Customer Reviews

Complete Easybeats

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3 star:		(2)
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The Band and the Music:

Formed in Australia (by immigrant British and Dutch musicians), the Easybeats unfortunately didn't begin making and releasing records outside of Australia until late 1966, after the first wave of the British beat boom had crested and right before the summer of love. Thus, they missed out on the international exposure that slews of lesser bands were able to have. "Friday On My Mind" (recorded in England by Shel Talmy) was their first international hit in 1967. However, their next major recordings didn't come out until 1968 and by then, it was too late.

Almost all their recorded output is original songs (primarily Wright/Young at the beginning then Vanda/Young as time progressed). The songs are catchy, hook-laden, sometimes grungy, sometimes beautiful pop/rock music with memorable melodies, harmonies, and guitar riffs. I am not saying that they were the equivalent of the Beatles by any means but most of the music in consistently listenable and enjoyable. There are a few clunkers along the way I admit, but the good definitely outweighs the not-so-good.

For the music, I easily give 5 stars!!

Repertoire CDs

In the early 90's, Germany's Repertoire Records reissued all 7 Easybeats albums (Easy, It's 2 Easy, Volume 3, Friday On My Mind, Vigil, Friends, and The Shame Just Drained) on CD.

The Pros:

1. Each CD had the cover art from both the front and back (with liner notes) of the LPs.
2. Each CD also contained a slew of bonus tracks covering every non-LP single and EP track, alternate take, alternate version, alternate mix, outtake, demo, Coke jingle, etc that the group recorded.
3. Each CD has a discography and a write-up on the Easybeats rarities included in the reissues.
4. Their entire recorded output is here (except for the Live -- Studio and Stage compilation)

The Cons:

1. The CD liner notes were somewhat skimpy and were repeated for all the CDs.
2. The bonus tracks are not always chronologically relevant to their placement on CD. For example: outtakes from the first recording session appear on the third CD instead of the first, an alternate mix of Friday On My Mind appears on CD rather than on the "Friday" CD and so on.
3. The master tapes used are definitely not first generation, with a lot of tracks having tape hiss, low fidelity, and in some cases electronically re-processed stereo. Although the sound is a marked improvement over Albert's Absolute Anthology CD's which sound sourced from bad vinyl

This "Complete" collection:

I assume that Repertoire's rights to the Easybeats has expired. Albert, who owns the material, issues The Complete Easybeats. I am thinking "Great!". Perhaps now, better master tapes will be used and the bonus tracks can be inserted with regard to chronological sequencing. Also, better liner notes, a full discography, etc.

What do we get?

A straight reissue of 6 of the 7 Repertoire CDs. The Friends CD is missing. The LP back cover art (with photos and liner notes) is missing. The discography information is missing. The rarities information is less detailed.

The same master tapes are used. The same liner notes are used although they are now included as a little booklet inserted in the box. No pictures, no additional information, no remastering.

Instead of being truly complete, we get less than what Repertoire already gave us.

If you don't care about the packaging and just want the music, pick this up. It is a decent price. But, you will still need to track down a copy of the Repertoire Friends CD if you want the "complete" collection. Or, just hunt down all the Repertoire releases. The Easybeats' legacy deserves better treatment than what they got. And until Albert gives them a little respect and puts some effort into the packaging of the music, I suppose they will remain little more than a footnote to the British Invasion.

It is a shame really.

Further to Charles Phelps' excellent review, I just wish to echo his sentiments in asking that the Easybeats be remastered from the original tapes. They are arguably one of the greatest Australian bands to come out of the sixties, and deserve better. My personal preference was for the albums before England. Surely record companies, who have made so much money off the Easybeats, can make this remastering thing happen.