MASTERS OF REALITY and me; quite a rough and rocky relationship. I know all their records and each one of them has got some undeniably excellent songs, but none of them manages to maintain this high level of quality songs throughout the whole record (maybe with the exception of their second live-LP). The difference between the really exciting songs and lackluster material that can be found on each record is simply too high. Still, or maybe because of that, I await each new release of MOR with anticipation, since there are some positive surprises to be found on each of their records.
This time around Chris Goss dug deeply into the well of "rarities and unreleased stuff" and gave especially a lot of breathing room to the calmer folkier and more psychedelic songs. This proves to be a good point, since these songs always were the most distinguishing features of each MASTERS OF REALITY album.
This means that the majority of songs is of a rather mellow nature and they come from all of the band's creative periods over their twenty-year existence. Here, emotionally moving songs meet the band's country-influenced work (sometimes dark and somber, sometimes la-dee-da), Lo-Fi type strumming lives next door to retro-Blues, pop-songs and even the Beatles-esque.

Unfortunately this range of styles leads to a lack of coherency and there are a few songs (Off To Tiki Tiki, Brownhouse..., Don't Get Caught...) that have a feeling having been recorded without much enthusiasm, songs that don't fit in at all with the rest, or seem to be only half-finished.
There may not be any real surprises to be found, but I wouldn't expect to find those on such a compilation or "Best-Of" kind of record anyway.

With the majority of songs in the upper ranges of quality (e.g. the opening The Ballad Of July Friday) and some potential hits for the underground aficionados (Walk Beside Your Love) a rating of 8.5 is well-deserved.