Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come – Eternal Messenger (An Anthology 1970-1973)

Very useful in that it collects everything in one place, including a clutch of previously-unissued BBC tracks, and both sides of a non-album single that hasn't been put out on CD before. Very nicely packaged, as well. That said: while all the tracks are labelled as "2021 remaster" on streaming services, the masters are essentially digitally identical to the earlier Esoteric remasters, with only minor EQ differences if anything. This isn't a bad thing, as the remasters sound great, but it means that this isn't a definitive improvement in sound quality if you already own those CDs; if you're really into the music, you'll obviously want the single sides and radio tracks, though.

This is ALMOST comprehensive: this includes all the "alternate versions" included as bonus tracks on prior CD issues of the individual albums. These are alternate mixes/edits done for the 1976 Lost Ears compilation. This set collects all the meaningfully different mixes/edits from that compilation, except for one: the version of Love Is a Spirit on Lost Ears is an alternate mix featuring a different vocal take, and omitting the vocal overdubs found on the album version. This is an odd omission from this otherwise-comprehensive collection. It also continues to include the Lost Ears version of Metal Monster, which is just a shorter edit of the album track, and not actually a different mix. It also, also continues to include, miscredited, Space Plucks Dem Bones, which has been included as a Galactic Zoo Dossier bonus track since 1993, but which is not a Kingdom Come track at all- it was recorded by a short-lived late lineup of the Crazy World of Arthur Brown in 1969. (Including it isn't a problem- it's a great track- the problem is including it with absolutely no indication that it predates the rest of the material, and with no credits for the musicians who actually play on it.) Really, the problem here is that the CD track lineups basically follow the tracklistings of the 2010 Esoteric reissues, which basically follow the tracklistings of the 2003 Castle releases, which slavishly follow the tracklistings of the 1993 Voiceprint reissues, which erratically include the "alternate" Metal Monster and the miscredited Space Plucks Dem Bones, but omit the alternate mix of Love Is a Spirit. Like the incorrect credits in the booklet, this issue exhibits a sort of careless, going-through-the-motions approach to the work behind this box set.

It also omits some BBC session tracks which have been released (or at least bootlegged) elsewhere- cf https://www.discogs.com/release/9726390-The-Crazy-World-Of-Arthur-Brown-Radio-Sessions-1968-1972-1975 which, despite the title, includes three Kingdom Come tracks not included here- albeit in terrible off-the-air sound quality that they may have judged unacceptable for a real release like this, so this isn't really a huge issue, and is more than made up for by the inclusion of excellent-quality BBC material that's just never been released before at all.

Contrary to the prior review posted here, the 1972 BBC session doesn't really sound "considerably better" than it did on the 2 CD Esoteric reissue of Journey- it is, again, essentially the same master, from the same source, nearly digitally identical, with slight EQ differences. It doesn't really sound any better or worse here, and I can't even notice any differences by A/Bing the two- I have to break out Audacity to be able to figure out that there's any difference at all.

The liner notes aren't quite as informative as it feels like they should be (they're heavily focused on Brown's experience in the band, and the live shows, and light on the music or the other band members), and there are some very embarrassing errors in the credits in the liner notes. No drummer is credited for disc 2 at all; Victor Peraino's vocal credit on disc 3 is omitted. They replicated the misspelling of "Theremin" from the original Journey credits. Maybe worse, Slim Steer is credited with playing drums on the first BBC session, despite the announcer clearly saying it's Andy McCulloch, and Victor Peraino is credited with playing keyboards at the final BBC session, despite the keyboardist being announced as Goodge Harris- whoever assembled the credits must've just assumed that the lineups at the BBC performances were identical to the contemporary album lineups, and not even listened to the tracks.

There are issues with the songwriting credits, as well. Vivian Stanshall's cowriting credit is omitted from Brains; Love Is a Spirit is credited to "Brown," without clarifying that it means Julian Paul Brown and not Arthur; three songs on the self-titled album, two credited to "Kingdom Come" and one to "Crane/Kingdom Come" on the original LP, are now credited to Dalby/Harris and Crane/Brown, respectively- which is either clarifying the original credits, or riskily omitting credits from the originals.

Nice to have all this in one place. For those not in the know it contains some of the best prog rock ever recorded, especially on Galactic Zoo Dossier. Journey sounds like nothing else before or since but must surely have influenced some of the more synth-oriented post-punk generation six or seven years later. The second album is more of an acquired taste but still highly entertaining in places, if often extremely silly.

Those who are familiar with this material will very likely be buying it for the disc of BBC sessions. These are definitely worth it - the Galactic Zoo-era sessions amount to a fascinating and often excellent alternate version of most of that album, seemingly sourced from master tapes, with some very different arrangements and unfamiliar segues, while the 1972 session, which previously surfaced in very dodgy quality on a 2 CD version of Journey some years ago, documents an interesting transitional line-up (drum machine but still Goodge Harris on keys) and, while still sourced from an off-air recording, sounds considerably better than it did on that Journey reissue.