Critic's Review
Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
Not in fact an entirely accurate title -- it does certainly consist of band singles, just not all of them -- Singles is a slightly redundant collection of the first three such releases from Spacemen 3. In order, the contents of the original Walkin' With Jesus, Transparent Radiation, and Take Me to the Other Side EPs are reproduced, along with the cover art and credits of those releases. The whole collection closely parallels the U.K.-released Transparent Flashbacks, right down to the artwork, except that this U.S.-released effort also includes "Things'll Never Be the Same," one of the original cuts from Transparent Radiation. Depending on what versions of which Spacemen 3 albums one owns, Singles will either be a useful place to get a lot of rarities or a mix of obscurities and already-available cuts. Taang itself didn't help matters any, given that they had already released the contents of Walkin' With Jesus as bonus tracks on its version of the Sound of Confusion album, making it not much of a bonus for the label's presumed buyers! However, given all the discographical weirdness the band suffered from in the first place, it's still a great collection and makes a good starting point for newcomers as well. With such winners as the full 17-minute monster rampage through the 13th Floor Elevators' "Rollercoaster," the nearly as lengthy remake of the MC5's "Starship," and the original versions of "Feel So Good," "Walkin' With Jesus," and "Ecstasy Symphony" to recommend it, Singles is definitely not a boring listen.
