Additional information
Includes bonus tracks. Contains 15 tracks. This 1998 reissue contains three bonus tracks. Recorded between 1966 & 1969. Includes liner notes by Ronnie Scott, Dave Oxley. This double CD PICTURESQUE MATCHSTICKABLE MESSAGES includes mono and stereo forms of this classic debut album from Status Quo. This rerelease also includes unheard singles, rare BBC recordings and interviews as well as sessions featuring Traffic Jam and The Spectres. Status Quo's debut album featured none of the band's better-known boogie rock of the mid-'70s. Picturesque... is a psychedelic effort that tries to imitate the sound bands like the Bee Gees or the Beatles were doing at the moment. With this record, Status Quo surprisingly had its first (and last) hit in America, the single "Pictures of Matchstick Men," which peaked at number 12 (it reached number seven on the British charts). Other highlights from the album are the second single, "Ice in the Sun," and the Bee Gees cover "Spicks and Specks." Even if this is not the most representative album from Status Quo, it is a good psychedelic pop exercise that sometimes includes very imaginative guitar phrases ("Ice in the Sun"), and some brilliantly unusual sounds (the epic "Paradise Flat"). ~ Robert Aniento
