This rather fabulous box set contains every track that Stray recorded for Transatlantic over a five year tenure with the label, encompassing five full album, various B-sides and a few obscure rarities, generously spread across 4 CDs and with a very informative booklet to boot.
Stray were a band that were a perennial support band, including such high points as supporting Kiss on their first U.K. tour and also opening for Rush on their U.K. bebut dates in 1975 (apparently Neal Peart was a fan of theirs).
This set includes the albums Stray (1970), Suicide (1971), Saturday Morning Pictures (1971), Mudzanas (1973) and finally Move It (1974), the highlights being the Suicide and Saturday Morning Pictures albums, both of which are sweeping in style and featuring some great material. This set is far superior to the Time Machine anthology released on Sanctuary Records in 2003, simply because each album is here in full and the flow is far stronger than on that compilation.
Also, if you are wondering about how this compares to those expanded reissue from 2003 then don’t worry as the sound has received a 24-bit digital remastering by Ben Wiseman to give a clear, well separated sound, and all those bonus tracks from those albums are here on disc 4, apart from the BBC version of Sister Mary from Saturday Morning Pictures and the live BBC disc from Move It (which is still available elsewhere). This is a great way to capture the first five Stray Albums in one nifty little package.
The Suicide and Saturday Morning Pictures discs both reveal Stray to be a far superior act than the ‘support band’ tag might suggest with some great guitar work throughout from Del Bronham and fine vocals from Steve Gadd. Also a big surprise is how strong the Mudzanas and Move It albums are with such class songs as Changes, Oil Fumes and Sea Air and Hallelujah, this is a great trip back into the past that reveals a very underrated band and some great songs that feature social commentary around those days, and best of all is the news that Pye Records are to release a second anthology, Fire and Glass, covering the Stand Up and Be Counted, Houdini and Hearts On Fire albums in full, on the 25th November which will mean fans can own a complete set of Stray’s early years, all in great remastered sound, which is a cause for celebration and re-evaluation of this very talented and oft overlooked band.
Another nice touch are the four songs that Stray recorded for Pye in 1969 and included here to show the great promise of things to come. A truly fabulous set from the masters of the reissue at Esoteric, buy with confidence and be enthralled by this great band.
TRACK LISTING
Disc 1 (77 mins)
01. All in Your Mind
02. Taking All the Good Things
03. Around the World in 80 Days
04. Time Machine
05. Only What You Can Make It
06. Yesterday’s Promise
07. Move on
08. In Reverse / Some Say
09. Son of the Father
10. Nature’s Way
11. Where Do Our Children Belong
12. Jericho
13. Run Mister Run
14. Dearest Eloise
15. Do You Miss Me?
Disc 2 (70 mins)
01. Suicide
02. Our Song
03. After the Storm
04. Sister Mary
05. Move That Wigwam
06. Leave It Out
07. How Could I Forget You?
08. Mr. Hobo
09. Queen of the Sea
10. Changes
11. Come on Over
12. Alright Ma!
13. Oil Fumes and Sea Air
14. Gambler
15. Hallelujah
Disc 3 (64 mins)
01. I Believe It
02. Pretty Things
03. Soon As You’ve Grown
04. Leave It to Us
05. Tap
06. Move It
07. Hey Domino
08. Customs Man
09. Mystic Lady
10. Somebody Called You
11. Give It Up
12. Like a Dream
13. Don’t Look Back
14. Right from the Start
15. Our Plea
Disc 4 (43 mins)
Demos & Rarities:
01. Change Your Mind
02. The Man Who Paints the Pictures
03. In the Night
04. Outcast
Pye Studios Demos – Recorded Nov. 1968:
05. All in Your Mind (Single Version)
A-side of single released in Italy in 1971:
06. Encore
Recorded at Olympic Studios 1971 during Suicide Sessions:
07. Our Song (Single Version)
08. Mama’s Coming Home
A & B-sides of single released in 1971:
09. Georgia
10. Get Out Right Away
Recorded in 1971:
11. Brand New Day
A & B-sides of single released in 1973:
12. Move It (Single Version)
13. Crazy People
Total Time – 254 minutes
MUSICIANS
Del Bronham – Guitar, Vocals
Steve Gadd – Guitar, Vocals, Percussion
Gary Giles – Bass Guitar
Ritchie Cole – Drums
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Estoric Antenna
Catalogue#: ECLEC 42607
Date of Release: 20th October 2017