Roy Wood - Singles A's & B's (CD)

All Music Guide

Although they recorded a couple of albums, Wizzard was at its best as a singles outfit, because Roy Wood's pop songwriting chops truly shined when confronting the challenges of the 45-rpm format. As the hits collected on Singles: A's B's reveal, Wizzard was an excellent outlet for Wood's ability to combine retro-rock elements borrowed from a variety of pop sources with a driving glam rock edge: "Ball Park Incident" sounds like Jerry Lee Lewis jamming with the Spiders from Mars and "Angel Fingers" is a delightfully bombastic ballad that layers multiple tiers of vocals, brass, and percussion to create a perfect homage to Phil Spector's Wall of Sound production style. Singles: A's B's also does Roy Wood fans a favor by collecting mostly non-album B-sides together. These flip sides are mostly instrumental in nature, and mix Wood's gift for eccentric orchestrations into a driving sound that is usually heavier than the pop-tinged A-sides: "The Carlsberg Special" pits frenetic harpsichord a...nd woodwind frills against blaring brass over a driving beat and "Marathon Man" adds drive to its psychedelic tapestry of sitar and guitar lines with a taut groove from the rhythm section. The end result is the best compilation of Wizzard material and an ideal companion to a collection of Roy Wood's solo work. - Donald A. Guarisco, All Music Guide Read more Less