THE MOVE Movements: 30th Anniversary Anthology
(Westside, three CDs, 205 min.)

Although the Move is often remembered as the band that begat the Electric Light Orchestra and Jeff Lynne, the truth is that it was by far the best British group of the 1960s that never made the charts in the States. Movements, an import retrospective, is long overdue, even if it's not quite the complete works (for the rest, check out the excellent Great Move on EMI). What's here, however, is choice: the band's first three albums (The Move, Shazam, Looking On), all the singles, the ultra-rare live EP Something Else (with its killer cover of the Eddie Cochran song), and assorted oddities. Stylistically, the set is all over the map, with everything from a gorgeous psych-era pop ballad like "Blackberry Way" to a hilarious heavy metal pastiche like "Brontosaurus." There's a plethora of first-rate, occasionally even inspired rock-and-roll here, and leader Roy Wood turns out to have been a brilliant guitarist as well as a terrific songwriter - just check out the wah-wah-drenched solo that slices "The Last Thing on My Mind" right down the middle. Besides, if you've never heard "Fire Brigade," you've missed out on one of the classic singles of all time.

© 1998 Stereo Review

Transcribed by Lynn Hoskins

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