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Kraftwerk-EXCELLER 8 cassette (Vertigo England)

'member when some bigtime rock group'd leave the label that supported 'n nurtured 'em on their road to fame once that juicy contract was dangled before their very snouts? The first thing that the jilted label, the one that helped make these ingrates the megamonsters that they were would do was issue a "greatest hits" collection, usually at bargain prices, just so's they could milk even more money outta said group's legacy. True the group in question's fame might have been limited to the album rock genre with little if any chart-topping success, but that wouldn't stop these labels from dishing out a collection with not only the supposed "hits" (or, in most cases songs that happened to get their fair share of underground radio credo) but tracks that someone "thought" should have been hits, b-side rarities and heck, even an outtake or two if any happened to be lying around.

This phenomenon, at least by the seventies, was pretty much dead 'n done in the US of Whoa, but over in Europe alla them rich kids were plunking down upwards or $3.50 US for those Harvest Heritage and Polydor Special collections we hadda pay full price for once they hit the import bins. And yeah, EXCELLER 8 was but one of these, the greatest hits collection that Phonogram issued after German electronic popsters Kraftwerk headed off for EMI and eventual disco fortune. And frankly it's about what you would expect from a quickie churnout budget package with the single version of "Autobahn" (which is chilling enough to send me back to the spring of '75 with all of the mental torment and general scorn that I hadda endure!) as well as nice pickings from the rest of the Phonogram-era lot including "Ruckzack" and "Von Himmel Hock" in nicely edited slices that sound so nifty compacted like this. Listening to "Kling Klang" while the effects of starvation, Ny Quil and the smell of burning wood were attacking my late-night sense of distortion actually made for a rather ethereal effect. One beef...although listed on the cover and tape shell, "Stratovarius" is nowhere to be found which should be a grave disappointment for any of you who find the group's second album to be their incomprehensible best.