WORKSHOP OF THE TELESCOPES

This is an excellent comp for BOC newbies, which I was when I bought it. Obviously, disk 1 is superior, containing tracks from the first few classic albums, as well as some live stuff. It doesn't go back to Stalk Forrest Group days, but that's no problem. All the greats are here, Astronomy, the Reaper, Stairway to the Stars, Career of Evil etc. In order to give a complete career overview, disk two covers the band's career from Agents of Fortune onwards, which means a lot of 80s stuff. I don't mind tracks like Perfect Water and Burnin' for You, which are decent AOR, but some of the later stuff is pretty weak. For some reason, Imaginos didn't make the cut, but I'm not a fan of that album, so I don't mind. And it was downright stupid to include cover versions of Kick out the Jams, We Gotta Get Out of This Place and Born to be Wild when there are so many great BOC originals to choose from. That alone bumps my rating from four to three. The booklet contains a decent essay and some photos of memorabilia. If you want to get into the BOC, this is a good introduction that shows the band's development from biker boogie to slick adult rock, with plenty of proggy, spooky moments in between. Now that I have all the albums, it still makes for a great comp to bring in the car on road trips. On your feet or on your knees!

I think this is the most complete compilation for anyone's looking toward this band for the first time. A double cd boxset for over 150 minutes all. The whole disc 1 is dedicated to the so called "black and white" period (1972-1975) featuring many tracks from the three studio albums plus very inspired live tracks from the superb "On Your Feet or on Your Knees" album. Highly recommended.

Disc 2 is also great but obviously shows a more commercial side of the band that started off from 1976 on, with the famous album Agents of Fortune and its memorable track "(Don't Fear) The Reaper". Unfortunately 1979 album Mirrors is only represented by the Lanier's pop tune (very good by the way) "In Thee". The most interesting tracks from that album are completely missing ("The Great Sun Jester", "The Vigil"). Two live albums as Some Enchanted Evening and Extra Terrestrial Live (this one criminally represented by one track, the explosive and hardest "Dominance and Submission" originally released on Secret Treaties). Disc 2 ends with 1986 album Club Ninja.

Ok some of the most interesting tracks are really missing on both the discs: for disc 1 "Wings Wetted Down" for example. Obviously is the second disc to be miss the most due to the larger period of years (1976-1986).

Unfortunately Imaginos was not included with any of its songs. I don't know the reason why but it was certainly a bad decision.

All in all, a very useful starting point for newcomers. I recommend you to look for the recent excellent Columbia remasters.