Compared to the [stuff]that passes for "music" today (Creed, Linkin Park, any Rap/Hip-Hopper de jour with a "Z" in his name, etc.) this disc is pure magic. I would put "Love Hate Revenge" on a 24-hour loop before I would listen to a single "note" (?) of Kid Rock or Limp Bizkit.

BTW, do you know why Slipknot never remove their masks? Because we would all discover that they are actually Creed and Limp Bizkit working together to "create" even [worse] "music".


Nuggets Nuggets, Sweet Golden Buggets!   July 9, 2001
 13 out of 14 found this review helpful

My name is ..., and I grew up in London in the 1960's. My boyfriend was a member of a band called Get Rich Quick. They only made one little record, but when I played this box set, it brought back wonderful memories. I would go every week to see the bands that played in and around London, and my favorites were the Birds and Small Faces. The records are great, but you couldn't believe how great they were to see live! Anyhow, this is spose to be a review not my life story, so on with my opinions. It is my opinion the music represented by this box set to be the best music ever made by any one at any time. Only an idiot wouldn't like this music. These big, fat sloppy hippy bands ruined everything for cool groups like the Birds and Creation. Why on earth do people like boring music like James Taylor and Jim Croce...and the worst, Don McClean. Do you know how much I wanted to vomit when Madona did a remake of American Pie? Well, if your feelings are hurt by these opinions, you dont deserve this box set. You are some loser square witha shape like a pear with some bloke like a bear sitting by your chair you silly beanie babie. I guess the best stuff besides the Birds and Small Faces are Thor's Hammer. These guys remind me of my boyfriends group. They really are over the top. But get this records and tell them Swingin little ... a groovy mod girl told ya it was ducky. Toodles!


Another great success from Rhino   September 8, 2001
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

Once again, as they did with the first Nuggets Box and the first Doo Wop Box, the good folks at Rhino Records have produced a collection that is simply the finest of its type. In every way -- sound quality, liner notes, packaging, song selection, and sheer volume -- this box, like those others, shows evidence of great care and leaves most other similar collections in the dust.

The selection here is more wide-ranging than on the first Nuggets box, both geographically and in terms of style. The first box had a lot of fairly-well known songs; here we get just a handful of favorites and classics ("My White Bicycle", "I Can Hear the Grass Grow", "Friday on My Mind", "Pictures of Matchstick Men") along with a lot of great recordings that even dedicated listeners may not be familiar with. (I've been listening to music of this ilk for years, and I had heard less than half of these songs.)

I was particularly delighted with the inclusion of "Reflections of Charles Brown" (a song I had been wanting to hear for years -- and also, incidentally, proof that not everything here is fast and loud); "No Presents for Me" (a personal favorite); and Love Sculpture's "In the Land of the Few" (an excellent song, a true lost gem, here presented in an extended version from the one I'd heard before -- what a treat!). Plus, I've made lots of new favorites, and gained a greater appreciation of some songs I knew before after hearing them in this context and with this quality.

Folks expecting this to sound like the first Nuggets box set might be a bit disappointed: while some of the non-British groups do have an American-garage-band-type sound (like the La De Das from New Zealand and Los Chijuas from Mexico), and we do get some of the hard-edged British R&B that helped inspire American garage bands ("I Can Only Give You Everything", "Rosalyn"), a lot of the songs here show more evidence of self-conscious craft and studio experimentation.

This collection mostly leaves out Merseybeat (unless it comes from Uruguay -- Go Shakers!!), the more "twee" side of British psychedelia, and the tamer side of British R&B, in favor of edgier freakbeat and more experimental, psychedelic stuff, along with straight-ahead British pop-rock (the Mockingbirds' excellent "You Stole My Love") and lots of great examples of the rock scenes from outside the U.S. and U.K. (my favorites include the aforementioned Shakers, Japan's Mops, Holland's Q65, and "You Can Be My Baby" by Denmark's Red Squares).

I must single out the liner notes for particular praise -- they are absolutely excellent. Alec Palao's introductory essay is insightful and incisive, Mike Stax's track-by-track notes are full of great info, and the whole booklet makes for great reading.

Of course a few of my personal favorites didn't make the cut, like Rupert's People's "Dream in My Mind", the Curiosity Shoppe's "Baby I Need You", "Things She Says" by the In Crowd, and "Grey" by the Hush -- and I wish they had included the Mockingbirds' anti-conformity anthem "One By One" instead of the lesser "How to Find a Lover". There are about six misses here, in my opinion (for instance, I'm sorry, but I just don't like John's Children much). That's a couple more than the first Nuggets box had, I think -- but that still leaves over 100 excellent choices. Overall, I think any fan of '60s British rock, or anyone interested in non-U.S., non-U.K. '60s rock who picks this up will consider it money very well spent.

I'm hoping for at least one more Nuggets box (please?). If the folks at Rhino are concerned about "scraping the bottom of the barrel", perhaps they could make it half U.S. and half the rest of the world, to spread around the (very minimal) risk.

(One more note, to '60s anthology compilers: I have maybe 18 collections along the lines of this one, and "Circles" by Les Fleur De Lys is on no less than six of them. Yes, it's good, and it definitely belongs here -- but now, enough, already!)


Landmark Compilation   June 22, 2001
 9 out of 10 found this review helpful

Oh, valiant Rhino. Oh, faithful keeper of the sacred fire. Other labels bow their heads in shame. Just how could a sequel be even better than it's mighty predecessor? How is this possible? Nobody pours as much careful genius into re-issuing important material from the past as Rhino. Nobody. And they've now shattered their own record with the second installment in their "Nuggets" series. With the usual superb taste and punctillious documentation, this new 4 CD box set collects 109 tremendous tracks of psychedelia from around the globe. Though largely British, there are dynamite cuts from as far flung locales as Iceland and Uruguay. So, though you might have had a bunch of singles from the first box, it's most likely not the case this time around. I've been collecting this stuff for decades, and had less than half of this remarkable collection. America has rightly been called the birthplace of rock n" roll. But over the years, the Brits have often beat us at our own game. The Beatles-led first "British Invasion", the late sixties amalgam of blues influenced rock, and the mid seventies punk phenomenon are all familiar to most on this side of the pond. I've enjoyed 'em all, but none more so than the period represented herein, 1964-1969. More ernest adventurism never existed. What a wild ride! With several cuts included by essential bands like Creation, The Idle Race, and The Move, most songs here figure in at one per band. Some fine recent CD collections have included a few of the bigger hits (if you could call them that), and a handfull of these bands have their albums available (often expensive), it's a pretty safe bet you don't have copies of, say, Dantalion's Chariot, Thor's Hammer, or The Mops. Equally noteable, is the outstanding sound quality, often superior than the sound on those few albums available. Demonstration class. The outsized 100 page booklet is quite lush, with full length overviews and high quality photos of each group. And because the material here is so strong (all killer and no filler, as they say), hopes are kindled for a sequel to the sequel. I just know there's more oil in the pipeline! This release is the rock n' roll event of the season. Nobody's collection should be without it. The sooner you go out and buy it, the happier you'll be. And, the sooner Rhino can get started on Nuggets 3.