Working-class British hard rock group
Stray put out ten records in the 1970s. Their clever progressive blues-rock epics went largely ignored due to the burgeoning London punk scene -- though they count
the Damned's
Captain Sensible and
XTC bassist
Colin Moulding as fans. Transatlantic's exhaustive
Time Machine: Anthology 1970-1977 chronicles the group's rise from obscurity to cultdom through a well-paced 35-song retrospective that features extensive liner notes and thoughtful musings from bandmembers and fans alike, giving new insight into one of rock & roll's most resilient underdogs. The group disbanded in the '80s, leaving behind a body of work that negates its lack of chart success. In 1997, frontman
Del Bromham put together a revised version of the group that continues to tour, impressing a new generation with its trademark hard-working bar band aesthetic. ~ James Christopher Monger