Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 CD

This 4-disc box is an anthology expanded from the multi-volume Rhino NUGGETS series--originally produced by Lenny Kaye as a 2-LP collection in 1972--that traces the roots of regional American garage-punk/psychedelic bands like the Seeds, the Electric Prunes and the Standells. The accompanying booklet includes an introduction by Lenny Kaye and a track-by-track guide by Mike Stax, editor of the garage-punk fanzine Ugly Things.

Includes liner notes by Bill Inglot, Lenny Kaye, Greg Shaw, Alec Palao and Mike Stax.

Digitally remastered by Bill Inglot and Dan Hersch (DigiPrep, Hollywood, California).

A compilation that actually defined a genre, this sent out musical ripples that influenced innumerable bands, from the Damned to R.E.M. Compiler Lenny Kaye even gave the genre a name: punk. Although the music was later better known as "garage," Kaye--himself about to pioneer 70s punk as Patti Smith's guitarist--was onto something when he asserted that America's aggressive teen bands of the mid-60s were the original punks. To prove that this was not an isolated, parochial movement, Kaye included not only Top 40 hits such as the Castaways' "Liar, Liar" and the Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction," but also buried treasures like the Remains' classic "Don't Look Back" and the Chocolate Watch Band's "Let's Talk About Girls."

Subtitled - Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968. This 4-disc box is an anthology expanded from the multi-volume Rhino Nuggets series originally produced by Lenny Kaye as a 2-LP collection in 1972 (plus 91 more garage-rock classics) that traces the roots of regional American garage-punk/psychedelic bands like the Seeds, the Electric Prunes and the Standells. The accompanying 100-page booklet includes an introduction by Lenny Kaye and a track-by-track guide by Mike Stax, editor of the garage-punk fanzine Ugly Things. The box measures approx. 6 x 12 x 1 1/2 inches. Rhino Records.

Compilation producers: Lenny Kaye, Gary Stewart.Rolling Stone (10/15/98, p.130) - 5 Stars (out of 5) - "...a truly glorious beast....captures the hellbent-for-joy aesthetic that gripped teen-combo land after the British invasion....recalls a time when rock & roll...was truly local....many of the best entries are regional smashes and neighborhood hits..."
Spin (1/99, p.92) - Ranked #1 in Spin's list of the "Ten Best Reissues Of 1998."
Spin (11/98, pp.146-147) - 9 (out of 10) - "...Punk to funk, garage bands to computer-in-the-bedroom junglists, you can trace a continuum of teenagers hopped up on illegal stimulants (...or pretending to be) and literally electrified by the latest noise-toys....NUGGETS...[is] an endlessly renewable refresher course in how to live like you're on fire..."
Spin (p.116) - "Everything here is garage gold..."
Q (p.128) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[Nuggets] shone like a beacon to the emerging punk generation. This is the first time it's been released on a single CD."
Q (8/99) - Included in Q's" Best Psychedelic Albums of All Time."
Q (8/99, p.139) - "...the granddaddy of mind-bending collections. It's the sound of mid-'60s white, male, suburban America trying to break down the doors..."