Original Album Series: Terry Reid (2015)

×

Original Album Series: Terry Reid (2015)

Close

5CD set. Collects five of his original albums, in card LP replica sleeves! Features "Bang, Bang You're Terry Reid" (1968), "Terry Reid" (1969), "River" (1973), "Rogue Waves" (1979) and "The Driver" (1991).

×

Original Album Series: Terry Reid (2015)

Close

×

Original Album Series: Terry Reid (2015)

Close

Bang, Bang introduced a hard rocker whose eclecticism was both impressive and unnervingly inconsistent. The covers of "Season of the Witch" and "Summertime Blues" are overlong and dated, but the frenetic version of Cher's "Bang, Bang" is inspired, and the rendition of Gene Pitney's "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart" shows his poppier roots. Over half of the material was penned by Reid, and while these compositions are sometimes generic, late-'60s hard rockers, he also shows a facility for Donavonesque folk-rock "("Sweater"") and impressive soul-rock vocalizing ("When I Get Home"). Originally not released in the U.K., it's ironically only available now as a U.K. import.

by Richie Unterberger, AMG

×

Original Album Series: Terry Reid (2015)

Close

Reid's initial pair of albums are very similar, and it's really a toss-up as to which one is better. If either rates a slight edge, it would be Terry Reid, as it finds his songwriting skills slightly more developed. The Donovan influence is again apparent on the cover of the Scotsman's "Superlungs My Supergirl," and "Stay with Me Baby" is another well-done blue-eyed soul showcase. As a songwriter, Reid still had a way to go, sounding better on the gentler, folkier numbers than the all-out power trio numbers. Such unfulfilled promise was understandable to a degree, as Reid was not yet 20 when this was released; unfortunately, he would never significantly expand on the promise of his first two LPs. The CD reissue on BGO adds four bonus cuts from the two rare non-LP singles he recorded in 1967 and 1968, prior to the issue of Bang, Bang You're Terry Reid.

by Richie Unterberger, AMG

×

Original Album Series: Terry Reid (2015)

Close

River was a looser and rootsier affair than Terry Reid's first records, taken from a sprawl of sessions in London and California that generated enough material for several albums. The very looseness that gives the effort some charm is the same quality, however, that keeps it from being a major work. The songs mostly sound unfinished, as if they're friendly jams in which Reid and the musicians (including, most notably, David Lindley on half the album and percussionist Willie Bobo on the title track) are working out some song ideas or twisting around some riffs. It often brings to mind those parts of songs where the likes of Van Morrison, Tim Buckley, or Robert Plant sing-scat improvised-sounding vocal passages. The difference is that, for the most part, those singers used such sections to embellish solid songs. On River, the quasi-stream-of-consciousness vocal ramblings are the songs. The first four of the seven songs are very much in a funky, laid-back blues-rock groove, prominently featuring Lindley on steel, slide, and electric guitars. Reid, and the album itself, really begin to find more of an individual voice on "River," where beguiling Latin-Brazilian elements are introduced in the guitar, melody, and rhythm. The final two cuts, "Dream" and "Milestones," back Reid's vocals only with acoustic guitar, and have a romantic melancholy that likewise makes them highlights of this highly personal but uneven record.

by Richie Unterberger, AMG

×

Original Album Series: Terry Reid (2015)

Close

When this album came out, in the middle of the punk and disco booms, it seemed like a breath of fresh air, a stomping mix of heavy metal and soul, filled with engaging originals by Reid and spiced by heavy-handed but bracing versions of harmony-based numbers like "Baby I Love You," "Then I Kissed Her," "Walk Away Renee," and "All I Have To Do Is Dream." Today, they don't hold up so well, and the album seems a bit over-the-top, overdone, and excessive. Doug Rodrigues and Reid share guitar chores, and the best parts of their playing are the softest moments. The backing vocals by Denise Williams, Dyanne Chandler, and Maxine Willard are often ravishing, and Reid's singing is as powerful as ever – it all just seems a bit arch and artificial, perhaps because of the way-too-close bass and drum sound, and the too-heavy guitar; that works for blues, as Led Zeppelin proved most of the time, but it makes for some distinctly unsubtle R&B.

by Bruce Eder, AMG

×

Original Album Series: Terry Reid (2015)

Close

×

Original Album Series: Terry Reid (2015)

Close