The Best of Iron Butterfly: Light and Heavy

(1993)

The Butterfly's Best!

Pros: Some of Iron Butterfly's best songs encapsulated on one disc, great bonus track.
Cons: "Are You Happy" and "To Be Alone" aren't accounted for...

Full Review

This was actually the second Iron Butterfly CD that I got (the first one being the deluxe version of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"). I got it for Christmas one year, and I wasted no time in popping it into the nearest CD player after all the other presents had been opened. Being my first time listening to it, Idecided to play it straight through. This was my first time hearing anything other than "Vida" or "Metamorphosis" material, and I must say that "Iron Butterfly Theme" blew me away the first time I heard it. From that point onward, I was set on getting the rest of the albums that were still available on CD. Haven't regretted that choice for a minute since.

This CD is more of a retrospective than anything else. Case in point, it contains all but one of the songs from "Vida." The only "new" (unreleased on an album) song here is "I Can't Help But Deceive You, Little Girl." But I digress. Here are the tracks:
1. Iron Butterfly Theme (The band should have made this the first cut on "Heavy," instead of the last!)
2. Possession
3. Unconscious Power
4. You Can't Win
5. So-Lo
6. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (Single Version)
7. Most Anything You Want
8. Flowers and Beads (They really should have picked this one to leave off the CD IMHO, instead of "Are You Happy.")
9. My Mirage
10. Termination
11. In the Time of Our Lives
12. Soul Experience
13. Real Fright
14. In the Crowds
15. It Must Be Love
16. Belda-Beast
17. I Can't Help But Deceive You, Little Girl (This one is very nicely-done, one of my favorite Butterfly tracks.)
18. New Day
19. Stone Believer
20. Soldier in Our Town
21. Easy Rider (Let the Wind Pay the Way)

Since I've already covered all the CDs that these songs were gleaned from, I think I'd just be wasting time reviewing each and every song here again. Suffice it to say, listening to this CD straight through gives you a good idea of just how far the band went before breaking up in '71. If you are a new fan of the Butterfly (or just want a taste of something from them other than "Vida"), you can't really go wrong with this disc.

The Bottom Line:

If you like the song "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," but have yet to hear any other Iron Butterfly material, this CD would be a good first one to check out.

PLEASE NOTE: This section is under construction until further notice.

| Back |
| MGH Home | k.d. lang gone haywire | Manowar Gone Haywire | Odd Stuff Gone Haywire | Gone Haywire Central |
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws