This three-disc set includes nearly everything the Bonzos recorded (a few outtakes, Peel Sessions, and the like are excluded), from their earliest, vaudevillian "trad" jazz beginnings in the mid-sixties (including covers of novelty hits like "Monster Mash" and "Alley-Oop") to the more psychedelic and pop sounds of their best album The Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse. The set also includes some solo selections like Viv Stanshall's "Labio-Dental Fricative," on which Eric Clapton tries out the same riff that would propel his "Willie and the Hand-Jive" a couple years afterwards. While connoisseurs of British humor will note that the Bonzos' clear influence on Monty Python (Bonzo songwriter Neil Innes wrote music for the Pythons and the brilliant Rutles project), the best material here relies equally on its musical smarts. From the faux-Elvis "Canyons of Your Mind," which features the (intentionally) worst guitar solo ever, to the breathtaking beauty of "Ready-Mades" or "Quiet Talks and Summer Walks," wherein Neil Innes bravely downplays the band's comedy calling card in favor of bright arrangements and melodic warmth nearly equal to Paul McCartney's at his peak, the Bonzos demonstrate that their jokes and wit were never the whole story.

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