The title of this obscure but long-running collector-oriented series gives you a pretty good idea of what it's all about: vintage psychedelic raga-rock (late 1960s, maybe some early '70s as well) with prominent sitar or sitar-like sounds. Don't approach this, however, expecting to be blown away by a bunch of lost classics on the order of the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black." While the sitar and a general Indian influence helped produce some great and unusual rock music, often it led to some pretty cheesy and pretentious stuff as well. You get the good, the bad, and the silly on this 21-track anthology, which to its credit does cast its net wide, including not just American and British artists, but also performers from Australia, Hungary, Germany, Spain, Australia, and South Africa. Not a one of these acts is well-known to the general public, with the possible exception of the Pretty Things, represented by a song from their celebrated late-'60s rock opera S.F. Sorrow. A few other names are reasonably well-known to psychedelic collectors, like July, the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, Fraternity of Man, and COB, as well as even more cultish ones like Darius, J.K. and Co., and the ludicrous Lord Sitar, though you'll be hard-pressed to find many people who already have records by all of these artists in their libraries. But there aren't many first-rate tunes here, many of them falling prey to monotony and gimmickry, Ray Brown & Moonstone's overblown narrative on "Story of Ali" being among the worst offenders. There are some good exploratory ventures here, too, though some of them are easily available on reissues with better circulation, like Darius' twistingly moody "I Feel the Need to Carry On." The Misty Wizards' "It's Love" is the best track you're not likely to come across on other psychedelic anthologies, with Byrdsy harmonies and a grooving optimism not unlike some of Lothar & the Hand People's best early material. But this volume, like the whole series, would sound a lot better if it had been edited down to cut out the lesser entries. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide