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As ambitious, and as seemingly impossible, as this project may seem: capturing the essentials of one of music's most prolific and remarkable eras on just three discs, Hip-O’s
The British Invasion 1963-1967, more than succeeds in culling the sonic necessities that defined a generation and set the stage for the San Francisco
counter-attack of the mid-sixties.
This set delivers a chronological musical summary of the Invasion’s amazingly varied progression in just five years: from
its mellow beginnings and one-hit-wonders (Dusty Springfield’s, “I Only Want To Be With You,” The Merseys’, “Sorrow”), to harder-edged, guitar driven monster classics (The Kinks’, “You Really Got Me,” The Who’s, “My Generation”) and following through to singer-songwriter offerings from Donovan and Cat Stevens and ending with the more Psychedelic and Progressive
sound that evolved with cuts from Procol Harum (“Whiter Shade of Pale”), The Move (“Flowers in the Rain”) and Traffic (“Paper Sun”).
As with all compilations that strive to be the definitive summary of a genre,
there are the unavoidable and excusable omissions. With this box there's no Dave Clarke
Five, Herman's Hermits or Rolling Stones. That said, these 54 tracks are an accurate and toe-tapping encapsulation that will satisfy the collectors looking to augment their respective
libraries with a true cross-section of music's most exciting period.
Fine liner notes and pictures accompany the set and nicely round out
the package. |
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