1st//Somebody's Watching

This is in regards to the first nine tracks on this 1997 cd which are from their first album. Whoever mastered it for this two-for-one cd appears to have not even bothered to look at the original track listing. I am sitting here with the Rare Bird lp. The lp's side two is laid down first on the cd with the lp's side one laid down secondly. Also the cd's mastering itself, while not appearing to be as heavily equalized as other masters has a certain harshness to it. Still, in many ways the cd is a sonic step up from the lp. The 2007 remastered cd has the same problem with track order and sonic fidelity. The mastering seems to be comparable to the 1997 cd. Perhaps the problems lie in the tapes themselves.

Fast shipping of product as advertised. I have never been let down by this seller. A bargain 2-fer at that!

I was lucky enough to find a seller who had the 2CD set of this...which contained RARE BIRD 1969...AS YOUR MIND FLIES BY 1970..SOMEBODY'S WATCHING 1973...and BORN AGAIN 1974...all tracks are present and remastered (very consistent sound thoughout) by the Italian company VHRCD...If you can find this version....GET IT!!! I paid the same price as the 2on1 cd.I waited a very long time for these to finally be remastered....and was worth the wait

Good recordings of unique Rare Bird sides w/ some classics scattered about.

Rare Bird started off as one of the earliest rock bands to feature keyboards but no guitar (Lee Michaels took that concept even further by including only organ and drums in his setup). The truly amazing thing about Rare Bird was the band was formed in October 1969, and their debut was released in December 3, 1969, just two months after their formation. It's amazing how they were able to pull that off. After all, it usually takes a band a year or two after formation to get an album out. Their debut was a historic album for it marked the very first album ever released on the Famous Charisma Label (what it was called then), this is the same label that also gave us the likes of Van der Graaf Generator/Peter Hammill, Genesis, Lindisfarne, Monty Python, etc. The album also received a US release on the ABC/Probe label, but it featured a totally different cover. As this album came out not too long after In the Court of the Crimson King and Colosseum's Valentyne Suite, you can tell that, with the longer numbers on this album, that the prog rock scene has finally arrived with full force. Rare Bird's music featured the powerful vocals of Steve Gould, future Spinal Tap guy David Kaffinetti on electric piano, Graham Field on organ, and Mark Ashton on drums. "Sympathy" was the hit on the album (at least a hit on Continental Europe) with lyrics that are perhaps even more relevant now than it was in 1969. There are several great progressive numbers including "Beautiful Scarlet", "Iceberg" and "God of War". "God of War" seems a little untypical for Rare Bird, with a more dark and sinister atmosphere than I'm accustomed to from these guys. I liked the whispered spoken dialog. These progressive songs are nothing short of masterpieces, some of the greatest prog I have ever heard. My complaint with them is they sound too short. Songs like "God of War" could me much longer and still be killer. The album also includes several great, shorter pieces like "Bird on a Wing", "Melanie", "Times", etc. "Times" sounds a little out of place, for the first half of the song, the band was trying to have a more 1950s vibe going on. Then the second half is much more progressive territory with great organ work. I find this album a bit underrated in light of their followup, As Your Mind Flies By, but it's a great album and a great way to start the Charisma label.As for Somebody's Watching, that one was their fourth album, from 1973, their second for Polydor. Apparently by the time they came to Polydor, they temporarily broke up previously, with Graham Field teaming up with ex-King Crimson and future Greenslade drummer Andy McCulloch to form Fields (who had an album released in 1971 on CBS), and Mark Ashton playing with tons of other artists (that I'm not familiar with). When they came back together, the band now consisted of just Steve Gould and David Kaffinetti, with brand new musicians, this time with guitarists. Their first Polydor album, Epic Forest might as well be another band calling themselves Rare Bird. Steve Gould's vocals seemed to be greatly reduced, and they went for a more mellow, West Coast-influenced sound, influenced by the likes of Crosby, Stills & Nash (even some of the vocals sound like Graham Nash), with a stronger acoustic bent, sound little like the two albums they did for Charisma. Still it's a great album. With Somebody's Watching, they added ex-Van der Graaf Generator bassist Nic Potter, and the band went for a slightly funkier sound, such as the title track and "Third Time Around", with David Kaffinetti including some clavinet on some of the pieces, especially "Turn Your Head". "Who is the Hero" and "High in the Morning" are another one of those examples of this new version of Rare Bird having a more West Coast-influenced sound, while "Turn Your Head" is a nice piece despite much of the song simple repeats "Turn your head around" over and over. Then there's "Dollars", where they do Ennio Morricone's theme to Sergio Leone's well-known Spaghetti Western, For a Few Dollars More (w/Clint Eastwood), and then do an extended and wonderful jam afterwards. While I feel Somebody's Watching is not quite as strong as Epic Forest, it's still quite good. I'd give four stars to Somebody's Watching, but a full five for their debut, and since I can't do four and a half here for the 2 for 1 CD set, I'd have to give it the full five. Regardless, this is a great way to hear the original and second version of Rare Bird.

i haven't heard the somebody's watching album, and know relatively little music from the latter incarnation of rare bird. rare bird were a talented outfit that emerged at the end of the 1960's. stylistically, they are an early progressive rock band somewhat reminiscent of yes or early genesis, and unlike most bands in that they lacked a guitar player...most fans seem to believe that their greatest moment was their 2nd lp, as your mind flies by. steve gould's vocals can occasionally be heavy handed, but at the same time, he does possess a powerful voice... the outstanding tracks on this good but not outstanding debut are sympathy and beautiful scarlet. sympathy was a minor hit in the u.k., but apparently a big hit in continental europe, and the song did receive some airplay here in the u.s.a., where the rare bird album reached a modestly successful 117 on the billboard charts. sympathy is a rather simple, brief, and haunting ballad that is essentially a plea for peace and compassion with pertinent and relevant lyrics, it is surprising that it wasn't an even bigger hit. beautiful scarlet is a minor masterpiece that belongs in a progressive rock canon of sorts, with nice tempo changes, thrilling (if to some listeners somewhat pompous/ cliched keyboard runs that kind of sounds like the type of music where the silent movie villain is tying the hero's girlfriend to the train tracks!) and fine vocals. god of war is another fine track, and while there are some other decent tunes, there is indeed some filler that precludes this album from being a true classic of the genre. however, the album should appeal to prog fans and enthusiasts of 60's rock, as the two cuts i've mentioned are superb.

neben "as your mind flies by" beste Alben

A part l'éternel hit;le reste tourne en roue libre sans grande inspiration et pourtant que de bonneschoses en 60's et 70's