The Cockney Rebel – A Steve Harley Anthology

The Cockney Rebel - A Steve Harley Anthology
Compilation album by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel/Steve Harley
Released	2 October 2006
Genre	Rock/pop, glam rock, progressive rock
Label	EMI Music UK
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel/Steve Harley chronology
The Quality of Mercy (2005) The Cockney Rebel - A Steve Harley Anthology (2006) Stranger Comes to Town (2010)

The Cockney Rebel – A Steve Harley Anthology is a remastered three-disc box-set anthology compilation album by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, featuring material from Cockney Rebel, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel and Harley's solo career. The collection highlights all of Harley's albums, spanning over 33 years, from The Human Menagerie to The Quality of Mercy.^[1] It was released in the UK only by EMI Music UK on CD.^[2] Today it remains out-of-print although is available as an MP3 download.^[3]

The album's sleeve notes were written by Geoff Barton of Classic Rock magazine, who himself is a long-term fan of Harley.^[1] The final track on Disc 3, the live song "Only You", is highlighted as previously unreleased, although it had first appeared on the 1999 live album Stripped to the Bare Bones.^[4]

Track listing

Disc one

Disc two

Disc three

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Classic Rock Magazine	[5]
BBC Nottingham	[6]
Uncut Magazine

Carol Clerk of Classic Rock Magazine reviewed the album under the title "Rebel Rousing", stating "Although Steve Harley is rightly remembered for his clutch of audacious pop hits with Cockney Rebel in the mid 70's, this three-CD set charts a long and accomplished career. "Sebastian" was a brave first single with its choral and orchestral dramas, and while it flopped in Britain it was a success in Europe. Later favourites such as "Judy Teen" and "Mr Soft" were exquisitely crafted and arranged, and determinedly eccentric to boot. Intelligence has always been key to Harley's songwriting, which is why "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" - his first No.1 with a revamped band - still sounds fresh and innovative. With Jim Cregan proving loudly that the guitar had arrived in the amusing "Mad Mad Moonlight". Harley subsequently moved the band into more experimental areas for the albums "Timeless Flight" and "Love's a Prima Donna", whose "Innocence and Guilt" remains seriously sinister. The American flavours and gospelly flourishes of the "Hobo with a Grin" album reflect Harley's residence in Los Angeles, which ultimately proved to be a bad career move. Coming home, he recorded only sporadically in the 80s, but returned to music in the 90s, memorably with the slow-burning "All in a Life's Work" and "The Last Time I Saw You" from the "Poetic Justice" album. "The Quality Of Mercy", his most recent offering from 2005, explored extremely personal emotions with the likes of "Journey's End" and "A Friend for Life", producing arguably Harley's most affecting collection to date."^[5]

Jake Jakeman of BBC Nottingham wrote "A three CD set might seem over the top for an artist we fondly remember for singing "Make Me Smile" and "Here Comes the Sun" and who now happily presents Sounds of the 70s on BBC Radio 2. But if you want to hear the diversity of Steve Harley head straight for track 11 on CD2. "Innocence and Guilt" is a weird seven-minute trip that probably would have pushed Psycho's Norman Bates over the top if it had been recorded in the 60s! Repossess me Mama is the mantra that demands access to your brain. Quite marvellous. Then there's "Sling It", a song that hinted control freak Harley was about to disband his successful group. But listen to it and it's every bit as inventive and ground breaking as the music Brian Eno and Roxy Music were putting out at the time. Three CDs is a lot to maintain the quality threshold and by the time we reach the final collection the songs are a pale representation of what's gone before (although "Freedom's Prisoner" still has its merits). But it's good to have a substantial collection that shows the diversity of the man and his band."^[6]

Chris Roberts of Uncut Magazine wrote "Harley's ever-changing band slid perfectly into the post-Ziggy/Roxy slipstream, all mannered English vocals, florid lyrics and sexual-theatrical rock. Tricksy hits like "Judy Teen" and "Mr Soft" (riddled with inventive sonic punctuation, also violins) displayed arch wit, whilst fan favourite "Sebastian" was a quite wonderful seven-minute epic with the unabashed self-importance of early Genesis. After the all-conquering "Make Me Smile", it was as if Harley was sated. His subsequent albums, both solo and under the band name, were measured and less edgy."^[7]

References