gobs anthology 3

So possibly to my shame I did fork out the megabux (slightly less mega of bux than was originally mooted) on the GoBs Anthology vol 3. Did I do the right thing, or did I do a thing purely because I already have #1 and #2? Now, those two are unquestionably worthwhile and good. They have all the crucial material. What does #3 have?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

I haven't listened to the three reformation LPs lately: my memory is the first one was so-so, the second was pretty great, the third was excellent - in sound and style. But so far I've only listened to the CDs of 'rarities' (don't know why I put that in inverted commas, because that's definitely what they are) and I am not entranced. It strikes me that this version of the GoBs is not hungry, or seeking to prove anything, or anything like that. It is two men who realised that they're taken more seriously and enjoyed more and (I'm sure this was less of a consideration for them than it would be for many, but still...) could command a higher fee under the old band name, and yet, there's no grand myth making here. This GoBs could never do a 'Twin Layers of Lightning' or an 'Old Way Out', those kinds of songs that just shock everyone (or even really a 'Streets of Your Town' or 'Clouds', much less a 'Cattle and Cane' or 'Your Turn My Turn'). It was different times, for sure. 

Robert and even more so Grant were awkward and provocative songwriters in the early 80s who did the things they did not because they didn't know what they were doing, but because they wanted to provoke and delight. By the early 21st century, Grant in particular was occasionally coming up with great material but more often coming up with lazy silly rhymes and songs like 'Ham off the bone' or whatever it's called that, to be honest, I had to get up and turn off. Perversely this collection gives us the wrong impression of the GoBs dynamic (if we're not paying attention) because Grant is overrepresented - he had a huge output compared to Robert's and of course that would mean that, in the process of recording a new album, he'd choose five out of his 50, and Robert would have five out of his five. Well, here Grant has his fifty and not many of them are honed. 

OK so I am not writing a review, I haven't listened to the whole of this and there must be at least six or seven hours of it, I've probably listened to about 15-20%. Some of it is really good but most of it from my current perspective is a bit legacy-tarnishing. But I think we'll all live whether I like this box or not, ha ha. Indeed this is just my preliminary feel and I am likely to change my attitude at some point.