British Invasion: 1963-1967
Two centuries after their upstart American colonies showed them the door, the British returned--first to rescue American pop music from the cuddly clutches of manufactured mannequins who'd squandered the promise ofElvis, and then to dominate it well into the '70s and '80s. The irony of this triple-disc, 54-track anthology is that theBeatles, who spearheaded the charge, are barely represented (except for a spate of successful Lennon-McCartney covers, including several the Fabs never recorded), and their shaggier, bluesier rivals theStonesare completely absent. That said, the remaining tracks do a fine job chronicling the Brits' savvy, loving assimilation (and revitalization) of virtually the entire spectrum of American pop music, from Tin Pan Alley andDylanesque folk to swinging saloon singers and bracing proto-punk. It slightly shortchanges the blues-rock and psychedelia that would become the dominant forces of '70s rock, but generously offers some more obscure chart gems in their place. A solid digital remastering has also worked wonders on many of the tracks.--Jerry McCulley