Review of Atomic Rooster: The Ultimate Anthology

Introduction

An era has come to an end. As I type this, Mark and Lard`s Radio 1 show has signed off for the last time. I say this because when Atomic Rooster: The Ultimate Anthology came up for review, for the life of me I was convinced it was a Mark and Lard tribute to Atomic Kitten. Would that it were. In fact, Atomic Rooster was a band that came to prominence in the early seventies; one of those acts that with a guitar, drums and more keyboards than you could shake a stick at (including Hammond Organ) came ready to Rock, in a middle class, pipe smoking, Volvo driving sort of way. But I betray my bias.

Atomic Rooster: The Ultimate Anthology has footage from 1972 and is released in a "Special DTS Enhanced Version". Before you get excited, it also has printed discreetly on the slipcase, "With such a wide selection of sound sources covering 35 years inevitably not every recording will live up to today`s exacting standards and some recordings will show the limitations of the available technology at the time" Take from that what you will.

Video

Heavily print damaged 4:3 footage of the band in action in various studios is what you get. This was when a band didn`t necessarily need a media friendly image to be successful musically. Flamboyance and showmanship rarely figure, and this is less a performance and more a session. But still this disc is primarily about the music.

Audio

You get a choice of DD 2.0 stereo or DTS sound. As the little addendum warned, the sound quality is directly related to the quality of the original source. If you buy this expecting the sound quality that you got from recordings made in 1970, then you`ll be perfectly satisfied. While the film has certainly taken some battering in the years, the sound is still clear and relatively crisp.

Features

A seven and a half minute long drum solo from Carl Palmer.

Conclusion

I`m uncertain of the usefulness of music reviews, which is a really stupid thing to admit right now. But, no matter how eloquent a reviewer, how powerfully he can convey his reactions to a piece of music; it`s of no use to me as a purchaser of music, it doesn`t tell me how it sounds. Similarly, while films and books can be discussed intellectually with common points of reference, music is wholly an emotional affair, that each person will react to in his own individual way. It matters not that after watching Atomic Rooster: The Ultimate Anthology, I made sure to place the DVD as far away from my DVD player as possible, and that I had to listen to 3 other CDs in a row to alleviate the experience. The only way for you to know for yourselves whether you will like Atomic Rooster is for you to listen to some of their music.

The only way I can objectively approach this disc is in terms of value for money. My knowledge of Rock Poultry is limited at best, so I can`t tell you how Ultimate this Anthology is, but the idea of an Anthology implies a degree of quantity that is certainly lacking in this disc. There are merely 8 tracks, one of them a reprise that in total run for just 41 minutes. When you consider the R.R.P. of £17.99, you`d be forgiven for feeling a little short-changed.

Still if you are a fan of Atomic Rooster, you will be best placed to decide whether this disc is worth it. I won`t try to fathom your appreciation, but I`ll stand up for your right to appreciate. Now where`s my Atomic Kitten CD?