As entertaining a repackage of the under-appreciated 1970s progressive act you could hope for, this 2-CD set returns the band's three content-rich releases for Pye's otherwise somnolent Dawn label with bonus singles.

Ambitious, audacious, musically gifted, Jonesy were seemingly blessed with a clear run in the studio, leaving them to craft albums of originality and diversity, tapping into the veins of Gentle Giant in their restless dexterity, jump-cutting from mellotron-fuelled calm to Wagnerian thonk.

Closer still is the spirit of Fripp: horn-player Alan Bown imbued their work with the modern jazz trappings of Lizard-period King Crimson, a possibly less commmercially-fertile hunting ground than before but never dull.

The band folded before you could blame punk: the culprit was more likely to be relative lack of commercial success, and this tended to be afforded acts with stronger A&R teams than Dawn's and with beefier names than Jonesy. Now, if they had recorded for Vertigo as Count Veridian ...?

****

Review by Peter Muir