The Immediate Collection

The Nice's Immediate Collection is one of the more comprehensive hits packages that's offered from this band's short career, including concise liner notes aptly discussing their significance in the rock world. Covering each of their five studio albums, the two discs group together the most energetic tracks from their five-year stint while adding a few added bonuses here and there. Disc one appropriately opens with "The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack" from their debut album of the same name, forwarding on to psychedelia-tinged tracks like "Tantalising Maggie," "The Cry of Eugene," and "Happy Friends." Their familiar keyboard-soaked rendition of "America" appears here as well, as does an early version of "Daddy Where Did I Come From?" and a demo of "Brandenburger" to round out the first CD. Disc two emerges wonderfully into the Nice's classical-meets-rock arrangements, beginning with "Intermezzo From Karelia Suite" from 1970's Five Bridges album. The bulk of the second CD involves the lengthy "Ars Longa Brevis" suite for group and orchestra, with its four movements and coda, a delectable smorgasbord of progressive brilliance and an aural premonition of Keith Emerson's promising future. Closing out the set with the perplexing "Diary of an Empty Day" and a peculiar version of Bob Dylan's "She Belongs to Me," The Immediate Collection sums up the Nice's innovative impact on progressive rock, especially where the keyboard is concerned. ~ Mike DaGagne|