Customer Reviews

Air Age Anthology

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This double disc anthology does a wonderful job of spanning Be Bop Deluxe's collected works. The strongest cuts, and the majority of the collection, come from Sunburst Finish, Modern Music, and Futurama(now out of print). The wonderful live album, Live in the Air Age(also out of print), is represented by only two cuts. There are four from the generally weak Axe Victim and a handful from their inconsistent swan song Drastic Plastic. There are also a few rarities tossed in as an added bonus. Bill Nelson's creativity, musicianship(he is a sorely underated guitarist), and songwriting are truly outstanding. This collection is highly recommended...Simon

In a time when anthologys and collections are common place it is refresing to stumble upon a release of this great stature. The Be Bop Deluxe faithfull will not be disappointed with "Air Age" as it contains all the old time worn favorites. Listening again to Bill Nelsons guitar soar on "crying to the sky" and "axe victim" or strafe with "fair exchange" and "love with the madman" is as close as one can come to time travel without booking fare with one Mr.H.G.Wells. All the best material from the bands 5 studio releases are featured here as well as several previously unreleased selections."Air age anthology" is a bargain for the price, a must for collectors and two hours of pure listining joy.

If you want a sample of what the Be Bop Deluxe was all about, this is the CD to get. Interestingly enough, Bill Nelson has been actively releasing CD since the Be Bop Deluxe called it quits.

I am a fan of many of the 70's UK rock bands (T. Rex, Bowie, Cocknet Rebel to name a few) and had heard of the Be Bop Deluxe and Bill Nelson, but never sought out their recordings until now. This my first sample of the group's output. I'm amazed at what I missed out on: Great guitar playing, sonic soundscapes, and wonderful lyrical imagry. I found every song on the CD enjoyable and will be seeking out the band's outher CDs to fill in the gaps this complilation doesn't cover.

This album brings you the highlights from "Axe Victim," "Futurama," "Sunburst Finish," "Live in the Air Age," "Modern Times," and "Drastic Plastic".

Bill Nelson should be as much a household name as Eric Clapton or Jimi Hendrix. Instead, very few people have ever heard of him or his 1970's band Be Bop Deluxe. I first encountered the band when I picked up a cutout copy of the cassette The Best of...and the Rest of Be Bop Deluxe on the Harvest label (now out of print). I've just about worn that cassette out, which is okay since that 22-song cassette is expanded here to 31 songs, drawing from the band's five studio albums and one live album. [Note: "Life in the Air Age" is presented in both its studio and live version. Incidentally, the name of this CD is Air Age Anthology, NOT Life in the Air Age.] If you're feeling adventuresome, and are looking to discover an all but forgotten guitar hero who could also write terrific songs, check this band out. You won't regret it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

This is an inspired compilation, which includes virtually every major BBD classic. As someone else pointed out, Futurama and Sunburst Finish are the best Be Bop albums, but as Futurama is presently unavailable (I managed to pick up a used CD, with the extra tracks) this superb double CD set includes all but three of the Futurama tracks anyway - Stage Whispers, Sound Track and Swan Song.

While this set is filled with excellent songs, including relative rarities such as Speed Of The Wind, it was always Nelson's killer guitar solos that turned people into die hard fans. The inclusion of so many Guitar Overkill numbers from Sunburst and Futurama, as well as the classics Axe Victim and Yorkshire Landscape, ensure total satisfaction. Very useful little booklet, too.

Absolutely essential purchase for any serious Bill Nelson addict. I'm not one myself, of course... I could stop playing it any time I want... I just... don't want to.. yet...

2CD retrospective covering the brief but notable career of this quirky art-rock outfit who, over the course of five studio LPs (plus a live set), blended spacerock, progressive, ambient and just a touch of metal in a highly idiosyncratic way. Usually, you shake a tumbler with those ingredients and get Floyd/Eloy/Porcupine Tree; Be Bop are a different species altogether. You can best describe them as an art-deco science fiction rock band. A quartet led by the stinging guitar and vox of Bill Nelson, they were much more of a song-oriented band than any of the aforementioned. Nelson's schoolboy tenor (which is veddy British, by the way) drips with romantic longing in tunes set against exotic/futuristic backdrops, regularly augmented with his expressive and often-nasty guitar acrobatics and backed by his first-rate band who can equally stay in the pocket of a warm ballad or change tempos on a dime on the more complex and adventurous tracks (of which there's several). Be Bop didn't exactly arrive with great fanfare, but they steadily improved from album to album, gaining a good measure of critical favor as they soldiered on. The stress of constant touring and financial hardships caused their demise in '78, but you could see Nelson tiring of rock by the last release, DRASTIC PLASTIC, which contained a few road markers to the path he'd eventually take: first with the blink-and-they're-gone Red Noise and thence to his ever-more-boring career in ambient soundscapes on his own Cocteau label. In light of this, AIR AGE ANTHOLOGY is especially worthwhile as it collates all of Be Bop's essential work while trimming some of the self-indulgent misfires that also appeared on the original albums. The caveat here is Nelson's voice which is thin and nasal and, though serviceable in short dosages, can grow tiresome over the 2 1/2 hours of this anthology; but the playing, melodies and songwriting are all first-class and cancel out what shortcomings there are.

I'm not going to bore fans with the obvious. Bought this in the waning days of my favorite "Mom & Pop" cd store. I knew I had everything but wanted to make one last "great to do biz" purchase. Upon further listening you might find edits to certain songs that ran together originaly. Great artwork, the cd spine complements the original B E B O P (you know what I mean).

I have been a BBD fan since the band released Sunburst Finish in the 70's. I saw them live three times here in the states and what can I say. Bill Nelson's guitar craft is in my opinion the finest around. One of the traits of good music is how much I can enjoy it over a long period of time. Nelson's ability to create such imagery, a type of dreamscape, through the movement of the music leave's me many times in awe. Some of my favorites are "Heveanly Homes", "Twilight Capers" and "Down on Terminal Street". As far as great guitar licks, "Bring Back the Spark" and "Dance of the Uncle Sam Humanoids" are the best I've heard anywhere.

If you were so fortunate to purchase each album chronologically, you will see Nelson's progress in attempt to bring something new to the table as he keeps trying to extend his musical genius. Although some the late stuff is not my favorite, it is still most enjoyable to the ears. I've have let others that have never heard BBD before give a listen and they cannot believe these guys never made it big. But, it was Nelson's wish never to become a human jukebox. Bill has gone on with his music which he is still producing today as well as being a producer for other popular bands.

Simply, buy and enjoy this CD for years of listening pleasure, you won't be sorry.

Sadly Bebop Deluxe have become little more than a footnote in the history of Brit-pop. Targeting roughly the same sort of audience as early 70s Bowie, Roxy Music and Mott the Hoople, the band never achieved better than second-tier status, and with hindsight can be seen largely as a training ground for Bill Nelson's subsequent solo career.

This compilation makes Bebop seems like a singles band. Unfortunately it scatters the great tracks -- 'Axe Victim', 'Love with the Madman', 'Sister Seagull', 'Maid in Heaven', 'Ships in the Night' and 'Music in Dreamland' -- too widely across the two CDs. Although this is a good value double, I would recommend instead either getting a single-CD compilation, or buying their two greatest albums on CD, namely 'Futurama' and 'Sunburst Finish'.

If it's of any anecdotal value, I was at the same school, although several years younger than Bebop's kepboards-man, Andy Clark. (He used to perform some very popular classical pieces at school concerts.) But strangely his name then was Simon Clark. Bebop Deluxe already had one Simon (the drummer, SImon Fox), so Simon became Andy, which I presume is his second name.

This is yet another so-called "anthology" that is really a compilation. A true anthology starts with the earliest works and proceeds to the later works. This CD mixes up the timeline quite a bit. That does'nt mean it's not a great album. It is. It is a great sampling of some of the best songs Be Bop Deluxe has put out. It is a great primer for those who have never heard or heard of them. This is yet another band with a big underground following and very little radio play. With a great group of musicians behind him, Bill Nelson shows the world why he is one of the most underrated and unknown guitarists in the history of rock music. His style of guitar playing ranges from the powerful and blazing to the melodic and etherial. And he can write really good songs, too. If one cannot afford all of their albums, one can get a very good idea of what this band is all about by buying this impressive collection.