Epic Forest - Rare Bird

Advantages: A great album and great value to boot
Disadvantages: Why have "the rest" when "the rare" and "the raw" are so good?

..., a band will put out a collection of rare material. It’s not a greatest hits, as there aren’t often any hits on there. Although some of the material may have already appeared in other countries, or hidden away on the B-Sides of singles, the album-focussed UK public will probably not own them. Both Anthrax (“Attack of the Killer B’s”) and Def Leppard (“Retroactive”) used this idea in 1994. Giving new insights into the bands concerned and, in Def Leppard’s case, providing fans with a better album than some previous studio efforts, this was truly music for the fans. And then, in 1999, came Thunder’s “The Rare, The Raw and the Rest”. Beating both albums mentioned before out of sight, it's a great example of Thunder's work, and a fine pop-rock album with a distinctive blues influence. And with eleven tracks that had never been available... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Its another one to add to the collection and is a nice collection of B-Side songs.
Disadvantages: Its a bit pricey for what you get.

...I thought I'd take the time out to express my views on this little baby since no one else has! I suppose the best way to start this is to clarify that this is more of a collectors item than anything else. It has a total of 13 tracks shared out onto 3 CDs. The only problem is the price. Its normally priced between about £20 (if your lucky) and £30, of course I paid the latter. It is however an interesting listen. CD1 the LIVE CD is Give it Away, Suck My Kiss, I Could Have Lied and Nobody Weird Like Me all taken from a gigs. They are good as live tracks go and also have their trademark improvised fills. Good Vibes. CD2 the RARE CD has 4 non-album tracks. They are Soul to Squeeze, Fela's C**k, Sikamikanico and Search & Destroy. The first, Soul to Squeeze is featured on the (Pretty poor in my opinion) film Coneheads... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Heavy AND progressive
Disadvantages: Still fairly inaccessible

...Cathedral’s first full length album was released in 1991, and was received by doom fans as a revelation. It’s awesome heaviness tempered by a touch of melancholy melody through the addition of flutes and pianos. The album intro, a mournful acoustic passage with a haunting flute melody, leads slowly into the dark and dingy realm of Commiserating the Celebration, the epic album opener. The double tracked guitars here give the song a greater depth than was the case with most of the songs on In Memoriam, but the vocals were as brutal as ever, if not more so. The riff is very slow at first but builds up to a more middling pace as the song goes on. This gives the song a rather merciless feeling to it, as the rhythm never lets up. Good use is made of Gary Jenning’s awesome skills as a lead guitarist, as usual. Ebony... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful