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Various Artists - Acid Drops, Spacedust & Flying Saucers: Psychedelic Confectionery

Track listing:
Volume 1
  1. So Much In Love - Mcgough And Mcgear 4:01
  2. 10,000 Words In A Cardboard Box - Aquarian Age 3:26
  3. Flower Ring Of Flies - The Nice 3:17
  4. Dream On My Mind - Rupert's People 3:24
  5. Reputation - Shy Limbs 3:32
  6. Vacuum Cleaner - Tintern Abbey 3:05
  7. Light Of Your Mind - The David 2:51
  8. I Can Take You To The Sun - The Misunderstood 3:39
  9. Dear Delilah - Grapefruit 2:27
  10. Shine On Brightly - Procol Harum 3:33
  11. The Fox Has Gone To Ground - Bamboo Shoot 2:52
  12. Armenia City In The Sky - The Who 3:13
  13. 10,000 Years Behind My Mind - Focus Three 2:15
  14. Gone Is The Sad Man - Timebox 3:44
  15. Peter's Birthday - World Of Oz 2:55
  16. Subway (Smokey Pokey World) - The Tickle 2:41
  17. Meditations - Felius Andromeda 4:09
  18. Nite Is A-Comin' - Warm Sounds 3:00
Volume 2
  1. Flight From Ashiya - Kaleidoscope 2:41
  2. The Way - July 4:14
  3. Witches Hat - Incredible String Band 2:33
  4. Celeste - Donovan 4:09
  5. Mind's Eye - Rameses & Selket 2:42
  6. Shades Of Orange - The End 2:41
  7. Love - Virgin Sleep 2:25
  8. Pools Of Blue - Barclay James Harvest 3:08
  9. Monday Morning - Tales Of Justine 3:23
  10. Girl From New York - Billy Nicholls 3:19
  11. Red Sky At Night - The Accent 3:13
  12. Am I The Red One - Mick Softley 2:31
  13. Laura's Garden - Orange Bicycle 3:14
  14. Baby Your Phrasing Is Bad - Caleb 3:17
  15. Magician - Amazing Friendly Apple 3:23
  16. We Are The Moles Part 1 - The Moles 4:33
  17. Michael Angelo - The 23rd Turnoff 2:25
  18. Screams In The Ears - Bill Fay 3:25
Volume 3
  1. Granny Takes A Trip - Purple Gang 2:36
  2. My Friend Jack - Smoke 3:06
  3. Impostors Of Life's Magazine - Idle Race 2:18
  4. Talkin' About The Good Times - Pretty Things 3:43
  5. Hurdy Gurdy Man - Donovan 3:12
  6. Time Seller - Spencer Davis Group 2:51
  7. Say You Don't Mind - Denny Laine 3:10
  8. I Can Hear The Grass Grow - Move 2:57
  9. See My Friends - Kinks 2:43
  10. The L. S. Bumble Bee - Peter Cook & Dudley Moore 2:45
  11. Happenings Ten Years Time Ago - Yardbirds 2:56
  12. Green Circles - Small Faces 2:42
  13. King Midas In Reverse - Hollies 3:08
  14. The Days Of Pearly Spencer - David Mcwilliams 2:34
  15. From The Underworld - Herd 3:18
  16. Sky Pilot - Eric Burdon & The Animals 7:38
  17. Paper Sun - Traffic 4:12
  18. Kites - Simon Dupree & The Big Sound 3:44
Volume 4
  1. Colour Of My Mind - The Attack 2:29
  2. Searchin' In The Wilderness - Allen Pound's Get Rich 3:18
  3. Father's Name Is Dad - Fire 2:32
  4. Dr. Crippen's Waiting Room - The Orange Machine 3:02
  5. Model Village - Penny Peeps 2:53
  6. Run And Hide - The Fairytale 2:30
  7. Strange Walking Man - Mandrake Paddle Steamer 3:13
  8. When My Mind Is Not Live - The Status Quo 2:48
  9. In Your Tower - The Poets 2:32
  10. Listen To The Sky - Sands 3:45
  11. Octopus - Syd Barrett 3:46
  12. The Otherside - The Apple 3:18
  13. I'm Not Your Stepping Stone - The Flies 2:40
  14. Machines - Herbal Mixture 2:04
  15. Revolution (Phased Version) - Tomorrow 3:48
  16. You've Got What I Want - The Sorrows 1:59
  17. Royston Rose - The Koobas 3:52
  18. Escalator - Sam Gopal 2:50

Notes

Aug 1965 - Jan 1969

Although perhaps a little too similar to volume two of the highly regarded Nuggets series, Acid Drops, Spacedust, & Flying Saucers, compiled by the fine folks at Britain's (in fact, the world's) finest music magazine, Mojo, is the perfect introduction to the rise and fall of British psychedelia. Rather than chart the influence of British music on its surroundings and colonies (as done by Nuggets) Acid Drops takes an easier route. The Nuggets collection focused on all manner and strains of the old empire's R&B, freakbeat, mod, and psychedelic scenes, whilst Acid Drops dissects and inspects the solely British mutation from beat/pop (signified by the Kinks' quasi-raga "See My Friends") into full-blown psychedelia (from the most commercial to most underground of guises). For the hardened collector and avid fanatic, Space Dust will bring few surprises. There's a hefty weight of British hits and a delve through the type of major-label material that missed the mark at the time but has since become legendary through contributor Phil Smee's '80s psychedelic compilation series, Rubbles, that anyone bitten by the bug will be familiar with. What will make purchase of this -- it must be said, rather cheaply packaged box -- essential is the superior sound quality (all tracks have been remastered at Abbey Road) and the interesting liner booklet, which if not a little skimpy, features a superb essay in which Jon Savage chronicles the evolution and devolution of British music's most quirky, imaginative, and brief of genres.

Alongside the short running time (why the hell have EMI held back to only 18 tracks per CD, whilst Rhino made the effort to fill their Nuggets set to spilling point?) and minor quips, like the edited beginning of the Smoke's tremolo-infused classic "My Friend Jack" and the inclusion of the pretty much non-psychedelic "Granny Takes a Trip" by jug band the Purple Gang, this is still a very decent set which takes into account the different sides of U.K. psych. And as said, although rather preliminary for those seeking new thrills, this holds the very essence of the cause and effect the genre had on the changing face of the British music scene from 1965-1969. Practically none of this music has aged badly, and for some reason, however pompous and ridiculous a lot is, it still sounds as invigorating as the day it was recorded. Timeless.