The Creation Making Time

While they never scored major commercial success in either the United States or the United Kingdom, the Creation inspired a cult following during their original 1966-1967 run that continues to grow with the passage of time, and with good reason. The Creation's pre-psychedelic fusion of mod style and freakbeat sound was intriguing enough, but the real key to their music was the guitar work of Eddie Phillips, who combined forceful, elemental picking with feedback and the use of a violin bow (years before Jimmy Page embraced the idea) that allowed him to conjure singular sounds from his axe…

While they never scored major commercial success in either the United States or the United Kingdom, the Creation inspired a cult following during their original 1966-1967 run that continues to grow with the passage of time, and with good reason. The Creation's pre-psychedelic fusion of mod style and freakbeat sound was intriguing enough, but the real key to their music was the guitar work of Eddie Phillips, who combined forceful, elemental picking with feedback and the use of a violin bow (years before Jimmy Page embraced the idea) that allowed him to conjure singular sounds from his axe. Combine that with the inspired crash-and-bash of bassist Bob Garner and drummer Jack Jones, and the soulful passion of vocalist Kenny Pickett, and the Creation produced a sound that was second only to the Who for sheer power and inventiveness during their brief, impressive heyday…

While they never scored major commercial success in either the United States or the United Kingdom, the Creation inspired a cult following during their original 1966-1967 run that continues to grow with the passage of time, and with good reason. The Creation's pre-psychedelic fusion of mod style and freakbeat sound was intriguing enough, but the real key to their music was the guitar work of Eddie Phillips, who combined forceful, elemental picking with feedback and the use of a violin bow (years before Jimmy Page embraced the idea) that allowed him to conjure singular sounds from his axe. Combine that with the inspired crash-and-bash of bassist Bob Garner and drummer Jack Jones, and the soulful passion of vocalist Kenny Pickett, and the Creation produced a sound that was second only to the Who for sheer power and inventiveness during their brief, impressive heyday…

The best songs on this updated compilation are by far the first twelve. Raw and savage Mod rockers such as "Making Time" and "Painter Man" rival The Who's first LP for intensity. It makes one wonder why The Creation weren't bigger than they were…

This was the only full-length album released during the brief life-span of the Creation, one of the few beat groups to rival the raw intensity of the Who. (Guitarist Eddie Phillips, who committed violin bow to guitar strings before Jimmy Page, was allegedly even courted by Pete Townshend to become the Who's second guitarist.)…

Nuggets, Lenny Kaye's original 1972 compilation of garage and psych, loomed large in the record collectors consciousness, canonizing a portion of rock that was originally laughed off while setting the standard for reissues. Rhino's 1998 box set of the same name expanded the scope of that record, replicating most of the original while gloriously spilling forth over three additional discs – and, in doing so, it spurred a minor revolution, becoming one of the most talked-about reissues of the last half of the '90s…