The Millennium/The Ballroom - Magic Time: The Millennium/Ballroom Sessions

Pay attention here, because although this release contains a lot of material by The Millennium, it's not exactly a Millennium album and not exactly an expanded edition of the Begin album, although everything from that record is here. This three-CD package is really a roundup of numerous Curt Boettcher-affiliated recordings from 1965-68, focusing mostly on tracks by The Millennium and his prior band, The Ballroom. Disc three is all Millennium, featuring not only the Begin album, but the unreleased "Blight"/"Just About the Same" single that was added to the 1990 Begin reissue, and the single versions of "It's You," "I Just Want to Be Your Friend," "5 A.M.," "Prelude," "To Claudia on Thursday," and "There Is Nothing More to Say." Begin, very much a group project, although Boettcher was the most important member, remains an impressive pinnacle of sunshine psychedelic pop, though the chipper songs are not as substantial as the florid, multi-hued and multi-textured production and harmonies. Read More