It's about time.
Anyone familiar with the Raspberries knows that they were like a bright star, streaking to brilliance and then imploding just when they were starting to look like a keeper. But as Big Star fans will tell you, a lifetime of influence can be imparted in a short career, and that's why many current bands lined up to share the experience of bringing these songs to the forefront once more.
Any tribute disk fan knows better than to expect every song to be great, but Preserved amazingly kicks off with two of the three weakest tracks, including a limp version of "Go All The Way" - certainly someone submitted a better version than this! But pressing on we come across the ever-dependable Bill Lloyd ("Goin' Nowhere Tonight"), The Rubinoos ("Cruisin Music") and even the Nicoteens covering the Carmen solo classic "Hey Deanie". Brad Jones' "Let's Pretend" wins the battle of the falsettos with Ken Sharp's "Waiting", and The Flashcubes nail a powerful version of "Don't Want To Say Goodbye". Ex-band member Scott McCarl diplomatically chooses the Carmen/Smalley "Nobody Knows", and even Off Broadway stars with "Tonight". Production is almost always consistently good, which is no slam dunk on projects like this.
If I have one main complaint, it's the liner notes. Four pages of band history from Ken Sharp is nice, but I'd have omitted Jordan Oakes' page of kudos for some information about the bands! Outside of a track listing on the rear jacket, there's nothing.
While it's not as wall-to-wall solid as Sing Hollies In Reverse (eggBert), what tribute is? Pop fans will enjoy this twenty-one track labor of love, and it's an absolute must-have for Raspberries fans. And yes, I know that last sentence may have been redundant.
