Two Original Albums on a Single CD from the Band that was the Immediate Precursor of the Move and Eventually Electric Light Orchestra. The Self-titled "Idle Race" was the Group's Second Album and First Appeared in 1969 on the Liberty Records Label and "Time Is" was Released in 1971 on the Regal/Zonophone Label, Both Associated with EMI. "Idle Race" was Produced by the Band's Most Famous Ex-member, Jeff Lynne, but He Left the Group Shortly after the It's Release for the Move…
See for Miles' 1990 compilation The Best of Idle Race contains a generous 25 tracks – just over half of what the Idle Race recorded. This means that it does have the great majority of the best material the band recorded, and it would satisfy everyone outside of the rabid collectors who need anything. The catch is, if you're into the Idle Race, you need everything, so this collection is essentially a stopgap until you can track down (or afford) EMI's 1996 complete collection, Back to the Story. Even then, this may be a little more listenable, since it boils the group's interesting but erratic career to its very best – which is obscure British psych at its best (in other words, it's for the collectors who will seek it out, not anyone else).
Before making history together with the Move and then ELO, Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne both did time in the British psych-rock oddity the Idle Race. Though they were only in the band together briefly, the Race proved to be a testing ground for many of the ideas the two would bring to fruition–both together and separately–with their many subsequent projects. BACK TO THE STORY, originally released in 1996, collects the band's three studio albums, as well as alternate takes, demos, and rarities. It's a must-have for fans of Wood and Lynne, yet is also a key piece for those attempting to complete the vast and complicated puzzle that is British rock in the 1960s and '70s.
This languid, seductive gem may well be Grant Green's greatest moment on record. Right from the opening bars of the classic title cut, Idle Moments is immediately ingratiating and accessible, featuring some of Green's most stylish straight jazz playing. Allmusic *****