SUNSHINE DAY, THE PYE/BRONZE ANTHOLOGY

"Sunshine day" is a well put together compilation of three consecutive releases by Osibisa from the mid to late 1970's. The story of these three albums is of a band being pulled in different directions. Gerry Bron's Bronze records, who had managed the band for some time, persuaded them to sign for the label. Once signed the band were encouraged to move in a more commercial direction, and to come up with singles orientated songs. "Welcome home" and "Ojah awake", both released in 1976, reflect this significantly. The band left Bronze thereafter, and recorded their next album without a contract. This afforded them the freedom to do what they felt most comfortable doing. Once the recordings were completed, they then sought a deal with a record label. Pye records picked them up, resulting in the release of the material as "Mystic energy", which has a noticeably different feel to the other two albums.

Since the period covered is well after the band's most progressive period, the music here is generally of a more commercial nature, as evidenced by the compilation's hugely successful title track. Hidden away among the other singles orientated pieces such as the whimsical "The coffee song" and "Warrior" however are some Osibisa classics. These include the Santana like "Sakabo", the emotive "Flying bird", and the lilting "Sunset", originally a non-album track, but included on the CD release of "Mystic Energy".

While the ethnic rhythms of the band's native Ghana are still dominant throughout, they are often sanitised to fit better into the disco market which was clearly the target of the singles extracted from these albums.

The tracks included here from the "Mystic energy" album reflect the original LP release rather than the expanded CD version, although space is found for two of the four extra tracks from the CD. The collection closes with two 12" versions of tracks from "Mystic energy".

A worthy compilation for those who wish to taste the music of this long lasting and highly gifted outfit. Do not however mistake "Sunshine day" for an anthology covering the band's entire career. This collection does not include anything from their earliest prog related albums.

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