So High I've Been: A European Rock Anthology 1967-1973 / Various

Anthology of the Continental Europe rock scene at it's late 60s/early 70s zenith. While rock bands outside of Britain and America were largely ignored at the time by most fans, a huge amount of outstanding, even ground-breaking music was being made in Continental Europe during the psychedelic/progressive rock heyday. Championed by the ever-curious John Peel, the likes of Faust, Tangerine Dream and Magma made music that stood proudly outside the UK/US hegemony, while a number of the Continent's more traditional rock bands - The Rattles, Shocking Blue, Focus, Golden Earring - enjoyed sizeable international hit singles. 'So High I've Been' anthologises the European underground/hippie scene during this fertile period, featuring all of the above names as well as other major players (Wigwam, Ekseption, Culpeper's Orchard, etc) and key tracks from such record collector favourites as Pacific Sound, After Shave, Necronomicon and Oriental Sound. Housed in a clamshell box with a 48-page booklet chronicling the bands, 'So High I've Been' is a fascinating window on a scene that is still less widely lauded than it should be.