infinite Wanderer and marvel at Rod's keyboards! They are brilliantly to the fore, and the band is wailing behind his lead. It helps if you turn this album up really loud too. Just sayin'.

The Brian Auger compilation is absolutely superb. Every track is a wonderful example of his genius, whether than be on piano (Listen Here) or organ (Inner City Blues). The man is a true master!

Jackie DeShannon (a.k.a. De Shannon) is someone I admire a lot and I continue to buy her albums whenever they cross my path. Lonely Girl is a compilation from 1968. Weirdly it avoids two of her big hits - When You Walk in the Room and What the World Needs Now Is Love.

However, it does include her version of Needles and Pins, and her own terrific songs like Lonely Girl and I Remember the Boy. It also has some of the bombastic pop of the sixties which hasn't aged that well.

Where do they all belong? I'm keen to eventually find the three albums that I'm missing from the Argent catalogue - their second album - Ring of Hands and their two post Russ Ballard albums from 1975 - Circus and Counterpoints.

The voyage (The Moody Blues) (LP 4446 - 4450)

The Moody Blues  Caught Live + Five (Vinyl, London Records, 1977) ****  

The Moody Blues  Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 (CD and DVD, Eagle Records, 2008) ****  

The Moody Blues  Hall of Fame (CD, Threshold/ Universal Records, 2008) ****  

The Moody Blues  Live at the BBC 1967 -1970 (CD, BBC Records, 1996) ****  

The Moody Blues  Transmissions 1966 - 1968 (CD, MCPS Records, 2008) ****  

Genre: Prog rock

Places I remember: Chaldon Books and Records (Caught Live), JB Hi Fi, Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Gypsy (Isle of Wight)

Gear costume: Legend of a Mind (Isle of Wight)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: Caught Live + Five was released in 1977 but it is made up of three sides live in 1969 at the Royal Albert Hall and five previously unreleased songs from 1967-1968.

The live versions are pretty faithful to the studio ones, albeit delivered with a musclier sound. The vocal blend is also a terrific feature of their live work in the late sixties. Amazing, given the comparatively primitive on stage monitors they had to use back then.

The five previously unreleased songs (one from Lodge, one from Pinder and three from Hayward) all sit very comfortably in the Moodies soundscape.

The Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 is an obsession of mine (I collect anything I can find from it) and I was thrilled that The Moody Blues were in the line-up. They are ragged and magnificent during their set - all jagged guitars and Graeme Edge is on fire! 

They start with an amped up version of Gypsy and then deliver a tight, focused, energised set. Ray's Legend of a Mind is particularly effective in a live setting. On both of these first two live selections Mike Pinder's mellotron is a real star turn - delivering all those orchestral flourishes without an actual orchestra. 

Side note - the expanded CD version is the better bet as the DVD has less songs. Still great to have the visuals though.

The Hall of Fame set is again from The Royal Albert Hall in London, but recorded in 2000, so it's great to compare it to Caught Live + Five. This time they had a real orchestra to help out (Mike Pinder was long gone by 2000). The versions are delightful on this live set and having an orchestra onboard certainly suits them.

The compilations of their BBC and radio broadcasts are the subject of two double CDs: Transmissions 1966 - 1968 and Live at the BBC 1967 - 1970. There is some duplication along the way on these two sets but they both present a terrific alternative sound/look to their studio output from those years.

Where do they all belong? As well as the above, my collection has some groovy DVDs of live shows: The Lost Performance - Live in Paris '70; A Night at Red Rocks (with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra); and a nifty documentary - Legend of a Band.

The voice (The Moody Blues) (LP 4441 - 4445)

The Moody Blues  Long Distance Voyager (Vinyl, Threshold Records, 1981) ****  

The Moody Blues  The Present (Vinyl, Threshold Records, 1983) ***  

The Moody Blues  The Other Side of Life (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1986) ***  

The Moody Blues  Sur La Mer (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1988) **  

The Moody Blues  Keys of the Kingdom (CD, Polydor Records, 1991) **  

Genre: Synth pop, prog rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Voice (Long Distance Voyager)

Gear costume: Gemini Dream (Long Distance Voyager), Your Wildest Dreams (The Other Side of Life)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: With Mike Pinder departing, the Moody Blues brought in keyboardist Patrick Moraz as a replacement. Patrick had been in Yes as a replacement for Rick Wakeman and now he was charged with the same duties in The Moody Blues. Sadly, that meant more synths, no mellotron. I am consoled by the fact that the synth presence is quite understated.

That still means the band sound more like Electric Light Orchestra than The Moody Blues at times (Gemini Dream) but overall Long Distance Voyager is a strong opening statement with The Voice a clear highlight on their first album of the eighties.

The Present was their eleventh album, and Patrick Moraz's second album as a Moodie. His synths are a little more intrusive than they were on Long Distance Voyager and while it has the usual Moody Blues' catchy melodies, it's lacking in pizzazz.

The Other Side of Life came three years after The Present, which came two years after Long Distance Voyager. The album was now on Polydor Records, rather than their own Threshold imprint. Given it's 1986, and Patrick Moraz is again involved (for the last time as it happened), the band was heavily reliant on synthesizers, sequencers and drum machines.  

Tony Visconti is in the producer role for this album, and he does a great job. I can even move past the synths because the songs are good, kicking off with Your Wildest Dreams - another Justin Hayward pearler.

Sur La Mer starts off again with a Justin Hayward pop song that has a catchy hook - I Know You're Out There Somewhere. It's the clear standout on a sub-par album.  That takes nothing away from Justin Hayward though, as he is a terrific musician and composer (I've already written about his solo albums here). 

Tony Visconti is again involved and so was Patrick Moraz, so that means so were those pesky eighties sounds - even more so on Sur La Mer. While the songs are still recognisable (just) as Moodies songs, the synth pop sound is a long way from their sixties'/ seventies' prog pomp. It's pretty telling that Ray Thomas does not appear on this album, although he hadn't left the band.

The final album on my list is Keys of the Kingdom from 1991. Ray is back, and so too is the pop sound without the synth pop of the previous two albums. That said, there were no hit songs off the album, and even Sur La Mer had one of those!

Where do they all belong? That's it for the studio albums. I am missing their last two albums - Strange Times (1999) and December (their Christmas album from 2003). So, live Moodies and a couple of compilations are next.

The balance (The Moody Blues) (LP 4438 - 4440)

The Moody Blues  A Question of Balance (Vinyl, Threshold Records, 1970) ***  

The Moody Blues  Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (Vinyl, Threshold Records, 1971) **** 

The Moody Blues  Seventh Sojourn (Vinyl and CD, Threshold Records, 1972) ***** 

The Moody Blues  Octave (Vinyl, Decca Records, 1978) *** 

Genre: Prog rock, pop 

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Story in Your Eyes (Every Good Boy...)

Gear costume: Question (A Question of Balance), I'm Just a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band) (Seventh Sojourn)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: The seventies started with the beginning of a move away from the lush arrangements of the sixties. Instead the band wanted to produce more straightforward songs that they could perform live. The first album with this intention was 1970's A Question of Balance. It still has some of the sixties characteristics but it is more stripped back overall.

A Question of Balance is again themed though - with the first side raising questions and the second looking for balance. It kicks off with the mighty Question - easily the best song on the album, although John Lodge's Tortoise and the Hare and Ray Thomas' And the Tide Rushes In are awesome as well. 

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour carries on the idea that the band's songs reflected the need to be easily transferable to a live setting. The Story in Your Eyes is a superb example - a real rocker from Justin Hayward. This time there was no unifying theme.

The album highlights all of the band's strengths: the mellotron sound, Justin's guitar, the inventive drumming from Graeme Edge, the melodic bass from John Lodge, catchy songs, strong vocal harmonies, the variety of voices and approaches by all five members - a gifted bunch of songwriters.

Seventh Sojourn was their eighth album overall, but seventh if you don't count The Magnificent Moodies album - the one pre Hayward/Lodge. It was actually the first album I bought by The Moody Blues while on a family holiday in Sydney, Australia. I've written about it before here, so I won't add this to the tally).

The band fell apart after Seventh Sojourn but regrouped with Octave, ironically in 1978, amidst the disco and punk wars. Steppin' in a Slide Zone was a reasonable song and a minor hit. Mike Pinder has a minimal presence on Octave, and he would quit the band during its recording. He brought a lot to the band - his distinctive vocals, keyboards (organ, piano and mellotron certainly, not the synths though) and songs and he would be missed! 

Octave doesn't hit the heights of the previous two albums, but it still sounds like The Moodies and has some spirited tracks, plus the gorgeous Driftwood.

Where do they all belong? The eighties are next...deep breath.

Fly me high (The Moody Blues) (LP 4433 - 4437)

The Moody Blues  A Dream  (Vinyl, Nova Records, 1976) ***  

The Moody Blues  Days of Future Passed (Vinyl and CD, Deram Records, 1967) ****  

The Moody Blues  In Search of the Lost Chord (Vinyl, Deram Records, 1968) ****  

The Moody Blues  On the Threshold of a Dream (Vinyl, Deram Records, 1969) ****  

The Moody Blues  To Our Children's Children's Children  (Vinyl, Threshold Records, 1969) ****  

Genre: Prog rock, pop 

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records, 

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Ride My See-Saw (In Search of the Lost Chord)

Gear costume: Legend of a Mind (In Search of the Lost Chord)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: I tend to think of the Moodies catalogue like I do Coronation Street, or The Beatles. As in: there was life before Nights in White Satin (substitute Corrie or The Fabs), but it wasn't up to much. This first post will take in the sixties albums by The Moody Blues.

A Dream is a compilation - a double album no less, that (according to the cover) selects songs 'from several singles, EP's and compilation-LP's. We hope that we have found them all, the nuggets of the pre-'Nights In White Satin'-time'.

That means it has all of their 1965 debut album - The Magnificent Moodies, plus more in that same style from 1965 to 1967. The band at this point was made up of  Denny Laine (guitar/ vocals), Clint Warwick (bass/ vocals), Mike Pinder (keyboards/ vocals), Ray Thomas (flute/ harmonica/ percussion/ vocals) and Graeme Edge (drums). Lead vocals were shared by Laine, Pinder and Thomas.

There were some original songs amid the covers of songs by artist like James Brown and Willie Dixon, but the set is dominated by the chart success of Go Now, sung by Denny Laine. Their single From the Bottom of My Heart is also a worthy inclusion on A Dream.

After 1967's Love and Beauty single (included on A Dream), The Moody Blues replaced Laine and Warwick with two new members - Justin Hayward (guitar/ vocals) and John Lodge (bass/ vocals).

I guess the original band thought they'd exhausted the R&B possibilities and decided to take a leap of faith into orchestral rock. Justin and John certainly helped to move the band in that direction - as well as Mike Pinder's innovative use of a mellotron. Together with abandoning songs from the American deep south that they couldn't relate to and writing their own songs, it was a vastly different band to the old Denny Laine version that created their second album.

Days of Future Past holds up in 2026 (and will do beyond the now). The year of Sgt Pepper was responsible for a revolution in sound and The Moody Blues made a great contribution. Obviously there is Nights in White Satin but I would go for Tuesday Afternoon as the album's best song.

It was really on album number three that the band sound coalesced in a convincing way, so in many ways Days of Future Past was like The Magnificent Moodies - a stand-alone album. With In Search for the Lost Chord, the band found their distinctive sound.

Days of Future Past had a definite concept - the tracing of a day from dawn until nighttime. In Search of the Lost Chord also had a concept but a much deeper and richer one around the theme of quest and discovery, including both world exploration and the inner self. Very sixties. It also had another classic Moody Blues song - Ride My See-Saw. Legend of a Mind and Voices in the Sky are other highlights on the album.

On the Threshold of a Dream was their fourth album. Its concept centres around the feeling that, thanks to psychedelic stimulation and the late sixties Woodstock generation, mankind was on the brink of a new consciousness - that a new enlightened age was dawning.

Sadly, it proved a false dawn (look at the world and its leaders in 2026 - complete absence of enlightenment there) but it made for an interesting concept for this group of songs.

Their final album of the sixties was To Our Children's Children's Children, also of 1969. These guys really loved the studio! The theme for this one was about space travel, specifically to the moon. which happened around the time of the recording sessions, and the impact of time passing by.

It was the last of their big lush productions. Two highlights: Gypsy and Watching and Waiting.

Where do they all belong? Next up - the seventies albums.

In my mind (John Lodge) (LP 3024 -3025)

John Lodge Natural Avenue (Vinyl, Decca Records, 1977) ***  

John Lodge 10,000 Light Years Ago (Vinyl, Esoteric Antenna Records, 2015) ***  

Genre: Pop, rock

Places I remember: Chaldon Books and Records (Caterham on the hill); Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: In My Mind (10,000 Light Years Ago)

Gear costume:  Natural Avenue

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: John Lodge is, of course, the bassist for The Moody Blues and at times part of a duo with fellow Moodie, Justin Hayward, in Blue Jays.

That description doesn't really do him credit as he's an excellent song-writer and vocalist in his own right. These are his only two solo studio albums. I'm not a completist for Moody Blues' solo efforts but I find myself buying them because I generally find them interesting and fun to listen to, so it's not a chore to buy them.

Natural Avenue was released in 1977, during the time The Moody Blues had gone into hibernation. It's a lush set of songs - very close to the Moody Blues in fact. Justin Hayward has a better vocal presence and John is more of a harmony vocalist than a lead singer, so this is a bit of a weakness in a solo setting.

It took a while for the second solo album to arrive - 38 years! The Moodies links are here still, with both Ray Thomas and Mike Pinder making an appearance on one track (Simply Magic). 

The music is a few leaps ahead of Natural Avenue, with Chris Spedding playing some great David Gilmour-esque cosmic guitar solos on the album. John's vocals are also presented better in the mix on this album, except for Lose Your Love where he sounds like latter day Dylan. The album has a really good side 1 and a disappointing side 2.

Where do they all belong? A nice guy (by all accounts) and a nice brace of solo adventures.

Have you heard? (The Moody Blues) (LP 328)

The Moody Blues Live at the BBC: 1967–1970 (Deram, 2007) ***

Genre:  Progressive rock 

Places I remember: HMV Oxford St., London (now goneburger!)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Lovely To See you




Gear costume:  Ride My See-Saw, Question

Active compensatory factors:  These tracks, all cut live for the teen beat programmes hosted by the BBC, are great to have on a double CD.

The quality is patchy though, it must be said. The first version of See-Saw is ragged as. So is Peak Hour.

But the good news is that there are enough rough diamonds to make the purchase and repeat listens worthwhile.


Where do they all belong? This is one for the fans really. Even then, it's a nice to have, rather than a must have.