Archives to Eighties

In 1988, Mayall went back into the studio and revisited eight songs from 1971's Back to the Roots album and tacked on five tracks from the original record to make this haphazard compilation. His remixing and restructuring of old material (which includes extended guitar work from Eric Clapton not found on Roots) is, for the most part, unobtrusive. But Mayall also chose to overdub new solos and such onto the recordings, which is more troublesome. It's nearly two decades later and it often sounds like it. Still, it's Mayall's history to rewrite; it's your choice whether or not to listen. [Later reissued as part of an expanded version of Back to the Roots in 2001.]