Ogdens Nutgone Flake

Received this LP Box yesterday.....had some time so I listened to the Stereo & Mono versions of the album....I still have my original copy I picked up in 1968 (Stereo)....so I remember it only in stereo....always loved the LP and Small Faces as a band....anyway I have to say I prefer the Mono version....they both sound good but I must admit the mono LP sounds best to my ears......of course music listening is a subjective subject....the box set itself is a great package....high quality....well assembled.....have not listened to LP #3 yet....I recommend this to all Small Faces fans....thought the price was reasonable.....highly recommended.....

This Deluxe Edition of the Ogden's Nut-Gone Flake is a rather similar setup then the deluxe edition release of their third album and is a bit more psychedelic pop then that album. Again, the remasters are all done by Messrs MacLagan and Jones and is also of superior quality in sound. This Deluxe Edition also has a Digibook cover like the third album, but does not have a stereo version of the album. The first disc is the original album in mono and the second disc has various tracks that are different versions of the songs on the album - some are mono and some are stereo. There are also a couple of tunes not on the original album, such as Every Little Bit Hurts which is an early session mix, an instrumental known as Kamakhazi which is noted as a backing track and an early alternate take of Ogden's Nut-Gone Flake - phased early version. This version of that tune was recorded backward. The only singles on this Deluxe Edition are Lazy Sunday and it's b-side Rollin' Over and Afterglow which are on the original mono album and the stereo album. All songs are different takes and Rollin' Over is known as Bun in The Oven, which was an early session version. Like I said, this 2 disc set also has a superior sound quality that sounds as though the band is there with you. Another great catch and should not be passed up.

Not realizing that Ronnie Lane and Steve Marriot were in this band, and not knowing that they wrote "Itchycoo Park" which honestly wouldn't have swayed me in favor of the purchase, I bought it anyway because of some blurb about classic british blah blah blah etc. I tend to really like music from this era, and this is right in there, except to these American ears wow is it "British"!This has totally grown on me. At first I was a little worried, as "Happiness Stan" is just weird, but "Afterglow", "Lazy Sunday" and especially "Song Of a Baker" got me hooked bad.The stereo mix is all over the place, as I must conclude that is how it originally sounded. To my ears there's a little more sonic focus of the mono version, but now after listening to both of them I really like them both. These guys could rock! I have to say I LOVE the story in the liner notes about how after going on tour with the Who, they said that the Who slaughtered them, and Marriot knew they had to step it up if they were going to leave a mark. Well they certainly did. Great, classic, perfect British Psychedelic record. Almost sorta makes me wish I was there.As far as the packaging goes, it's groovy and all, but not knowing anything about them, I would've been fine with just a regular package. Still I don't regret the purchase.I definitely won't be taking the boxed set on any long road trips. It's too nice for that.

It's time to review the smashing flakit. That circly album with the circly cover of decades gone by. In 1968, I first bought this album not on a whim, but, because I just simply loved the Small Faces and, by the way, I still do. The odd thing about the 60's was that there was a thing about lp covers. The artwork, the shape and yes, even an album cover right on the two sides of the vinyl album.(That one being Airconditioning by Curved Air. The only other round cover album that appeared in 1969 was an lp entitled Atlast by The Mick Abrahams Band. Anyway, this Ogden's Nut-Gone Flake album was no exception in the Small Faces repertoire. All four of their albums and quite a few singles during their lifespan were all great music, both instrumentally and vocally. I have here a listing of all tracks and they are as follows: 1 Ogden's Nut-Gone Flake - fantastic instrumental 2 Afterglow - A quite soulish number with a soulful vocal from Steve Marriott 3 Long Agos and Worlds Apart - A rather soothing yet bashing number with a vocal from Ian McLagen. Nice tune 4 Rene - A tune that kinda is a soft shoe number with cockney vocal from Steve Marriott 5 Song Of A Baker - Another slow-rocking number with great taste. 6 Lazy Sunday - Which is another great cockney vocal from Steve Marriott and was released as a single in 1967. 7 Happiness Stan - A rather eerie tune with great vocals and instrumentation. 8 Rollin' Over - A soulful number with vocal by Steve Marriott was also the B side to Lazy Sunday 9 The Hungry Intruder - A short funny sort of tune about a fly, trust me on this, it is great. 10 The Journey - Mostly instrumental with odd sound effects, another you would have to trust me with. 11 Mad John - A funny cockney and almost childish tune. 12 Happydaystoytown - A great way to end the album and the story. If you are not familiar with the original album, side two, tracks 7 through 12, were a part of a story known as Happiness Stan and in between the tunes were narrations being performed by Stan Unwin with a rather heavy cockney accent. It was and still is a great album whether it be 1968 or 2015. It really stands the test of time. I love this album so much that I have several copies on cd with the paper sleeve, which includes two copies that are deluxe editions, This particular copy on Sanctuary Records and another deluxe edition on Charly Records. The one on Charly Records has different tracks and alternate versions and this version has the mono and stereo mixes and a third disc with a BBC Radio One "Classic Albums" documentary that includes interviews with the Small Faces. Both versions are really worth getting. A truly wonderful set. This version that I am reviewing is packaged in a round tobacco tin replica with the original album artwork of the front on the top and the back on the tin bottom and the Charly Records version is packaged in a hard-bound book with cd trays on front inside and rear inside and is a 2 disc set. Also, the album artwork on the Charly Records version is front cover on front and back cover print on back and is a normal square-shaped book. Also, this is not the first time this cd has been packaged in a tobacco tin. I have a version from 1989 also on Castle import from France. The lid had the front cover and the bottom is brass with song content printed in black and includes a bonus track of Tin Soldier (LIVE) and a set of 6 coasters with the album frontside printed on each coaster.

This is an outstanding album that of course every real music fan should own! Amongst my thousands of CD's and records Ogden's (along with the Small Faces first Immediate album) I listen to almost daily. I do take note of other Amazon purchasers so was suprised to find an average 2 star rating for this reissue. On reading the reviews I found that, though they made some valid points, the worst reviews were by people who had not actually purchased the item but had some issues with the latest presentation and/or price. I think it is rather sad that such a great album, and a very good reissue, should have a 2 star rating due to these reviews. I purchased the vinyl version (PLEASE NOTE MY PHOTO SHOWS THE BOX FOR THE 2018 VINYL LP BUT THE OTHER ITEMS ARE FROM THE 2012 LIMITED CD RELEASE FOR COMPARISON) and find it excellent and great value! The vinyl LP's are new half speed masters and have excellent sound quality. With half decent hi -fi euipment they sound better than 2012 CD remasters which have excellent sound themselves compared to previous reissues. Anyone with a passing knowledge of the history of the Immediate master tapes will appreciate the work that has been done to get these reissues to the level they are. The vinyl set includes the Mono and Stereo mixes plus a disc of outtakes. Yes the outtakes are available elsewhere, but not in this quality on vinyl. The vinyl are 3 high quality 180-gram vinyl beautifully finished discs in red, white and blue vinyl with facsimile 1968 Immediate labels and quality lined paper inner sleeves. Perhaps the only thing that lets the vinyl set down is the outer sleeves which are very plain with a similar design to the outer box with a photo of the original sleeve surrounded by plain white. Very plain when compared with the original. In this way the set does not quite measure up to the excellent presentation of the 2014 'Here Comes The Nice' box set or the limited edition 2012 CD reissue (pictured) which had excellent detail based on the original circular cover. On a practical level though those 'circular' reissues are harder to look after and maintain in excellent condition and no doubt are more expensive and impractical to manufacture in large numbers. The book that accompanies the CD and LP sets, while not hard cover like the 2014 box set, is on 'glossy' print on all 72 pages and contains many new photo's of the lads, the artwork and period labels. It manages to add a new dimension even to the excellent 'circular' booklet with the 2012 'limited release'. If you are lucky enough to own this 2012 release the new CD release may not seem great value. Whilst the new packaging adds a larger format book you do lose some of the 'round packaging', coasters etc. that come with the 2012 set and get the same remastering and basically the same outtakes with the addition of the odd track from the 2014 remaster. You also get a DVD of the 'Colour Me Pop' appearances which are also available on the 2009 'All Or Nothing' DVD where 20 other essential video's are also included. If you haven't got either of these items then in my opinion this 50th anniversary CD set is essential. If you have got them just get the vinyl for the excellent colored vinyl pressings and the new book. Just a further comment in relation to those other negative reviews, as previously stated I thought that the vinyl was great value when ordered from Amazon UK. However for some strange reason it was much more expensive if you ordered it from Amazon USA (import price??) whereas the CD set was expensive from Amazon UK but better value from the US. The LP set only took 4 days to deliver from dispatching in the UK to arrival in New Zealand. Excellent Service. And a final comment on the 5.1 mixes, Yes they are nice to have and I enjoy the 5.1 mixes of my Tull reissues and others. However given the lack availability of the Small Faces masters I can't see any 5.1 mixes being 'real'. More like a modern version of fake stereo. 5.1 mixes are a great novelty but I would never give a great album reissue a 1or 2 star rating because they are not available. These classics were recorded in the days of Mono and Stereo and that's how they still sound best!

Blackpool 1980....I'm 16 years old, a mod,i see a metal comb in the window of a shop...thinks to myself, that would keep my "Mod number" in placeI go in, buy the comb..the man at the desk says to me, "What you want on it"?"Sorry"?"What you want on it? You got to make it yours, make it your own""Erm, ok...Small Faces""Small Faces? THE Small Faces"?"Yes"And so began this guy, telling me his life story , he was an original Mod in the 60's.It was a brilliant day, i'll always remember it, and The Small Faces are a big part of itAnyway, back to Ogdens....I have the 2012 Deluxe Edition,looked at this at £78 and thought otherwise, however....Now at £44 or so, i couldn't resist!It's a lovely book, yes all disc material is available already, but at this price, for fans, it's a must buy.Back to 1980....As a mod, do you buy a plastic comb or a engraved metal comb?The Best Mod Band Ever.

This is truly a classic one-off album, and has been duly recognised as such. Of course, it is of very special interest to those of us who were teenagers or young adults in those days (1968). I think I was just 13 when my folks bought me "Lazy Sunday / Rolling Over" (the single), and though that song is ultra-poppy and commercial, it served as an introduction to Steve Marriott and his crew. With a more "mature" or "seasoned" taste now, I would say that Lazy Sunday (a chart hit) is one of the weaker songs on the album. Afterglow of your Love and Song of a Baker are better songs. However, what makes this album so special is the overall hearing from beginning to end. It works! One song rolls into the other, and on the second (vinyl) side you have that marvellous continuum, a story or "concept" interlaced with Stanley Unwin's narrative which, for you foreigners who can't be expected to know who the hell Stanley Unwin was (quite understandably) needs a little explanation: he was like no-one else on earth, and could entertain you with stories you could understand perfectly well despite his telling them in a language found in no dictionary -which had something to do with the English language but, then again, did not, if you see what I mean. The overall effect is of some curiously appetizing children's entertainment reserved for adults who secretly wish they'd never grown up.Apart from the music, the cover art -representing a tin of ± 1920's Ogden's tobacco- did a lot to sell the album; in fact it figures amongst the most famous. It's a quirky album, true, but it certainly deserves its place in the history of rock music. As for recording quality, I'll leave that to other commentators. My purchase sounds fine to me!

Brilliant album but basic release, booklet and CD the mix is the same stereo mix on the previous deluxe edition, minus the bonus tracks and mono mix. Save your money for the 3CdD plus DVD version issued later in the year

Very happy to get this on vinyl, as I still have vinyl equipment, plus facilities for CD's and Cassette Albums. It was rare enough when I was at college, and the last time I saw it, it was in a limited Round Metal Round Tin! One of my friends eldest brothers had it and got it in Canterbury when it was on sale on Limited Offer. I am nearly 59, and have been trying to (unsuccessfully) get hold of a copy. Now at last, the ambition has been fulfilled, along with my other Small Faces Vinyl LPs! Plays very well! Thanks!