The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - The Album Collection

Facts Scotland's hottest hard-rock outfit of their era were forged in the early-'70s when a quixotic Glaswegian, the R&B / rock 'n' roll solo showman Alex Harvey, teamed up with the city's virtuoso hard rockers Tear Gas. Together, the combination was dynamite, creating a giddying blend of prog, glam, protometal, soul, music hall, and twisted cabaret - somewhere between a Roxy Music from the mean streets, or a Led Zep with added 'razzmatazz'. A series of essential landmark albums followed - from 1972's blazing debut Framed to 1978's Rock Drill - with career highlights along the way that included Top 20 hit singles (Boston Tea Party and the definitive cover of Tom Jones's Delilah) and 1975's career-peak live album, Live, that captured the band in all their mid-period, onstage theatrical majesty. While the band eventually broke up at the end of the seventies (followed by Alex's untimely passing in 1982) The Sensational Alex Harvey Band proved to be a major influence on so much of what came after, with AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Nick Cave, Sex Pistols and Simple Minds among the scores of artists who've cited them as crucial inspirations. This new 10-CD set gathers together all seven of the albums the band recorded together, including Live and adds Four Play, recorded while Harvey was taking a break from the band and released as SAHB (Without Alex). It also brings in the two pre-Alex albums, released under the Tear Gas monicker. Throughout, there's additional bonus material in the form of live tracks, B-sides, single edits and a 28-minute interview with Alex himself. The Albums Collection 1970-1978 was mastered by George Shilling (Blur, Mike Oldfield, Primal Scream) and comes in an attractive 7"X7" package with reproduction original sleeve art and an extensive new essay by Prince / Led Zeppelin biographer Jason Draper. For a SAHB beginner, or somebody wanting to re-collect, it's the perfect testament to a British rock legend every bit as essential as worthy peers like Thin Lizzy or Black Sabbath.