Released within Castle's so-called Collector Series, this double-LP package is nothing more than a random gathering of cuts from the earlier Acid Daze triple album, rearranged to dispense with any trace of chronology and wrapped up in a quite ghastly sleeve. To the uninitiated, of course, The Collection probably looks like a good deal. "Silver Machine" is here. "Master of the Universe." "Spirit of the Age." "Motorhead." But they are never the versions you'd hope to find -- rather, they are those already familiar from such semi-official collections as Text of Festival, Space Ritual, Vol. 2, Bring Me the Head of Yuri Garagrin, Live at Watchfield & Stonehenge, and so forth, a succession of distant live and disinterested studio takes that manage to grind away at even the most patient of listeners. Eighteen of Acid Daze's 25 tracks are included on the Collection vinyl release; the CD reissue drops three, while a similar CD release, The Castle Masters Collection, restores them, but cuts seven songs in favor of just three others. Confused? That's probably the idea. Far easier, then, to eschew this set and simply pick up the original Acid Daze. It doesn't sound any better, but it's a lot simpler to wade through.
© Dave Thompson /TiVo