When i was young, at polytechnic (and an idiot), the Charlatans were an essential part of my life soundtrack. But then the baggy scene they had been a part of (though a bit of a later addition to be true) died away, the Charlatans went a bit more rock as part of the new Brit Pop scene and i thought they were now rubbish. Like i said i was an idiot as the total opposite was true... though the Brit Pop scene in general was a bit rubbish. This compilation brings together key tracks and hits from their early years with Beggars Banquet and its a pretty great selection of early-mid 90s indie too from the fall-out of baggy to Brit Pop.
We start off with their baggy-era and iconic early 90s tracks like "The only one I know", "Then" and "Weirdo". They still sound refreshingly neo-psychedelic and naive, plenty of organ and an indie beat with superb pop harmonies and melodies.
Later tracks like "I never want an easy life..." and "Jesus hairdo" i frowned upon back in the 90s (i.e. my idiot stage) but now i recognise them for the more-mature rock hits that they are fitting perfectly into the heavier mid to late 90s indie scene. They captured the zeitgeist perfectly with good quality indie rock, i guess i just wanted them to redo "Then" and "Weirdo" over and over again. The world moved on, the Charlatans moved on and finally i did too.
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