GUITARISSIMO 75-82

Like many of the prog band collections I own, this was an early compilations released by the record label (in this case E'G) to test the level of interest in the band before releasing the individual CDs. This one turned out to be one of the better of those compilations.

Phil Manzanera actually produced this collection, so the tracks seemed to have been selected with care. Although there are a few tracks that I would have included that Manzanera did not (Miss Shapiro is number one on that list), the song selection does a nice job of coverring the diverse range of Manzanera's solo albums.

The songs all come from Manzanera's first five solo albums: Diamond Head, 801 Live, Listen Now, K-Scope and Primitive Guitars, which all happen to be his best albums, in my no-so-humble opinion.

And Manzanera decided to blend each song together with an overlapping effect, similar to The Moody Blues' This Is... compilation. It serves the songs well, and gives the album a good flow.

If you want a taste of the early Manzanera albums, I highly recommend this disk.