A Sun Ra Greatest Hits package is surely a contradiction in terms, not least because only two of the 18 tracks on this lengthy, 78-minute set were ever released as singles. The rest crept out on albums released on Ra's own Saturn label, which were then sold by band members after gigs or in a few select local record stores. The cod subtitle to this set--"Easy Listening For Intergalactic Travel"--is fabulously wide of the mark, as the tracks range from the hard bop of the opening "Saturn" and the wayward, ragged swing of "Kingdom Of Not" through the Latin smooch of "Enlightenment" to the spacechants of "We Travel The Spaceways" and the synthesised maelstrom of "We'll Wait For You". Name a style--easy listening or not--and it is somewhere in this idiosyncratic round-up of the history of jazz from swing to free-form electronics. That's why Ra appeals so much, the glorious eclecticism and sheer non-conformity of his musical personality impressing itself on every track. Planetary bliss to be enjoyed in your own time! --Simon Adams