"Rare" is a collection of bits and pieces of soundtrack work that Downes and Payne did together in 1997-1998. For those who don't recall, this material consists of music from the nature documentary 'Salmon: Against The Tides', and music from a CD Rom video game that was shelved due to disagreements between the band and the producers over the direction of the music.

I feel like a bit of a dimwit, as I goofed up when I was asked to write the liner notes for the CD. I mistakenly believed that there would be a lot of material from the CD Rom game - which was quite a departure from anything we'd heard the band do before. As it turns out, only a few small bits on 'Rare' are from the doomed CD Rom, and my liner notes are a bit off as a result.

I refer to the 'hard driving Asia with a metallic edge', when only a few moments of the CD Rom music are actually on there! The remainder of the tracks - mostly from the documentary - more closely resemble Geoff's solo keyboard work in an ambient vein. If it's anything like Geoff's forthcoming solo album, we're in for a real treat with "The World Service". "Rare" is a bit of a mixed bag of material, with a lot of small sound byte snippets, and different variations on the same theme. For those of you who have seen the documentary, this is what you've been waiting for.

All the tracks - completely uncut and unedited. As for the players, as far as I can tell, it's mostly Geoff on keyboards with John on guitar and bass from time to time with a few vocals. Overall, a very interesting listen, and a MUST for the hardcore fan.