Search - Various Artists :: History of British Rock 1

Great representation of a remarkable musical history

Judzo | Arizona, USA | 07/15/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you enjoyed or want to discover what the British Invasion was about, this series is the best possible way to do it. Each disc is filled with great music. The value is remarkable. There is an enormous number of songs of each disc. These discs are a great addition to anybody's music library and really chart the dramatic change in music brought about by the Beatles whose coattails brought to light numerous other bands as well."

Ambitious Series From Rhino/Capitol/EMI

08/19/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When this first volume in an ambitious series first appeared in CD format in 1988 it put all but a few CDs at that time to shame because, instead of the usual 10- to 12-track offerings they were giving us 20 and, with each volume, we also got comprehensive liner notes [upwards of 11 pages] whereas most of the others contained nothing in that respect.



But from the advantage of hindsight, and considering that the target audience was mainly those North American fans who experienced the notorious British Invasion, it seems they included with each volume too many selections by British artists who never actually got into an invasion craft, never mind land on the beach.



Here, for example, tracks 16, 17, 19 and 20 made no impact whatsoever over here which means, in effect, it became a 16-track set. Indeed, the only thing by The Ivy League to rate in North America was Tossing And Turning [not to be confused with the Bobby Lewis hit] which reached a lowly # 83 in September 1965 for the Cameo label. No one hear even heard of the other three.



The AAD sound reproduction is generally good to excellent and the notes include several small b&w pictures of some of the artists. Most of the recognizable hits have since appeared on many more such compilations, although tracks 12 and 15 are not that easy to find in quality, CD format.



"

The British are coming

Johnny Heering | Bethel, CT United States | 03/20/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is the first CD in Rhino Records ambitious History of British Rock series. That title is not really acurate, though, because it doesn't include anything from the pre-Beatles era. Instead, it is focused on recordings from mid-1963 to mid-1965. There are several notable omissions, though, including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Dave Clark Five and Herman's Hermits. But there is still a lot of good stuff here. You get great offerings from the likes of The Kinks, Peter & Gordon, The Zombies, The Swinging Blue Jeans, The Yardbirds, The Honeycombs and The Searchers. And you also get some lousy offerings from the likes of The Hullaballoos and Tommy Quickly. But I guess by including both the good and the bad, you get a more balanced picture of what the British Invasion was like. Obviously, they couldn't all be winners. I would recommend this CD to anyone who has an interest in the music of the British Invasion."