HERE COME THE NICE: THE IMMEDIATE ANTHOLOGY

This 3 CD set is an economic (but value for your hard earned groat) package. The first 2 CDs contain, more or less, the first three albums. They leave aside the bonus tracks on The Nice which is fair enough as they are not that noticeably different from the album versions you have just heard whistle by on CD2 of Here Comes The Nice. The first CD kicks off with the hit The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack, title and initial acronym for then four piece Nice. After some John Peel (R.I.P.) comments the album proper kicks in and the CD continues to include the first half of the next album. Incidentally John Peel does not seem to think The Nice are a waste of talent and electricity ? like what he thought of their successors ELP. Possibly this (otherwise perplexing idea) may be due to the fact ELP did not need Peel as they were all tolerably well known among the rock community. Now we kick off CD 2 with Ars Longa Vita Brevis but not the 13 seconds of Don Edito el Gruva that is on the actual album. Completists ? well, you know what you have to do. The rest of us enjoy the rest of this disc and The Nice (1969) concludes it. The point of this anthology is to present the Nice when they were an existing band and it works very well. Including rare material along with the albums makes this 3 CD set (with poster and all details thereon, 3 slim line cases housed in cardboard exterior. The third CD is a mixture of live tracks (otherwise unavailable.) It's a terrific one stop shop for The Nice. One can add in to your collection ? if you want - Five Bridges, Elegy (this set does have a version of The Brandenburger Concerto a feature of Elegy), the Swedish Radio Sessions (and to me) that Fillmore East Live CD is tempting. Hopefully a most complete BBC recordings set will be available. So what ratings? It deserves a five star for being economic (as it was for me) thorough and not duplicating material ? a one stop shop indeed. But a five star album is a life changing experience is it not? Well, it could be, if so, fine. But as a worthy adjunct, an easy reference and a great listen (the re-mastering is pristine) I have to give it four stars at least. This rating does not mean the albums are necessarily that great (I have difficulty with the vocal on Dawn for example, Roger Waters would have done it SO much better, but clearly Pink Floyd were not in the studio (though they had been on tour with The Nice.) So opinions on the various albums equally vary but as an album collection this is first rate. A fine place to begin (or have) a Nice collection.

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