There have been countless compilations covering the British Invasion, from budget-line single-disc rush jobs to exhaustive multi-volume series to box sets like Hip-O's 2004 three-disc compilation, The British Invasion: 1963-1967. While this isn't the best of the British Invasion sets released over the years -- that would be Rhino's The British Invasion: History of British Rock, a nine-volume set released in the late '80s and early '90s, which is sadly only partially in print as of this writing -- it's a solid set, heavy on hits and providing a good narrative of how British pop/rock evolved from Merseybeat to psychedelia and prog rock. Along the way, nearly all the major bands are represented -- the Rolling Stones and Dave Clark Five are the most glaring omission, the inclusion of Tony Sheridan's "Ain't She Sweet" as a Beatles track is a bit misleading (as is the Yardbirds' only entry, "Little Games"), while some could make the case for Herman's Hermits and the Pretty Things as being sorely missed -- which is not necessarily the same thing as having all the major singles present. Overlooking the aforementioned Beatles and Stones, there are plenty of classic singles that could and should have been here, anything from the Animals' "House of the Rising Sun" to the Small Faces' "Itchycoo Park," but apart from a handful of scattered tracks, it's hard to argue with what is here, since the selections are representative, the hits are plentiful, and the sequencing is sharp, with cult favorites like the Move and the Walker Brothers fitting nicely against the one-hit wonders and titans like the Who, Donovan, and the Kinks. It's especially nice that each disc has its own internal logic -- the first covers the early, innocent days of Merseybeat, the second dabbles in both sophisticated pop and hard rock, and the third is heavy on psychedelia and Baroque pop -- since it means all three work as their own entity while fitting as a piece. What keeps this from being completely essential is that it's limited by its three-disc scope -- it would be nice to have Rhino's exhaustive History of British Rock revived and updated for a new millennium -- and that the Animals, Yardbirds, and Small Faces' best work is all missing. That said, as an overview of the British Invasion, this is both accurate and highly enjoyable, a good primer on one of the most exciting times in pop history. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Photographers: Gered Mankowitz; David Farrell ; Ryan Rogers; Valerie Wilmer; Cyrus Andrews; Petra Niemeier; David Redfern; Harry Goodwin; Bob Baker.Rolling Stone (3/18/04, p.74) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "[s]urveys the British Empire's music as it was heard in the States during the early years of the [Beatles-led] occupation."
Chris Blackwell; Denny Cordell; Mike Smith; Geoff Stephens; George Martin; Walter J. Ridley; Ivor Raymonde; Jimmy Miller; Joe Meek; John Burgess; John Franz; John Lennon; Kenny Jones; Kit Lambert; Larry Page Orchestra; Mickie Most; Mike Hurst; Noel Walker; Norman Newell; Peter Eden; Peter Sullivan; Ray Davies; Ron Richards; Shel Talmy; Terry Kennedy; Tom Springfield; Tom Wilson; Tony Hatch; Bert Kaempfert; Tony Palmer; Bill Levenson (Compilation)
(*) MP3 for this song is from a different CD. Listen to the sound sample to be sure this is the version you're looking for.
British Invasion Music Review
Customer British Invasion Reviews
Average Rating: (3.7 out of 5 stars)
greedy producer: a 2 cd set is "expanded" into 3 cd set. discs 1, 2 and 3 have running time of around 45, 47 and 58 minutes, respectively.
those 54 songs could fit nicely into 2 instead of 3 disc set, since each disc can have close to 80 minutes of music.
the remastered sound is pretty good but uneven.
i think the remastering engineer may have boosted the high-end a few notches up.
economic wise, its list price of $39.99 for supposedly a 2 disc set is too expensive, especially for oldies songs like these.
check around for a bargain. don't pay full price.
i hope this will help to decide whether to buy it or borrow it from a friend who got one already. Submitted by glen (north texas, tx, usa) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo 2 of 2 found this helpful.
Set Falls Short This box set falls way short of the series of disc that Rhino put out on the British Invasion, which are now out of print. They could of improved these disc and made them special but they didn't. To bad. Submitted by oliverjc (Enid,Okla. USA) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo 2 of 2 found this helpful.
British Invasion Recommended
I’d have to agree that this 3 CD box set is missing some major names: Dave Clark Five-the first band to tour America and start the wave, Petula Clark… just to name two. However, you have to understand that it’s nearly impossible to make every single person happy with these types of box sets. I think that the diversity and sheer number of songs on this CD (54 tracks) will surely have something for everyone. Personally, I think that the set has great songs from The Who, The Kinks, and Tom Jones…. Another thing, the tracks are arranged in chronological order- starting from the songs that first topped the British charts before they even made it to the States. The digitally remastered quality is also a huge plus. Recommended for collectors like myself.
Submitted by retrobabe05 (Los Angeles, CA, USA) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo 1 of 1 found this helpful.
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greedy producer: a 2 cd set is "expanded" into 3 cd set.
British Invasion Recommended
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