Larry Norman - Survivor: The Essential

Reviewed by Tony Cummings

A collector's feast this one, 77 minutes of the unavailable, the rare and the never-previously released from radio versions, tracks with a completely different vocal, rough mixes and other recording studio flotsam and jetsam to keep collectors arguing for years. But mere music lovers can enjoy too. The full seven minutes 58 seconds of "Dark Passage" with its heartbreaking images of broken romance is very fine while the jazzy "If God Is My Father" and "Keeper Of My Heart" are top rate Norman compositions. Anoraks will latch on to the previously unreleased third verse of "Baby Out Of Wedlock" or the undocumented recording "One Star Remains". Considering the archivist nature of 'Survivor' much of the music here still shows Larry to be a consummate crafter of words and music.