I present:
Let me steal all Jimmy Page style from allmusic.com:
"The Pretty Things were the also-rans of the British Invasion, a band that never got its due. Despite this lack of recognition, they were never quite ignored, cultivating a passionate cult that stuck with them through the decades -- a cult that was drawn to either their vicious early records, where they sometimes seemed like a meaner version of the Rolling Stones, or to their 1968 psychedelic masterwork S.F. Sorrow. Some of their fans advocate for the entirety of their catalog, noting how the group adeptly shifted with the times."
Consider me one of those fans, you cretins. A major 13 CD box set was issued on them back in February but for some reason was only available until recently (in the US)
Bouquets From A Cloudy Sky is well worth the money. Certainly beats the snot out of other box sets I purchased that were far more costly. More Page theft:
"It is a hefty box in every sense: 13 CDs, supplemented with two DVDs, accompanied by a gorgeous hardcover book and a variety of tchotchkes, including a poster that traces the twisted family trees and time lines of the band and, just as helpfully, replicas of legal documents that explain why the group didn't retain rights to its recordings for years. Such explicatory details are necessary because the Pretty Things do indeed have a long, convoluted story, a story that is told in its entirety on Bouquets from a Cloudy Sky, released to commemorate the band's 50th Anniversary. Every one of the band's studio albums is here, beginning with 1965's brutal eponymous debut and ending with 2007's surprisingly sturdy Balboa Island, all presented in good remasters dating from the late '90s and supplemented with bonus tracks that have been in circulation on previous reissues."
For a band that I know so little about (and I cannot agree they were ever part of the limey "mod" scene although many say otherwise - fuck them) you can tell they have a huge influence on Pete Townshend and Mick Jagger. Why they so little success is a rock 'n' roll mystery. Could be they never could shake their psychedelic/garage sound. Who knows? Pretty Things were pre-Spinal Tap only much, much better. A compilation well worth from start to finish - once I get past the first disc. I just keep on playing it over and over.
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Originally Posted by Seshmeister
