I actually first heard of Kaleidoscope when, in high school, I bought a rock 'n' roll encyclopedia-type book (the title and author of which now escape me, some 15 years on), and found them as the first entry under K. I had, of course, known of David Lindley from his work with Jackson Browne and his own early '80s project, El Rayo X, so I decided that I would, at some point, have a look into their music. As it turns out, "Egyptian Candy" was a difficult find but a rewarding listen. The author of the liner notes states that "these guys were truly 'sui' all over the 'generis,'" and he's not wrong. As I do with any new purchase of an artist or band whose work I have not previously heard, I slipped the CD into my Discman with a sense of suspended judgment. Within the first two minutes of "Egyptian Gardens," I was hooked. If this track doesn't get you up doing a Middle Eastern sword-dance, you must check your pulse! Xopa! :) And I have to wonder why these guys languished in obscurity for the years this compilation covers (1967-1970). The liner notes state that the band's final LP for Epic, "Bernice" (1970), was really not very good, and the one track representing that album, "To Know is Not to Be," points this up. This track really fails to excite. There are a few duds in here; the real tour de force, however, is the 12 1/2 minute title cut from their sophomore effort, "Beacon From Mars." It's interesting, then, to read that the band originally titled the song "Stranger in Your City" and the album "Bacon (no e) From Mars," and as the liner notes state, "(The original title) must seem dreadfully prosaic..." Indeed it does. I could also have done without the varispeeding of the end of "Baldheaded End of a Broom." The song is Vaudevillian enough without stupid record producer tricks. Otherwise, this disc is worth having for the rarities it contains, and certainly for completists of David Lindley's oeuvre. Also worth seeking out, if one is fond of reunion LPs: The band's 1990 release "Greetings from Kartoonistan...We Ain't Dead Yet," especially as it has supplanted their deleted 1976 reunion, "When Scopes Collide."