Essential [Chrysalis]

Performer: Ten Years After
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Producers: Chris Wright, Alvin Lee, Ten Years After. This isn't for Ten Years After completists, but as greatest hits packages go, it's hard to argue with it. It strikes a nice balance between the band's blues-rock roots stuff and its more psychedelic studio work. Of the former, there's a wonderful and exceptionally mush-mouthed live version (from where and when isn't specified) of their Woodstock showstopper "I'm Goin' Home," as well as a similarly definitive run through of "Good Morning Little School Girl." Representing the latter is their FM hit "I'd Love to Change the World," and the splendidly titled drug inspired anthem "50,000 Miles Beneath My Brain "(eat your hearts out, Amboy Dukes).

Q (12/92, p.154) - 3 Stars - Good - "...most of the 14 tracks endure the test of time surprisingly well, [vocalist/guitarist] Lee effortlessly turning out riffs so deep they could withstand snowploughs and singing the blues with absolute conviction and credibility..."

Best known for their epic performance of "I'm Going Home" in the WOODSTOCK film, British blues-rock band Ten Years After was a vital part of the U.K./U.S. rock scene in the hippie era, but over time, their legacy hasn't lasted as well as that of their peers. Led by blazing guitarmeister Alvin Lee, the band debuted in 1967, their psych-tinged blues-rock taking a more accessible tone on 1971's A PLACE IN TIME, which contained their biggest hit, "I'd Like To Change The World." The band broke up in 1974, with Lee going solo, though there were a couple of brief reunions (one without Lee) in later decades.

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