Cream of The Crate: Album # 200 - Australian Compilation: The Complete Havoc Singles (1971 - 1973]

"A really stunning & great looking digi-pack from Aztec Records, compiling all the singles from the Australian Havoc Records label in the 70's." (Record Heaven)
"An excellent collection of early 70's Australian Rock / Pop/." (Rock On Vinyl)
"Aztec Music prides itself on preserving Australia's rich music history and with this release, they do it with class and style." (This review)




This is album review number Two Hundred in the series of retro-reviews of both vinyl and CD albums from my collection.
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"Rubber Soul was an indication of the ways things were going to go - it's one of my favourite albums. I think it's a great album." (George Martin)
"Our whole attitude was changing - we'd grown up a little. I think grass was really influential in a lot of our changes, especially with the writers." (Ringo)
"Was it their best? maybe, maybe not - but I think it was the most critical album in their development!". (This review)



This is album review number One Hundred and Ninety Three in the series of retro-reviews of both vinyl and CD albums from my collection.
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"Frost's voice can only be termed superbly classic." (Blues Access No.27 1996)
"Played blues as intensely as you would ever witness."( Matt Marshall (M C Records) American Blues Scene Magazine March 14, 2007)
"Frank Frost is a ripper - his voice, his harmonica playing and his vocal delivery is faultless." (This review)



This is album review number One Hundred and Eighty Eight in the series of retro-reviews of both vinyl and CD albums from my collection.
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“Icehouse LP a stunner for Flowers."(Mark Trevorrow - The Sun October 15, 1980)
"The album is replete with killer material." (Bruce Laird - Beat December 2010)
"Let's face it, they had it all - the sound, great compositions, a great front man and, the right look for the time."(This review)



This is album review number One hundred and eighty in the series of retro-reviews of both vinyl and CD albums from my collection.
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"Memphis Minnie was one of the premier blues artists." (msbluestrail)
"One of the most prolific blues singers in history."(Woman With A Guitar - Memphis Minnie's Blues by Paul and Beth Garon)
"Minnie helped form the roots of electric Chicago blues, as well as R&B and rock 'n' roll" (Memphis Music Hall of Fame, on Memphis Minnie)



This is album review number one hundred and sixty three in the series of retro-reviews of both vinyl and CD albums from my collection.
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"I am excited about Stage Fright, if not totally moved." (John Burke - Rolling Stone 1979)
"Despite mixed reviews, Stage Fright made it to No. 5 on the Billboard chart, the highest position for any Band album" (The Second Disc review)
“Energetic Rock mixed with a tad of resignation over what was and could have been.“(This review)



This is album review number one hundred and fifty nine in the series of retro-reviews of both vinyl and CD albums from my collection.
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"The Animals was a bunch of egotists." (Eric Burdon)
"No white singer of the British beat boom sounded blacker than the Animals' Eric Burdon, and no English band of the era deserved to sing the blues more."(Rolling Stone)



This is album review number one hundred and fifty two in the series of retro-reviews of both vinyl and CD albums from my collection.
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"The "Ariel Live" album is a fitting testament to a unique Phenomenon in Australian Rock History." (Rock On Vinyl)
"Ariel was a prog rock band with a big production show, and were one of the first bands to tour with a complete light show and PA rig.(Spectrum: ABC)
"Ariel was a genuine 'supergroup."(Milesago)



This is album review number one hundred and fifty in the series of retro-reviews of both vinyl and CD albums from my collection.
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"Ray of Light is her maternity album as well as her avant-dance album.” (Rolling Stone April 1998)
"I think this album is the best written lyrically; it’s very colorful and brilliant, like a "Ray of Light." (music-critic .com)



This is album review number one hundred and forty three in the series of retro-reviews of both vinyl and CD albums from my collection.
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"Leadbelly left his mark on his era; his steel voice, his steel on the twelve strings and his high voltage personality captured audiences everywhere.” (Alan Lomax)
"He bequeathed to us also, it is true, a couple of hundred of the best songs any of us will ever know." (Pete Seeger)
"The blues is like this. You lay down some night and you turn from one side of the bed to the other all night long. It's not too cold in that bed, and it ain't too hot. But what's the matter? The blues has got you." (Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter)



This is album review number one hundred and forty two in the series of retro-reviews of both vinyl and CD albums from my collection.
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"Lou Reed: an art-rock pioneer, whose subtlety and darkness blazed significant trails for counter-culture music.” (New Music Express)
"Lou understood pain and he understood beauty. And he knew that these two are often intertwined and that was what energized them." (Laurie Anderson)
"There's a bit of magic in everything." (Lou Reed)



This is album review number one hundred and forty one in the series of retro-reviews of both vinyl and CD albums from my collection.
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"This album tries to capture the best (and probably the worst) aspects of music during those self consciously excessive years.” (Album liner notes)
"Taking up where Volume 1 left off, when psychedelia and soul were becoming more trendy than Merseybeat and mod." (Allmusic Review)



This is album review number one hundred and thirty five in the series of retro-reviews of both vinyl and CD albums from my collection.
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"In Australia in the early '70s, the Dingoes took the lead in the worldwide shift toward the country-influenced rock sparked by the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers, also inspiring the Eagles."( Ed Nimmervoll)

"The Dingoes had become huge in Australia with singles such as Way Out West and Boy On The Run, with their own gritty and evocative home-grown vision that seemed to fairly crackle with the harsh sun and red dust of the Australian landscape.." (The Sydney Morning Herald)


This is album review number one hundred and twenty five in the series of retro-reviews of both vinyl and CD albums from my collection.
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"It was weird." (Barbara Charone - Sounds: February 1977)
" . . . he can still be weird when he wants; he likes dramatic orchestration and studio wizardry." (Stephen Demorest: Rolling Stone May 1977)



Album Cover

This is album number one hundred and eighteen in the series of retro-reviews of both vinyl and Cd albums in my collection.

The series is called "Cream of The Crate " and each review represents an album that I believe is of significant musical value, either because of it's rarity, because it represents the best of a style or styles of music or because there is something unique about the group or the music.
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"in earlier times The Ventures were a unit unstoppably tight and resonant both live and on record.." (Julian Cope - Head Heritage

"The Ventures infuse the predictable playlist with clever rock & roll flourishes" (Rolling Stone)


Album Cover

This is album number one hundred and nine in the series of retro-reviews of both vinyl and Cd albums in my collection.
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