Occasionally, even a great, well-nigh perfect album can get better -- twice. Friday on My Mind, as produced by Shel Talmy and recorded in England, captured the Easybeats at just about their peak, combining all of the best elements in the evolution of their sound under one cover. The Easybeats were still one of the most energetic outfits in rock music, with a raw, highly animated guitar attack, but they were also trying (and largely succeeding with) ever more complex vocal harmony parts and staccato guitar harmonies that were pretty impressive, and at this stage they were working with a brace of gorgeous Harry Vanda/George Young originals. As fine a song as the ubiquitous title track is, it's almost eclipsed at times by the surrounding songs, which include a killer garage punk rendition of "River Deep, Mountain High" with a superb performance by Stevie Wright and what sounds almost like a sitar buried somewhere in the midst of the crisp electric guitars; "Do You Have a Soul," with its abrupt tempo changes, cascading choruses, chiming guitars, and hooks that seem to flow into each other effortlessly; "Saturday Night," with more sitar-like sounds beneath the radiant choruses and rhythm guitar hooks; the dramatic, angst-ridden "You Me, We Love," on which Vanda's guitar playing becomes as intense as Wright's wrenching vocal performance; "Pretty Girl," with its crunchy rhythm guitar sound and catchy lyric hooks and choruses; "Happy Is the Man," a kind of mini-pop psychodrama with a great beat and guitar hooks that won't let go; and "Made My Bed, Gonna Lie in It," a punk anthem nearly as catchy and well-played as the Kinks' "I'm Not Like Everybody Else." Not everything on this album was as successful as these cuts, but it is all good listening -- even the eerie, original album finale, "See Line Woman." Even more importantly, it has all aged exceptionally well, so that it sounds just about as fresh in the mid-2000s as it did in 1967. The label of "Australia's Beatles" may have proved an overstatement to some, but one can get a good look at its basis on this album -- it's loaded with actual and potential hit singles, yet it doesn't come off as lightweight in any way. The album has been expanded twice for CD by Repertoire Records, the first time in 1994 with six additional bonus cuts that added significantly to the value of an already good release. The follow-up single "Heaven and Hell," the long version of "Do You Have a Soul" (from the U.S. release of the song), "You Me, We Love," and "Lisa" were all related chronologically and stylistically to the content of the original LP and fit nicely into the ornate, quasi-psychedelic but completely rocking spirit of the original album. Also present as bonuses were "Woman (Make You Feel Alright)," a chugging little rock & roll number that sounds like it was a choice leftover from the group's very first album, and an alternate mix of "All Gone Boy." In 2005 six more bonus tracks were added, all either mono single mixes or alternate mixes and edits of album tracks or the first round of bonus cuts, plus new annotation by Chris Welch. All of that, plus the fresh remastering job that has elevated the sound quality considerably (even over the previous CD -- the overlapping vocals on "See Line Woman" now feel like they're live) makes this an extremely rewarding 68 minutes of listening and an upgrade worthy of serious consideration, even by casual fans. ~ Bruce Eder, AMG

Estimated despatch 14-20 days after ordering.