The Creation had surprisingly little success, given the quality of these mid-60s sides. Fans of the early mod-styled Who will find The Creation in the same league, with the brashness of their guitar-and-drums comparing favorably to immortal singles like "I Can't Explain" and "I Can See for Miles." One need look no further than "Making Time," which lent its punchy intro and Daltrey-esque vocal to the film "Rushmore." No surprise that the Creation had such a gutsy recorded sound, given that Shel Talmy produced. The instrumental "Sylvette," which borrows its melodic center from "Too Many Fish in the Ocean" is another raving winner.This is the ultimate shoulda-been band, with great vocals, powerful guitars and drums, and catchy in-band songwriting. They played garage mod, psych-heavy rock and highly electrified folk with both muscle and melody, and compared well with their contemporaries. One can only assume they were doomed by a confluence of inadequate distribution (they were on the indie Hit Ton label in the UK), line-up changes, and management that couldn't sustain commercial velocity. Listening to their catalog it's nearly impossible to imagine this band wasn't a huge, chart-topping success.Repertoire's CD reproduces the band's sole LP (tracks 1-12) and adds a dozen extras for good measure - all mono. This is an excellent single-disc introduction to the band's short catalog (Edsel's "How Does it Feel to Feel?" is another great single disc view). The Retroactive label has issued a complete 2-CD set ("Making Time" and "Biff Bang Pow") that may be too much for some, but once you get a taste, you're likely to want everything they recorded. [©2007 hyperbolium dot com]