One thing I've never liked about music feeling like an elite club only certain people could be a part of is the way that some people discover artists after others and it somehow makes them less of a fan or simply makes them less of a fan of music on a whole. I didn't discover T. Rex until the early 2000's when a friend of mine who was in a band at the time said to me that his next record was going to be a lot like T. Rex. What's particularly funny to me about it is that the internet was not back then what it is today. I believe that this was after the time that Napster came and went so there was simply no source for listening to music online for free. Right now when I hear the names of artists I don't know I'll look them up on Spotify and, failing that, YouTube videos.
I actually went to a record store, which may or may not still exist because it might have been a Best Buy, and I bought one of those "Great Price" type of compilations. It had all of the hits and was under $10, which was a good price because at the time digital music simply did not exist as it does now and the compact disc was reigning champion. I listened to that CD quite a few times before I decided to just break down and get the albums on their own because I always feel like it's best to hear songs in their original intended positioning-- at least from a certain point in the past when placement of songs on an album felt like it meant something and wasn't just a random shuffle.
If you've never heard a song by T. Rex before or at least the name and aren't sure, odds are that if you've ever listened to classic rock radio then you have heard "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" which is covered wonderfully on here by Don Coyote. Admittedly, The Mumzees and Oceanray are the only bands on here that I've actually heard of before, which is two out of seventeen artists, but I just feel like that gives you more of a chance to find new bands to love as they create songs that you love.
There may not be one universal band that can bring everyone together (Nirvana? The Beatles?) but there are bands out there that a lot of people love. And I love T. Rex. So imagine someone saying, "Hey, I want you to listen to all of these really awesome bands I found". If you were like me, you'd simply nod, smile and say, "Yeah, I bet you would" because, really, who has time for that? Actually, listening to new bands is a lot of what I do. But then imagine that same person then saying to you that they'd like you to hear all of these bands you've never heard but they're going to present them to you in a way which they cover songs by an artist you love. There really couldn't be anything finer than that. And I'm serious about this, if any labels want me to listen to their compilations I can send them Top Ten lists of artists to have them cover.
T. Rex rules. This compilation rules. And Idle Bloom is my new favorite band. I don't really feel like I review a lot of CDs but when I do, they're well worth your taking the time to get to know on a very personal and intimate level. "Children of the Revolution" is no exception to that.
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