Air Age Anthology

Air Age Anthology

Air Age Anthology does an excellent job at culling a whopping 39 selections from Be Bop Deluxe’s five studio albums, as well as previously unreleased material and some live recordings. The title-track to 1974’s Axe Victim makes a grand opening as frontman/guitar player Bill Nelson flirts with the era’s glittery glam. “Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape” from the same album even comes close to treading on the same territory pioneered by David Bowie in “Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide.” An unsung champion of the guitar, “Love With the Madman” and “Sister Seagull” both spotlight the man’s fretboard skills, sounding like Jimmy Page collaborating with Mott the Hoople, while the keyboard-heavy “Ships in the Night” ventures into progressive landscapes with ever-changing arrangements and a constant melody soaring over tiers of shifting genres. “Dance of the Uncle Sam Humanoids” proves that Nelson and company could pull off flawless prog in a live setting. Air Age Anthology reveals Be Bop Deluxe to be one of the top underrated Brit-rock bands.

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