Search - Rare Earth :: Get Ready / Ecology

Rare Earth's first 2 albums

kireviewer | Sunnyvale, Ca United States | 06/06/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"WARNING: (I KNOW) I'M LOSING YOU is the 3 minute edited version.



This is an out of print CD that contains Rare Earth's first 2 albums. It has come with different covers. It does not contain the original artwork and there are no liner notes other than the song listings. The sound quality is fairly good, especially on Ecology.



This CD is 72 minutes long. It was made back in the day when the maximum CD time was 74 minutes. To get both albums on the CD, (I Know) I'm Losing You was cut down from the original 10 minutes to the 3 minute 45 version.



Almost all of the Rare Earth albums are currently out of print. You can still buy some greatest hits and anthology albums. Most of them do not have the complete version of Get Ready.



Rare Earth became famous for the 20 minute version of Get Ready. It was one of the great long songs of the sixties. The performance of the song itself is very good. And then there is the 16 minute musical jam in the middle that is excellent.



Get Ready was Rare Earth's first official release on a major label. Like a lot of sixties jam albums, there is one great side, but the first side of songs is not as strong. It is almost like Iron Butterfly's In A Gadda Da Vida. Who ever listens to the other side?



Rare Earth is at its best when it is mixing soul and blues with a little funk thrown in. Get Ready is a soul tune that was written by Smokey Robinson and was a hit for the Temptations. It is a song that highlights Rear Earth's strengths.



There are two other good songs on Get Ready. They do a very good job on the classic blues number Tabacco Road. Also fairly good is Traffic's (Dave Mason) Feelin' Alright, which is done in a soulful manner.



The other songs on Get Ready are not very good. They are done in a British-psychodelic style. This is not Rare Earth's strength, and fortunately they drop this style on later albums. The version of Savoy Brown's Hellbound Train is really bad, done in a bouncy, happy style.



Ecology is a very good album for the most part. It relies much more on soul and with some blues thrown in. After all, Rare Earth is a band of Detroit and is on Motown records, so they should be playing soul.



Ecology starts out strong and all of side 1 is a winner. Side 2 has a little bit more rock to it and isn't quite as strong. However, it does end with a nice soulful version of the Beatles' Elanor Rigby."

A SUB-PAR AUDIO BOOTLEG YOU NO LONGER NEED TO WASTE MONEY ON

BOB | LOS ANGELES, CA | 08/17/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"
This bootleg has remained on Amazon for several years, despite Amazon's non-boot policy. However, you don't need to waste your money, as you have several options to obtain the same content, and in much better audio.



First, there's the 2008 "Fill Your Head: The Studio Albums 1969-1974" set, which provides the complete primary, five album repertoire (Get Ready, Ecology, One World, Willie Remembers & Ma, plus singles and rare tracks) in matched audio. However, the set has some limitations, so please make sure you read my review before laying out nearly sixty dollars for it. It does, however, have better sound than this bootleg.



Optionally, you can assemble a great Rare Earth compilation, for less money, by purchasing The Millennium Collection, The Very Best Of & Ma, all of which have superior audio to both this bootleg and the "Fill Your Head" set. You just have to decide if those three discs will suffice to meet your Rare Earth needs.



Again, read my review on "fill Your Head" for this option.



Also, with either option, you will get the original, full length "(I KNow) I'm Losing You", which, as another reviewer has so adroitly noted here, is the edited single version on this bootleg.



So, please don't waste your hard-earned cash for the audio-inferior boot."

Well worth it

VAT | New Paltz, NY United States | 06/06/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This CD combines two albums on one disc. It contains the necesary editing to fit the songs on one disc. The most obvious is the use of the single version of I Know I'm Losing You. However it does not take the enjoyment out of listening to this disc.



Rare Earth was a strong band that made good vibrant music. If you desire either one (or both) of these two albums, this is the best way to get them.



Crank it up and enjoy the music of Rare Earth."