22-track collection containing all of Pilot's A & B sides including 4 tracks never before released on CD. EMI. 2004.
CD Reviews
A little More Magic
Tony James | Canadarocks | 12/22/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Stuart Tosh, William Lyall and David Paton oddly enough hit upon the name Pilot by taking the first letters of their last names and adding a couple of vowels to them. They were from Edinburgh but found a recording contract at EMI and added Ian Bairnson from the first sessions. "Magic" of course their one big hit in North America but they had more success in England and Australia. This isn't a bad compilation, its just a matter of becoming familiar with the songs. We could really use some samples here on Amazon so that those who have never heard of many of Pilot's songs can sample them."
The good is good and the bad is bad.
Darren Robinson | Australia | 04/28/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"People speak of Pilot as one hit wonders, but here in Australia "January " was also a big hit, endlessly topping the Countdown charts week after week in 1975.
I hadn't ever heard any other Pilot songs, but I was feeling nostalgic for some quality pop and so I bought this CD, as it contains Magic and January.
I set the CD player to "shuffle" and was very disappointed that the first 3 songs were lamely written, lamely arranged, and had high-pitched harmonies that sounded like a nightmare combination of the Bee-Gees and the Muppets.
Immediately I made a mental note to put the CD up on Ebay for some other mug to buy ! Fortunately, it seems my CD player has a sense of humour, it had picked the 3 worst tracks out of the 22 to play first, thereafter everything I heard was quality pop. Whew, what a relief."
Good Music Lives!
W. T. Waldron | Sparta, Illinois United States | 06/18/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I know most of you will look at this because you are already a fan of Pilot...and will therefor know this, but for you Pilot "newbies" you should know that their first album ( with thier big hit "Magic") was produced by Alan Parsons. In fact the members Pilot became the intial core of the Alan Parson's Project. David P. is a one of a kind vocalist and Ian B.is one of the best, most tasteful gutarists around.
If you enjoy good pop music with great tunes and catchy hooks...buy this CD today."
Scottish group of the mid-seventies
Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 06/03/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"With just two his that were big enough to stay long in the memory, plus two minor hits, I'm glad they didn't call this a greatest hits package. All the hits are here together with all the other A-sides that missed the charts, plus all the B-sides and three album tracks. There are actually nine A-sides and ten B-sides, because one of the singles was released on two separate occasions, the B-side being different on the second release.
Two of the founder members (David Paton and Billy Lyall) actually met first as members of an embryonic Bay City Rollers, but both had departed from that group before they became famous. They went their separate ways but eventually met up again (it wasn't planned) and played around with a few musical ideas. Eventually, they teamed up with Stuart Tosh and became Pilot, the P, L, and T being taken from the first letters of their surnames.
Pilot's debut album, titled From the album of the same name, was released in 1974 but didn't do much business, nor did their debut single, Just a smile. At some point in 1974, Ian Bairnson became a fully-fledged member of the group, having played on one track on their debut album. Pilot made their breakthrough with their second single, Magic, which just missed the British top ten, and which became their only big hit in America. Pilot had their biggest British hit with their third single, January, which really did enter the charts in January 1975, but which made number one, ironically, on the first of February. It stayed there for four weeks after which it understandably dropped quickly down and out of the charts. At that point, it looked as if Pilot were set to have at least a few more big hits, but it was not to be. Their second album charted, but only just and then only for one week. Call me round, their next single, was only a minor hit, as was the re-issue of Just a smile (with, as mentioned earlier, a different B-side). Subsequent singles failed to chart at all.
Pilot split up but the individual members enjoyed considerable success as session musicians or as members of other groups, so proving that they were highly regarded within the music industry. Sadly, Billy Lyall died in 1989, but at the time this album was compiled, all the others were continuing their successful careers. Meanwhile, this album serves as a reminder of the music that they recorded as Pilot. My guess is that if you like other mainstream British pop groups of the seventies such as Mud and Smokie, you'll probably like Pilot too. As for the Bay City Rollers, let's just say that I won't be reviewing any compilations of their music."
Track Listings (22) - Disc #1