HERE is a welcome rarity for every Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin fan.

Little Games, 25 remastered gems including seven additional studio recording and eight numbers from the BBC sessions tracing the bands development through the late Sixties into the early Seventies. It was denied a British release but went down well in the States and was the final Yardbirds album before guitar ace Jimmy Page went on to form Led Zepplin. It charts the band's progress from blues-rock to more hard rock/psychedelic sounds. It is, in fact, the Led Zeppelin nursery school. Stand out tracks include Only The Black Rose, a strange, moody, psychedelic number, Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor featuring Page's violin bow on guitar and Dazed And Confused, the track that Page and Led Zep had such a hit with later. The Yardbirds' version of the Manfred hit Ha Ha Said The Clown is also a revelation. Nostalgia is alive and well and Sixties pop innovation doesn't come much better than this.

Updated: 10:06 Thursday, January 23, 2003