Sons of Mercury
Given its 30 tracks, this two-disc overview is all the Quicksilver anyone but fanatics and scholars of the '60s San Francisco scene will ever need. The band had a couple of powerful spearheads in stinging electric-guitar master John Cipollina and songwriter Dino Valente (who authored Jefferson Airplane's "Let's Get Together"), but they infrequently made musical sense of their own instrumental prowess and pretensions. But as the excellent but truncated live recording of "Who Do You Love" indicates, QMS was the definitive acid-rock band. Fans of Pink Floyd and Phish will find a kindred spirit in the arch, ambling music Quicksilver made. This is a frequently fascinating, rarely humdrum collection.--Roy Kasten