Volume 3 (The Easybeats, 1966)

The Young clan returns, but this time it's older brother George, not Angus and Malcolm, in the spotlight. The Easybeats came roaring out of Australia in the mid-1960's, synthesizing the best parts of the Beatles, the Who and the Kinks and creating something new and exciting from the mix. They seemed poised to make it really big, relocating to the UK to capitalize on their ever-increasing fame, but largely due to horrendous management and general unhappiness in the band they would not make it much further. Volume 3 was the second-to-last proper album by the band, capturing them in the glow of their biggest hit, "Friday On My Mind". The opening track "Sorry" promises more hits, but the album wanders off quickly and the album feels more like a pile of songs lumped together than a cohesive work, so much so that I wasn't even sure without consulting the track listing when the album itself ended and the bonus tracks started. Attempts to release a fourth album were torturous on the band, at which time Young and lead guitarist Harry Vanda effectively seized control of the band and moved into more of a songwriting/producing role, ultimately leading some years later to the birth of AC/DC, which was under their guidance for most of the 1970's.

This disc is part of a reissue series by Repertoire, which I usually trust to release top-notch versions of lesser-known classics. However, I have a couple issues with the disc. First, the quality of the recordings seem low. I can't put my finger on it, but the mixes seem a little off on certain songs and I can almost pick up a faint wah (or whatever you call it when the volume wavers) when doing an apples-to-apples comparison with "Sorry" from the Nuggets II box. My other gripe is the bonus track situation. Normally it's great to see 11 bonus tracks alongside the 13 original album tracks, but there is no rationale to their selection (some are from much earlier, others later) and the "Easybeats Medley" is a jarring listen, consisting of mostly tracks from other albums awkwardly stitched together.

Between the difficulties of the album itself and the technical difficulties of the CD release, I would advise fans of the two big hits ("Sorry", "Friday On My Mind") stick to a greatest hits compilation and leave Volume 3 to the completionistas.