***Behind the Iron Curtain in the late 1960s, rock music was viewed as downright dangerous. THE MATADORS, from the former Czechoslovakia, were luckier than most, having enough artistic freedom to be able to sing in English, and even cover Western songs. This nicely packaged reissue includes their only album, as well as singles and other miscellaneous tracks, adding up to twenty-four songs in total. The material ranges from beat to psychedelia, and includes instrumentals, as well as vocal tracks sung in both Czech and English. While the covers are undeniably good, the original material is great. Songs like “Hate Everything except of Hattered,” “Indolence,” and “Get Down from the Tree” (which was featured on Rhino’s Nuggets II compilation) are intense rock performances propelled by RADIM HLADIK’s sharp lead guitar work, and made mysterious by JAN “FARMER” OBERMAJER’s dark organ and VIKTOR SODOMA’s accented vocals. Songs like the instrumental “Extraction‚” are more psychedelic, begging comparison to Pink Floyd instrumentals like “Interstellar Overdrive” and “A Saucerful of Secrets‚” sounding like both at times during its five minutes and fifty-one seconds. Terrific collection of one of the greatest of all bands trapped behind the Iron Curtain. Liner notes have band history, as well as some nice photos.