AMG Review of Light and Heavy: The Best of Iron Butterfly

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

Although the compilation is quite generous, featuring 21 tracks on CD, Light and Heavy:The Best of Iron Butterfly isn't all that entertaining, due to Iron Butterfly's difficulties with producing compelling material. All of the group's highlights from 1968-1970 are included, although the career-making, 17-minute "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" is presented in its three-minute single edit. Since that is the only Iron Butterfly song most listeners know, the lack of the full-length version could potentially sink the album, but the fact of the matter is, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" gets quite repetitive over the course of nearly 20 minutes. While the quality of the rest of Light and Heavy is spotty -- ranging from heavy psychedelic rock to light psychedelic pop -- it is a more intriguing listen than In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, even if it doesn't have the period-piece charm of the original hit record.