Spooky Tooth - The Island Years: An Anthology 1967-1974 (2015) [9CD Box Set]

×

Spooky Tooth - The Island Years: An Anthology 1967-1974 (2015) [9CD Box Set]

Close

×

Spooky Tooth - The Island Years: An Anthology 1967-1974 (2015) [9CD Box Set]

Close

The Island Years is a new comprehensive anthology featuring the work British rock band Spooky Tooth who released seven studio albums between 1968 and 1974.

This new box set features all of those long players and even steps back a year to 1967 to make room for Supernatural Fairy Tales, an album recorded by an earlier incarnation of the band called Art.

The Island Years is available as a nine-CD box set or an eight-LP collection. All of the albums feature rare bonus material and the anthology ends with a full concert from April 1972, recorded in Germany. In total, there is over 30 previously unreleased recordings.

The vinyl box set contains the eight Spooky Tooth / Art albums in replica packaging. None of the bonus tracks are on the records, but you do get a download card which gives you access to all the additional material on the CD set including the live concert.

The vinyl set includes an Art promotional poster while the CD box comes with a 48 page book.

~ Superdeluxeedition.com

×

Spooky Tooth - The Island Years: An Anthology 1967-1974 (2015) [9CD Box Set]

Close

×

Spooky Tooth - The Island Years: An Anthology 1967-1974 (2015) [9CD Box Set]

Close

Patchy but occasionally worthwhile British psychedelia, particularly when it's on the brooding side of that sub-genre. The heavy guitars and organ put this on the path to progressive rock, but the songs are rather more on the straightforward and popish side than those that Spooky Tooth would play when Art evolved into that group. "I Think I'm Going Weird" points to the morbid streak that would become sharper in Spooky Tooth; "African Thing," with its long African-styled drum solo, is the sort of strange, at least by the standards of 1967, item that groups would throw in to show they weren't limiting themselves to traditional rock forms anymore; "Come On Up" is almost a soul-rocker throwback to the V.I.P.s days; and the title track, with its mellotrons, is as close as Art got to the trippy baroque/whimsical mood that blew through so much British psychedelia in 1967 and 1968.

by Richie Unterberger, AMG

×

Spooky Tooth - The Island Years: An Anthology 1967-1974 (2015) [9CD Box Set]

Close

This full-length debut from British blues-rockers Spooky Tooth has a tone similar to Traffic with its psychedelic take on the influential pop and soul music of the '60s. A few cover tunes including Janis Ian's "Society's Child" and the Nashville Teens' "Tobacco Road" are included, but original songs like the soulful ballad "It Hurts You So" and "Bubbles" (with its Beach Boys sensibility) are the real standouts. The cheery, psychedelic "It's All About a Roundabout" is the catchiest number by far. On this dreamy cut, vocalist/keyboardist Gary Wright demonstrates some sharp melodic and compositional instincts. Although Spooky Tooth eventually became better-known for their straightforward blues-rock, the trippy pop of It's All About counts as a career highlight for the group. Fans of late-'60s British rock are definitely advised to check out this impressive release.

by Jason Anderson, AMG

×

Spooky Tooth - The Island Years: An Anthology 1967-1974 (2015) [9CD Box Set]

Close

Spooky Two is this British blues-rock band's pièce de résistance. All eight of the tracks compound free-styled rock and loose-fitting guitar playing, resulting in some fantastic raw music. With Gary Wright on keyboards and vocals and lead singer Mike Harrison behind the microphone, their smooth, relaxed tempos and riffs mirrored bands like Savoy Brown and, at times, even the Yardbirds. With some emphasis on keyboards, songs like "Lost in My Dream" and the nine-minute masterpiece "Evil Woman" present a cool, nonchalant air that grooves and slides along perfectly. "I've Got Enough Heartache" whines and grieves with some sharp bass playing from Greg Ridley, while "Better by You, Better Than Me" is the catchiest of the songs, with its clinging hooks and desperate-sounding chorus. The last song, "Hangman Hang My Shell on a Tree," is a splendid example of the bandmembers' ability to play off of one another, mixing soulful lyrics with downtrodden instrumentation to conjure up the perfect melancholia. Although Spooky Tooth lasted about seven years, their other albums never really contained the same passion or talented collaborating by each individual musician as Spooky Two.

by Mike DeGagne, AMG

×

Spooky Tooth - The Island Years: An Anthology 1967-1974 (2015) [9CD Box Set]

Close

It's fair to say that Ceremony: An Electric Mass is unlike any other release by an English band normally rooted in the blues. Think of it as Spooky Tooth's version of Concerto for Group and Orchestra by Deep Purple, in which, after two or three promising blues-based rock releases, one member of the band somehow convinces the others to go for a wildly ambitious, experimental concept album. Jon Lord persuaded Deep Purple to dive into the deep end, and Gary Wright convinced Spooky Tooth to welcome acclaimed French composer and musique concrète pioneer Pierre Henry for this electronic mass. Henry's atonal arrangements don't fare too badly against Spooky Tooth's piercing guitars and bluesy wail, although Wright left the band after Ceremony (just as Lord never had the same influence on Purple again, leaving Ritchie Blackmore to lead them on to heavy metal glory).

by Mark Allan, AMG

×

Spooky Tooth - The Island Years: An Anthology 1967-1974 (2015) [9CD Box Set]

Close

Perhaps "The Last Gasp" would have been a more apt title here. Spooky Tooth appeared to be on its last legs, and being propped up by members of the Grease Band, this record should have been merely one of those contract fulfillments, but it isn't. It's a good, solid effort that includes a burning cover of the Beatles' "I Am the Walrus." Unfortunately, Spooky Tooth didn't stay together to reap the rewards of this new combination of musicians.

by James Chrispell, AMG

×

Spooky Tooth - The Island Years: An Anthology 1967-1974 (2015) [9CD Box Set]

Close

Sadly, the most distinctive thing about Spooky Tooth's sixth album is its title. While the band became a well-oiled ensemble of talented musicians (especially with the addition of future Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones), it wasn't especially groundbreaking or original, relying too much on generic early-'70s blues-rock, with pedestrian, humorless lyrics. The gospel choir in "Holy Water" and the funky guitars in "Wildfire" are ties to the older, less heavy Spooky Tooth, but the rest, even the ballad "Self Seeking Man," are standard-issue Led Zeppelin/Bad Company-style hard rock. The playing is impressive (especially Jones' guitar leads and Gary Wright's keyboards), but without much in the way of memorable songs, it's mostly wasted. The lyrics aren't any more notable, consisting of either simple love songs or odes to self-pity. The one exception, "Cotton Growing Man," is a bizarre diatribe against Southern slave owners that sounds about 100 years out of date. Fans of the genre should probably find You Broke My Heart enjoyable, but others need not bother.

by Victor W. Valdivia, AMG

×

Spooky Tooth - The Island Years: An Anthology 1967-1974 (2015) [9CD Box Set]

Close

Witness is an album released by Spooky Tooth in 1973. For this album, original drummer Mike Kellie returned and substantially replaced Bryson Graham. Gary Wright became the dominant songwriting influence at this stage of the band's history. Co-lead singer Mike Harrison left the band following the release of the album

~ wiki

×

Spooky Tooth - The Island Years: An Anthology 1967-1974 (2015) [9CD Box Set]

Close

After the departure of co-lead vocalist Mike Harrison, it seemed that the already-declining Spooky Tooth had suffered a creative deathblow. Fortunately, replacement Mike Patto brought new life to the aging rock outfit on The Mirror. The accomplishments of this, the group's final offering, pales in comparison to their masterpiece, Spooky Two, but there are still some fine moments. A careful examination of the credits might explain the cool musicality of the 1974 Island release. Guitarist Mick Jones (of Foreigner fame) is listed along with vocalist/keyboardist Gary Wright as co-producer. Jones' ascension within the band proves to be a blessing. The Wright-penned power ballads ("Kyle," "The Mirror") and Jones/Patto rockers ("Fantasy Satisfier," "The Hoofer") benefit from substantial production and songwriting skills. Elements of pop and gospel/R&B are all combined into a seamless rock delivery on The Mirror, giving the record a depth that is rare in the Spooky Tooth catalog.

by Jason Anderson, AMG

×

Spooky Tooth - The Island Years: An Anthology 1967-1974 (2015) [9CD Box Set]

Close

×

Spooky Tooth - The Island Years: An Anthology 1967-1974 (2015) [9CD Box Set]

Close