ANTHONY PHILLIPS - THE ARCHIVE COLLECTION VOLUME ONE (2 CD) - 1998

Most of the albums in the Private Parts & Pieces series actually consist of tracks that never made into an album of their own but are rather compilations of various tracks that span several years of Anthony Phillip's musical creations. There are a few really good P P & P that have tracks that were totally conceived for the album on which they reside (number III of those being my favorite), not to say that compilation albums aren't worthwhile.

If ever there was an album worthy of the description "Collectors/fans only" this would be it. It's really not a poor album. Twenty-eight tracks altogether. Twelve are "demo" meaning they are available in other places in polished form. Ideal for those of you who may be newly converted fans that not only prefer to go through an artist's work chronologically but feel a need to hear the rough version before the final. There's a few alternate takes and mixes, topped off with eight tracks that I don't think show up anywhere else.

What I find most interesting about this compilation are the Rutherford/Phillips tracks recorded between From Genesis To Revelation and Tresspass, especially since this was such a radical change in the band between albums. So, you put the whole package together and it's not bad. Most of the tracks have detailed notes on their origins. Quality of the recordings vary, but that's to be expected when you're pulling stuff out of the vaults that may not even of been great quality in the first place. Still, the lower quality stuff would not have been included if they weren't interesting in their own right.

Sometimes when exploring a new artist, you might want to go for a compilation, just not one with "Best Of" in the title. This one of course makes no such pretense. And if you are starting to explore the works of Anthony Phillips, I wouldn't recommend starting here. That honor has to go The Geese And The Ghost, of which by the way, there is a demo of the title track from 1969 and of God If I Saw Her Now from 1970.
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