Twink - Think Pink. 1970 England

Think Pink arrived at that most exciting time in 1970 when psychedelic bands were stretching the boundaries of their sound, tiring of the confining popular music norm, while not willing to immerse themselves into the upcoming progressive rock movement. So what you have here is a highly imaginative album, filled with true psychedelic sounds. The fuzz guitar is divine throughout. Albums like this would normally be found in Sweden or Germany at this time, rather than England, and constitutes one of my favorite styles of music. It's chaotic, but never out of control. And there are actual songs here, adding to the allure.

LP+CD: 2013 Sunbeam

I inexplicably missed this album in my initial discovery phase of the 1980s and early 90s. And continued that blissful ignorance until 2013, with the new fantastic Sunbeam issues. According to the liner notes, the real original is actually the US press on Sire. It's also the only one with a foldout cover. The UK and other European presses followed later, and were issued as a single sleeve. As for CDs, the SPM was first to market, and I'm sure it's not worth bothering with, as most of their product were subpar issues. So that gets us to the new Sunbeam reissues, which I have to imagine will be very tough to beat from here on out. You have two choices here: 1) Buy the CD or 2) For a few dollars more get the gatefold LP with a CD thrown in as a bonus (like the Necronomicon we discussed last year). This is a new concept that I'm highly fond of, being both an LP and CD collector. Now the CD's do not come in the original case, but that's a small matter considering the lavish LP packaging. Not only do you get the gatefold cover, but also a thick booklet filled with a well written history and photos. The CD also has copious and relevant bonus tracks. Through and through an outstanding job, and certainly my keeper copy. If an original walks in the door, great, but I don't feel compelled to add it to my want list.