MIDAS MAN

This kind of a compilation is a serious insult to the uninformed listener. Nowhere on the package is it said that these cuts are NOT the official studio versions but low-fidelity versions. I can't even say after listening are they concert tapings or live-in-the-studio or what. If real live material, applauses are carefully removed. Only on 'Brazilian Skies' (p1997) I noticed some applause, ironically, because it sounded much clearer than the rest, as it is a newer cut.

Track listings include a production year, which are in most cases earlier than the album release years. But even they seem to include some kind of obscurity. For example, 'Kings And Queens' (from the first album, 1969) has the year p1973. Maybe the original line-up gave a concert then? Hardly! But then, 'Northern Lights' is given p1977 (year before the release of Song For All Seasons), and yet you hear the later short- lived line-up with The Other Woman than Annie Haslam. Also 'Ocean Gypsy' (p1976) version has her as the vocalist. Sorry I forgot her name, Stephanie Adlington or something like that. And does the three-page band history mention her name? No!

OK, with the relevant information concerning the origin of these recordings this COULD be a decent fan- oriented compilation. At least the track listing is pretty fine, if not excellent (depending on your appetite towards the heavily included Song For All Seasons), and the sound quality is in many cases not VERY bad, considering. But when you are totally taken by surprise, it makes you angry. By the way, the two discs are not full length CD's as one might expect from a double compilation; both are under 50 minutes. One more ridiculous detail: the second disc is titled as a bonus CD even if there are no visible reasons for such hierarchy. I got this for my library at ten euros price. I must warn the customers about the sound quality!

I can't actually recommend this cheapie to fans either (but I must confess that the contents deserve two stars easily. With the information I'd give three stars). If you are seeking for a proper Renaissance compilation, the 2-disc Da Capo with its (nearly) chronological running order will do, even if it may have bit too much commercial-sounding material from 1979 onwards.