Reviewed by Trevor Kirk

A definite curiosity this, and not just because it's on vinyl. Neither has it anything to do with the Premier and ICC collaboration of the best of John's output since 1977. This is a compilation album of Pantry music from the '60s, and showcases some of the various bands that John was involved in during that decade, including Peter & The Wolves, The Bunch, Norman Conquest and The Factory. John was not a committed Christian at the time of these tracks, so you'll search in vain for any spiritual content. What you do get is a bunch of demos and unreleased recordings of wildly variable production quality, and the A and B sides of the singles that the four bands made for MGM and CBS. It's unmistakably music of its time, full of echoes of psychedelia, and inevitably, when considered from a 21st century perspective, way past its sell-by date. Nevertheless, the sleevenotes are positively encyclopaedic and stuffed full of trivia facts (not to mention some rather cheesy photos), so this might appeal to completists and nostalgia freaks. Personally, although I'm a confirmed Pantry fan, I couldn't really see the point.

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