Merry Xmas...and bad luck. The Yardbirds suffer from, as most recordings of the day, from very indifferent recording standards. Poor quality, especially from the 1964-66 heyday, is a given on any Yardbirds title. This has been exacerbated by Gomelsky flogging off 'masters' to all and sundry - hence the prism, demon, musicbox etc recordings. The best available compo (sound wise) is either the Rhino or Repertoire issues. Charly has been doing some good work on the back catalogue - the Roger the Engineer recommended by Guido is one of theirs. If they have a new compo it may be worth chasing.
For my money I'd get Roger and the Repertoire versions of Five Live Yardbirds and Having a Rave Up (these two cds contain a number of bonus singles from the period making them a fairly complete history.)
Essential music.
regards,
Giles
