10cc Album: “Collected”

10cc never have gotten much respect from critics, and probably for good reason. These guys obviously had a lot of fun, wrote some fun ditties, played some real gritty rock and roll on occasion, and made a lot of money along the way. First off, I never thought I'd purchase, let alone review a 3 cd set of 10cc! Never imagined they could compile even a decent double anthology. Oops, my bad. While this set is fleshed out with the 1969 one off "Neanderthal Man" the often covered, just plain old gun pop song done under the pseudonym Hotlegs in 1969 and some post-10cc recordings by Graham Gouldman and Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, this vast majority of this quite enjoyable piece of the "Collected" series from the Netherlands consists of 10cc work. From the opening notes of "Wall Street Shuffle" Gouldman (well known for his tunes written for others, especially the Yardbirds) and crew let the listener know that they are not merely pop fluffers as we all suspected due to the constant airplay of hits like "I'm Not In Love" and "The Things We Do For Love" both huge smashes. But "Wall Street Shuffle" lets you know that Eric Stewart, least famous of the quartet, can pull off some pretty heavy lead guitar riffs and has some tasty solos in his repertoire. Hey "I"m Mandy Fly Me" is not Beethoven's Fifth Symphony by any means, but its a well crafted, well executed 6 minute charmer. The band anticipated the indulgent 80s years earlier as witnessed by the reference to Howard Hughes' vast wealth and the power of money in the above mentioned "WSS." Tongue in cheek it may be, but there's more to the song than meets the eye. The reference to Hughes' money making him feel better, and his ability to screw them (us) at any moment because money equalled/equals power as learned repeatedly by we, the humble masses. "Dreadlock Holiday" is a real 4 and a half minute slab of hit written all over it pop, that never quite hit, but still withstands the test of time. These guys have a lot more game than I ever imagined, and I gotta admit I only picked this set up on a lark. Being deadly serious about my music, I was ready to chastise the band as sell outs, money hungry vultures, etc. What a pleasant surprise to find that they really didn't take themselves so seriously, did have a short run of hits, and then quietly retired into obscurity. Obviously they didn't need the money, so something had to give them drive. I give Gouldman way too much credit to be mere money leach. Eric Stewart fooled me with his guitar prowess, and Godley and Creme were there all along, adding tasty tidbits to the band's body of work. These guys could have continued to sell tons of records if they'd cared to, but only stuck around for 7 or 8 years and took lots of time between releases. Obviously a lot better musicians and songwriters than I ever dreamed. And coming when they did, the height over self-indulgent, cocaine driven glam rock, what a breath of fresh air. My hats off to Universal (Netherlands) for a great series (collected) which includes JJ Cale, Cat Stevens, and others. As regards this collection, keep an open mind, search out a bargain from a drop shipper, drop a few dollars (or quid) and give it an open minded, open eared listen. You might just be pleasantly surprised. Hey, it is Graham Gouldman Of "For Your Love" "Heartfull of Soul" etc. fame. Do you realy think he'd have spent all those years with a bunch of cheap commercial chaps? Wrong. Pick up this set and let him (them) prove you wrong.

10cc were musical polymaths--able to incorporate a variety of styles from art rock ("I Wanna Rule the World") to 50's patische ("Donna")and even turn traditional love songs on their ear ("I'm Not in Love"). This three CD Dutch collection gives fans a generous selection of the band's hits, album tracks and a pair of rarities in a (for the most part)well mastered set.

The first two discs mix and match a variety of songs from throughout the band's career from the band's period as a solid quartet with Stewart, Gouldman, Godley & Creme to near the end with the foursome appearing together again in a record company attempt to generate additional sales. While the sequencing is a bit strange, it works for this compilation and all the tracks sound pretty good if a bit bright. I didn't note any compression (for the most part) although "I Hate to Eat Alone" sounds like it was created from an mp3 copy rather than the original mastertape (not sure why it has this effect but it has that odd swirling sound effect often heard on mp3's). That along with a louder than necessary and slightly compressed sounding "Dreadlock Holiday" are the only flawed tracks on the set. The other track that is flawed is "Reds in My Bed" where it sounds like the tape has been damaged as it plays back with a slight wobble with wow & flutter being noticeable. Other than that, the tracks sound quite good and the brightness in the mastering here is probably representative of the original master tapes.

The third disc features the two rarities mentioned--the title track from "Sunburn" by Graham Gouldman and a track from the "Animalympics" album that Gouldman made (each features other members of later day 10cc appearing on them making them almost 10cc tracks if not for the absence of Eric Stewart). These two songs presently can't be found anywhere else on CD which makes this set essential for hardcore fans. we also get a handful of Godley & Creme singles that charted in the UK and other countries included on disc three.

The songs included here from the "Bloody Tourists" album don't suffer from the playback problems that was on the remastered edition of that album (the tapes were somehow stretched causing wow & flutter problems during mastering)and the same is true for epic "Feel the Benefit" from "Deceptive Bends" as well.

Audio for the entire set (except for the two noted tracks) is extremely good without the use of compression and nice dynamic range making this set album audiophile like (except for the fact that the mastering is a bit too bright but then again that's true of most of 10cc's stuff on CD). The nice selection includes songs from harder to find 10cc albums (such as "Windows in the Jungle" and "Ten Out of 10"), a nice selection of Godley & Creme solo tracks and two rare Graham Gouldman singles that aren't available elsewhere. What's also nice about this set is includes singles from the band's first two 10cc albums sometimes missing from compilations.

The only thing truly missing that would make this set complete as a overview of the band's career are a few early singles that the members recorded before 10cc (although the Hotlegs track "Neanderthal Man" IS included as the last track on disc three curiously enough), a couple of Eric Stewart singles from his solo albums "Girls, Girls, Girls" and "Frooty Rooties" (both of which almost qualify as 10cc albums because the members of the latter day line up including Graham Gouldman appear on them).

I had to add this to the collection. A great compilation with hard-to-find tracks. A must if you like art-rock.

This is a must own for not only 19cc lovers, but others who are familiar with only their hits.

These guys, no matter which lineup, could do it all!They may be a little too cerebral for most,

but for those that like great music, vocals ,and lyrics, it,s 10cc. Always leave you wanting more.

J T Walton