Suzi Quatro - Japanese Pastmasters/Supermasters Collection (3 Non-remastered CD: 1973-1976)

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Suzi Quatro - Japanese Pastmasters/Supermasters Collection (3 Non-remastered CD: 1973-1976)

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Susan Kay "Suzi" Quatro is a British-based American singer-songwriter, bass guitar player, and actor. She is the first female bass player to become a major rock star - this success in the 1970s empowered women. In the 1970s Quatro scored a string of hit singles that initially found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland. In 2010 she was voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends online Hall of Fame. She continues to create new albums, to perform, and to research/present new radio programmes.

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Suzi Quatro - Japanese Pastmasters/Supermasters Collection (3 Non-remastered CD: 1973-1976)

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allmusic.com says: As glam rock debut albums go, you'll have to search a long way to find one that outclasses Suzi Quatro's opening shot. Though her fame and, of course, her hit singles-so-far were based around songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman's guileless ability to crank out the classics, away from the glare of TV and radio play the pair allowed Quatro and partner Len Tuckey full rein. The result was an album of several very distinct parts, inextricably linked by the sheer power of the Quatro personality. The heart of Suzi Quatro lies in the band's choice of covers. Harking back to Quatro's years in Detroit clubland, there's a Slade-meets-Stonesy grind through "I Wanna Be Your Man," a raucous blast through "All Shook Up," and, restating the song's claim to be the best rock & roller any Briton ever wrote, Johnny Kidd's "Shaking All Over," garageland sexuality oozing out from every pore. Chinnichap's "Primitive Love," one of the finest songs that the duo ever left unnoticed on an LP, then echoes that same intent, seething percussion and unearthly crowd sounds building around a jungle chant that reduces Quatro's characteristic cries to a breathy growl that is pure animal seduction. Of Quatro/Tuckey's own contributions, "Glycerine Queen" (already familiar from a B-side) and "Shine My Machine" are the most in character, straightforward rockers bolstered by the band's already trademark roiling rhythm. "Skin Tight Skin," on the other hand, is the most adventurous, bucking the formula in favor of a slow swing and a vocal that is straight out of West Side Story. Since cherry-picked as the basis for any number of Quatro compilations, Suzi Quatro itself is best experienced either in its original form or across the 1988 Rock Til Ya Drop CD collection, which allies the LP in its entirety with five more period singles and B-sides (plus, inexplicably, two tracks dating from 1977-1978). In either guise, Suzi Quatro remains one of the most nakedly sexual albums of the entire glam rock epoch – and one of the hottest debuts of the decade.

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Suzi Quatro - Japanese Pastmasters/Supermasters Collection (3 Non-remastered CD: 1973-1976)

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Suzi Quatro - Quatro (1974) [Japan PastMasters II series '1990]
EAC-FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 304 MB | Covers | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps -> 102 MB
Rock/Hard Rock/Glam Rock | 45:32 mins | Label: Toshiba-EMI | Cat. # TOCP-6396

allmusic.com says: After the electric vitality of its predecessor and the prepossessing energy of her first four singles, Suzi Quatro put out a second album that was a dreadful disappointment, the fault – one assumes – of having been cut so quickly after its predecessor that nobody involved in the process had time to even catch her or his breath. Just two Quatro/Tuckey originals make it on, and one of them, "Klondyke Kate," is little more than a throwaway, while Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman's contributions, too, are uncharacteristically lackluster – the still vital "Devil Gate Drive" notwithstanding, of course. Of course, there are mitigating circumstances. The Chinnichap duo itself was in transition at this time, trying to retool a super-successful but hideously hidebound writing formula toward a less glam-entrenched listening audience. The recently discovered Smokie was to be the prime beneficiary of this new attitude, but the next few Quatro singles, too, reflected the then-prevalent belief that "mature" songs were the way to go – and "mature," in those days, meant not having quite so much fun as they used to. Neither "Too Big" nor "The Wild One" are classic Quatro, even if the performances themselves are as committed as ever, while the dour mood conveyed by those efforts is only amplified by the strictly unimaginative choice in rock & roll covers that complete the set. Every bar band in the land cut its teeth on "Keep a Knockin'," "Trouble," "Move It," and "A Shot of Rhythm and Blues." Very few were still playing them two albums later. Only a wild, and wildly unexpected rendition of "Hit the Road Jack" truly salvages the show, and that's not really saying much – novelty songs always stand out when there's nothing else to laugh at. Ultimately, of course, Quatro would be seen as a mere hiccup in a career that had many, many years left to run – and many more twists and turns to take. At the time, however, another monarch had quietly slipped from its throne, another spangle had dropped off the glam rock crown. It really was all rather sad.

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Suzi Quatro - Japanese Pastmasters/Supermasters Collection (3 Non-remastered CD: 1973-1976)

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Suzi Quatro - Aggro-Phobia (1976) [Japan SuperMasters series '1993]
EAC-FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 208 MB | Covers | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps -> 80 MB
Rock/Hard Rock/Glam Rock | 35:09 mins | Label: Toshiba-EMI | Cat. # TOCP-7622

allmusic.com says: By 1976, the glam rock that had made Suzi Quatro famous was on its last legs as disco overtook the airwaves and punk rock festered in the clubs. However, Quatro was not going to give up the fight easily, as proven by Aggro Phobia. This set, produced by British pop mastermind Mickie Most, is a lightweight but tuneful collection of pop/rock. Nothing here hits the manic heights of "Can the Can" or "Devil Gate Drive," but all the songs are solid and listenable. The big surprise this time out is the strong country-rock feel to a number of the songs: the cover of Steve Harley's "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" places barnstorming acoustic guitar hooks where fat power chords once existed on Quatro's past hits, and "American Lady" soulfully combines organ and acoustic guitar riffs in a manner reminiscent of Rod Stewart's earthy early hits. Another country-ish highlight is "The Honky Tonk Downstairs," a rollicking love lament worthy of Tanya Tucker. However, glam rock is not entirely abandoned on this album: "Tear Me Apart" works a series of rumbling power chords to create an effective mid-tempo rocker about a hard-loving woman. There is also a great remake of "Heartbreak Hotel," that recasts the song in a sultry power ballad style to create one of Suzi Quatro's finest non-hard rock moments. In the end, Aggro Phobia lacks the stellar songs that would win new fans to the Suzi Quatro cause but it is a well-crafted and tuneful release that the singer's fans will definitely want to hunt down.