Cavaliers: Anthology 1973 - 1974

The first two Cockney Rebel albums put Steve Harley on the map of the rock world. Glam was alive and well and his sound was new, raw, and very exciting. Beautifully costumed in satin lapels and velvet, the band featured Harley's outrageous vocals, very unique instrumentation, and some really well crafted songs. This 4 cd set is worth it for the additional cuts which are lacking on the second reissue remastering of the original cds. "THe Human Menagerie" was an explosion of extreme glam, slippery, cool, over the top and extremely accessible. The follow-up "Psychomodo" a maniacal masterwork with several superb peaks of songwriting. The live cuts are from various popular BBC shows at the tie and feature a tight but together band. The B-sides "Rock and Roll Parade" and "Big Big Deal" and single "Judy Teen" are fantastic. Some cool liner notes round out the package, but the music still sparkles 40 years later, Although many people believe that Harley never quite rose to the level of these first two fantastic albums, the next two albums "Best Years of our Lives", "Timeless Flight" are superb records in their own right, with a serious Dylan side emerging from the lead singer and some really amazing pop material that deserves more fans.

Great band on its own and the early promo cuts show that. This was one allen parsons early productions and one of his best! It is a4 cd set so their is a lot of material. So if you do not know the bands work get the steve harley & cockney rebel "a closer look" cd."a closer look" it was the band first released in the states an is really a great hit cd of the bands work with parsons, it is stunningand holds ups todat as it did in 75. After you hear "a closer look" the " caveliers: anthology 1973- 1974" will show you how the band evolved.

Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel perfectly capture the zeitgeist of early 70s Brit glam rock on this compilation - attitude, melody, creativity, poetry. One of my favorite artists from that era for sure. The alternate and live versions on disc 3 and 4 are worth the price of admission alone for completists. Highly recommended. Buyer beware - the cheap packaging of the CD literally self destructs in your hands as you open it causing the case to detach, the discs to come tumbling down (pun intended!), and bits of broken pastic spindle to fly everywhere.

Harley and this band are barely known in the USA. were it not for "Make me Smile" he would be unknown. But in Glam days he was big in the UK. The band played a big part in his success. lord knows why he gave them up. Once they were gone he disappeared too. This collection covers the two first, and best albums. No guitars.

Even with this long delayed release, Cockney Rebel remains a forgotten band -- in the shadow of Steve Harley's one great solo single (but a very mediocre career). Lots of extra tracks, but unfortunately probably nothing you haven't heard before (unless you haven't heard the b sides, which were already available on CD).

Great music from a brief period. I love this type; Sparks, Deaf School, Jet, Be Bop Deluxe, Sailor. Fun stuff!

great

Can't improve on the top two reviews, I just wanted to add my five stars and my own thoughts. This is a great way of buying the first two Cockney Rebel albums, if you don't have them plus the early singles & b-sides, a whole disc of demos and alternative versions (mainly of the first album) plus BBC recordings from the same period, all for a bargain price. I've been a fan of Cockney Rebel since 1973; I fell in love with "Judy Teen" when I saw them do it on TOTP. I had also heard "Sebastian" of course, and thought it weird and interesting if over-produced. I bought "Psychomodo" as soon as it came out and fell in love with it. What I particularly liked about Cockney Rebel was the amazingly beautiful melodies and the slightly off-beat avant-garde character of the songs and the beautiful production. "Judy Teen" still sounds as great as when I first heard it - the violin solo is just beautiful, I also loved the b-side "Spaced Out" and it's great to have it on CD. "Psychomodo" is full of beautiful songs, I especially love "Bed in the Corner" and "Tumbling Down". I never liked "Human Menagerie" quite as much, though it's still excellent, I still find "Sebastian" overblown, but it does have some great songs, eg "Hideaway", "Muriel the Actor" and "Loretta's Tale", which is a really really beautiful song. It's great to hear the demos CD, and I much prefer the simpler version of "Sebastian" on the third CD, great to have the BBC recordings as well, which are all good. All in all an excellent buy.

I bought this set, as most people will, for disc three, the one that contains the 'early' versions. Well, if you ever wanted to know how the 'Rebel' may have sounded prior to being signed (Hence my title description) then this is the bunny to have. Nearly all the 'Menagerie' album and the 'JT' single are here in more or less 'live in the studio' demo form. The versions of 'Sebastian', 'Mirror Freak' and 'Judy Teen' are astonishing !. 'Death Trip' isn't quite yet fully formed, but is a lovely version nonetheless. Steve hadn't fully found his voice yet, and sometimes sounds hysterical. This disc is worth the admission price alone. The rest of the set contains remastered versions of the first two albums plus the BBC Sessions set, with the added bonus of 'Hideaway' to the early gig set, plus a couple of nice 'OGWT' songs. A couple of alternate mixes also turn up, notably a version of 'Mr Soft' which shows how a subtle remix can be the difference between a hit single and a miss. The 'Peel' radio session is also included. The booklet is great, with some nice photos and sleeve notes with nice reminisces from Mr Nice himself. Interestingly Steve mentions the gig that is due at the end of November where he is playing the first two albums back to back with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, so no doubt this set is aimed and has been put together with that gig in mind. Superb stuff.

...for me this is Cockney Rebel at their best and there is plenty to enjoy here, a tremendous collection of rarities alongside the remastered first two albums. For me, after these two albums only a handful of tracks (including the brilliant Mr Raffles) came close to re-capturing the creativity here. The early versions and alternate tracks are particularly intriguing, and great value... even when Steve Harley's singing gets beyond raw and carried away into tuneless wailing, it fits the bill...marvellous, and (for me) I still smile as he enters Norman Wisdom territory with some of his wo-ho-ho's and it just needs a 'Mr Grimsdale' added on the end...but I digress... this is all great... what makes the early material for me is the wonderful violin, and electric piano. The atmosphere to the early Cockney Rebel music is wonderfully dark and sinister...it has great beauty and menace.The set is nice although (as said here before) the cover is not brilliant, rather like a cheap compilation, and I'm sure with the kind of attention to detail given in the booklet inside, it could have looked so much classier, or at least evoked the artiness of the time.All in all, a great compilation that completes the collection very well.

Bought this because it has the full Psychomodo album on it. It is now almost impossible to get The Psychomodo on CD at a reasonable price. No idea why-seems other CR albums are also scarce. This 4 CD album also has the brilliant Human Menagerie which is also impossible to buy. There are all the great songs on one set here so if you are after the two aforementioned albums but cant get them this is probably your best bet.

Another example of 1970's music genius. What a package too - 4 CD's crammed full of music from the heavens for the price of a pizza. I'm no expert on this band, just loving their singles from my teenage years. On the B side of Mr Raffles (man it was mean) 7" single was a mesmerising live version of Sebastian. Foolishly I didn't explore any further until now (37 years!). Well done EMI - let's have more like this please. If you like this, consider Lidisfarnes' Charisma Years box set The Charisma Years (1970-1973)  and Americas' Original Album Classics set Original Album Series . The Charisma Years (1970-1973)Original Album Series