ZARATHUSTRA – ZARATHUSTRA – 1972 (GER) heavy krautrock

ZARATHUSTRA stole their name from German philosopher Frederich Nietzsche but their sound came from somewhere completely else. ZARATHUSTRA were 5 piece energetic heavy progressive rock band who took the URIAH HEEP- DEEP PURPLE organ led sounds and mixed in heavy guitar drum and bass interplay. With the aggressive vocals of Ernst Herzner, this album leaves little to question and lands as a straight forward heavy krautrock album with lots of expanded instrumentation and arrangements. Overall a fine album full of nice dark and deep organ grinds and emotive vocals...

- Ernst Herzner / lead vocals
- Michael Just / bass, vocals
- Klaus Werner / organ
- Wolfgang Behrmann / drums, percussion

1 Eternal Light 5:39
2 Mr. Joker 3:42
3 Past Time 9:54
4 Nightmare 5:34
5 Sad Woman 3:35
6 Ormuzd 7:27

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WIND – SEASONS – 1971 (GER) heavy krautrock

West Coast 60’s inspired German psych rock band. Their first album "Seasons" (1971) is considered to be a little classic in the early days of progressive rock. It features complex epic songs within heavy rock, psych-spaced out proportions. "Morning" (1973) is a catchy collection of almost conventional heavy rocking songs. Without gaining the commercial success, the band split in 1973. The drummer Lucky Schmidt will pursue his career with the band Aera.

Steve Leistner / Lead Vocals, Harmonica, Percussion 
Thomas Leidenberger / Guitars, Vocals 
Andreas Büeler / Bass, Vocals, Percussion 
Lucian Büeler / Organ, Piano, Vocals, Percussion 
Lucky Schmidt / Drums, Percussion, Vibraphone, Clavinet, Piano

1. What Do We Do Now (8:28) 
2. Now It's Over (4:25) 
3. Romance (1:35) 
4. Springwind (7:10) 
5. Dear Little Friend (4:17) 
6. Red Morningbird (15:54) 

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WIND – MOURNING – 1972 (GER) heavy krautrock

Absolutely high classic from Germany with heavy guitars leads and strong organ sounds. This is killer stuff for friends of URIAH HEEP.

- Steve Leistner / lead vocals, percussion
- Thomas Leidenberger / guitar, vocals
- Andreas Bueler / bass, vocals, percussion
- Lucian Bueler / keyboards, vocals, percussion
- Lucky Schmidt / drums, percussion, Mellotron, piano

1. Morning Song (3:59)
2. The Princess And The Minstrel (6:39)
3. Dragon's Maid (8:39)
4. Carnival (7:56)
5. Schlittenfahrt (3:08)
6. Puppet Master (3:25)
7. Tommy's Song (5:28)
8. Josephine (3:38)

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TYBURN TALL – TYBURN TALL – 1972 (GER) heavy krautrock

Sole album from this Hammond-driven heavy prog, came in a gatefold artwork with a rare copper plate by Merian of the Speyer city in the Renaissance era. This private pressing of 200 copies was produced at low cost, which is rather audible, but there is nothing scandalous either. Their earlier musical direction was very much in the symphonic prog range (The Nice or ELP), but some line-up changes modified that somewhat as incoming organist had a jazzier feeling, more in the Colosseum-vein, especially in the Dave Greenslade sound. The resulting is a symphonic prog that has some Uriah Heep (organ, vocals), Atomic Rooster (Gallo’s guitar is inspired of DuCann) and Colosseum (organ).
The four tracks comprising the original album (three of them well above the 10 minutes) are all in the heavy rock domain, dominated by the huge organ sound. Indeed the 13-mins War Games hesitates between Colosseum (Greenslade-like organ twirls) and Uriah Heep (Byron-like vocals, in English, often correctly pronounced), but the whole thing sounds much more symphonic than the average track of those two groups. The 10-mins+ In The Heart Of The Cities is much more guitar-ey, DuCann and Litherland (not Clempson), but the brilliant drums/bass work of the opening track is not as present, and the track ends in a semi-operatic Byron-like yell. 
On the flipside, I Am America Too, is a piano & organ piece (the shortest, clocking at 5-mins+) that first takes on Bernstein, before veering hard rock with Heep-like vocals, but you can feel the singer’s effort to match Farlowe’s range, which of course is too far removed to succeed. The 17-mins epic Strange Days Hiding is pure Hammond galore, Hensley-inspired, unfortunately mared by a long drum solo, which like all of them is terribly boring. The two bonus tracks are both covers of Colosseum, one of them being the famous Lost Angeles, which they manage correctly at best, but certainly no more. The production quality on these tracks is not as good as the rest of the album (therefore they stick out a bit), but again nothing scandalous.

Stefan Kowa / bass 
Hanns Dechant / drums, percussion 
Klaus Fresenius / vocals 
Werner Gallo / guitar 
Reinhard Magin/ keyboards

1 War Game 13:07
2 In the Heart of the Cities (Broken People) 10:35
3 I Am Amercian Too 5:24
4 Strange Days Hiding 17:09
5 Lost Angeles [Bonus Track] 6:22
6 Bring Out Your Dead [Bonus Track] 4:19

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TRIUMVIRAT – ILLUSIONS ON A DOUBLE DIMBLE – 1974 (GER) progressive rock

"Illusions On A Double Dimple" is a breathtaking masterpiece and IMHO perhaps TRIUMVIRAT’s PHD of all their albums. “Illusions” is essentially 2 epic tracks and stands as highly creative in scope and ambition with its fusion of classical, pop, rock and even some jazz elements. For the most discerned listeners will love this album with continuously shifting musical interludes and dazzling mood and tempos shifts. The songs themselves are brilliantly written and the Harvest Records Remastered version brings out the deep tonal sophistication and true analog feel the album is rich in. 
Band line up is Jurgen Fritz (keyboards), Hans Bathelt (drums), and Helmut Kollen (guitar, bass, vocals). The overall sound of the album is very crisp and fresh sounding not sounding like an old 70’s release. I hear lots of elements on “Illusions” with allusions to ELP (Obviously) , BEATLES, ELO, YES and GRAVY TRAIN. This is an album that either you love to death or I guess don’t get, but I definitely love this album all the way thru and will take this one to the desert Island.

- Hans Bathelt / drums 
- Jürgen Fritz / keyboards, vocals 
- Helmut Köllen / guitar, bass, vocals 
- Hans Pape / lead vocals, bass 
- Peter Cedera / backing vocals
- Hanna Dölitzsch / backing vocals
- Vanetta Fields / backing vocals
- Brigitte Thomas / backing vocals
- Ulla Wierner / backing vocals

1. Illusions On A Double Dimple (22:59) 
- a. Flashback (0:54) 
- b. Schooldays (3:20) 
- c. Triangle (6:55) 
- d. Illusions (1:40) 
- e. Dimplicity (5:28) 
- f. Last dance (4:42) 
2. Mister Ten Percent (21:22) 
- a. Maze (3:01) 
- b. Dawning (1:01) 
- c. Bad Deal (1:40) 
- d. Roundabout (5:49) 
- e. Lucky Girl (4:32) 
- f. Million Dollars (5:19)

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HORSE – HORSE – 1970 (UK) hard rock

Reissue of rare 1971 UK heavy psych rock monster originally released on the RCA label. I don't know why some people like to single this one out to beat up on. It's a good record and the opening song, which nobody ever mentions, is a certified beast. It's not as heavy all the way through as Nightsun, Buffalo, Toad, Jerusalem or something like that but this album has more UK psychedelic influence and feel so it's more mellow and vaired. I love that lead guitar sound!

Adrian Hawkins (vocals)
Colin Standring (bass)
Rod Roach (guitar)
Rick Parnell (drums)

1 The Sacrifice 
2 See The People Creeping Round 
3 And I Have Loved You 
4 Freedom Rider 
5 Lost Control 
6 To Greet the Sun 
7 The Journey 
8 Heat of the Summer 
9 Gypsy Queen 
10 Step Out of Line

Thanx to Chris

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TEAR GAS – PIGGY GO GETTER – 1970 (UK) hard rock

Reissue of the 1971 debut by the fantastic hardrock band formed by Zal Cleminson & Chris Glen. The band would reach a far-wider audience when, in 1972, Alex Harvey got involved and they evolved into The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. A rarity that's well worth a listen on both your left and right ear!

Eddie Campbell (keyboards)
Alexander "Zal" Cleminson (guitar)
Ted McKenna (drums,)
Andy Mulvey (vocals)

1 Lost Awakening 3:25
2 Your Woman's Gone and Left You 2:22
3 Night Girl 5:40
4 Nothing Can Change Your Mind 3:31
5 Living For Today 2:57
6 Big House 3:35
7 Mirrors of Sorrow 2:52
8 Look What Else Is Happening 5:05
9 I'm Fallin' Far Behind 2:57
10 Witches Come Today 3:16

Thanx to Chris

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TITUS OATES – JUNGLE LADY – 1974 (US) hard rock

Titus Oates was a Dallas, TX, progressive hard rock five-piece that was never well known. The group's lone 1974 LP was only issued locally on the Lips label, and until this reissue from Radioactive the only way to hear the thing was to lay down hard cash for a shoddy bootleg -- an important point because, while it may not have the bombast of a major-label recording, Jungle Lady does not suffer from the murky sonics that dog most self-released records of this sort. Because it was a local pressing, it has been nearly impossible to locate, too; as a result, Titus Oates has been at the top of many collectors' want lists for years, its legend growing every time someone added it to a personal catalog of Holy Grails. Does it live up to the hype? Sort of. Jungle Lady is a competent curiosity that balances tough Texas-style hard rock playing -- it's not ZZ Top, but it's close -- with progressive rock keyboards and jazzy guitar licks. Those aren't things that often intersect, and so the legend is deserved. The execution leaves something to be desired, though, and despite some very nice guitar playing, Titus Oates sits flatly at the journeyman rock level, which is probably why Jungle Lady didn't make it out of Dallas the first time around. That doesn't really take away from enjoying Jungle Lady, though, and with its heady, largely unexplored mix of rock grit and prog flourish, it's sure to find an appreciative audience.

BILL BEAUDET keyb'ds 
CHRIS EIGENMANN perc 
RICK JACKSON bs, vcls 
LOU TIELLI gtr 
STEVE TODD gtr

  1 Jungle Lady 3:16 
  2 Dream on a Train 4:07 
  3 Blanket 3:33 
  4 Friend of Life 3:49 
  5 Jupiter, Mars 3:55 
  6 Time Is Only to Fear 3:43 
  7 Mr. Tips 3:46 
  8 Don't Get Your Honey Where You Make Your Money 4:45 
  9 The Cage 7/2/74 4:05

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ANGEL – ANGEL – 1975 (US) hard rock

Angel's later releases were given over entirely to the sort of pomp and glam excess that made them a virtual spot-on blueprint for '80s hair metal, and their debut certainly has Queen-ish guitar and shrill hair-sprayed aggression in abundance on numbers like "Rock & Rollers." But from the opening notes of "Tower," there's a curious admixture of progressive rock, almost entirely due to Gregg Giuffria's contributions of harpsichords, piano, and Mellotrons. Like many first albums, this one is in some ways more interesting than the more Angelic follow-ups, simply because it shows as much what routes they did not follow as which ones they did.

Greg Giuffria (keyboards)
Frank DiMino (vocals)
Barry Brandt (drums)
Punky Meadows (guitar)
Mickey Jones (bass)

1 Tower 6:56
2 Long Time 7:01
3 Rock and Rollers 3:59
4 Broken Dreams 5:13
5 Mariner 4:20
6 Sunday Morning 4:10
7 On and On 4:18
8 Angel (Theme) 1:34

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ANGEL – HELLUVA BAND – 1976 (US) hard rock

Despite their dated white polyester clothes and androgynous makeup, Angel had surprising talent and range for a group whose initial purpose was to be some sort of divine answer to Kiss. That being said, their sound was far from original and was highly derivative of other top acts of the time, including Kiss themselves. So on Helluva Band you get the Queen-like "Feelin' Right," the Emerson, Lake & Palmer-meets-acoustic-Yes of "The Fortune," and the dreadful Boston boogie of "Anyway You Want It." The rest is poppy and commercial rock, which was more accomplished than the gender-bending glam metal that would follow them in the '80s, yet not quite as good as the best material of their '70s peers. Helluva Band has some intriguing moments, especially from progressively minded keyboardist Gregg Giuffria, but most would be just as satisfied with Anthology.

Greg Giuffria (keyboards)
Frank DiMino (vocals)
Barry Brandt (drums)
Punky Meadows (guitar)
Mickey Jones (bass)

1 Feelin' Right 4:42
2 The Fortune 8:40
3 Anyway You Want It 2:31
4 Dr. Ice 5:23
5 Mirrors 4:28
6 Feelings 5:42
7 Pressure Point 5:26
8 Chicken Soup 4:46
9 Angel Theme 2:32

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ANGEL – WHITE HOT – 1977 (US) hard rock

In the 1970s, Angel epitomized the type of commercial rockers who were hated by rock journalists but adored by their fans. When White Hot came out in 1977, critics wondered why anyone would spend money on Angel's ultra-slick, formulaic pop-metal, hard rock and arena rock when the punk and new wave explosions were giving us such challenging, cutting-edge risk-takers as the Clash, Elvis Costello and the Talking Heads. Truth be told, rock can and should accommodate a variety of approaches -- in 1977, there was room for those who challenged and provoked and those who, like Angel, simply entertained. White Hot, Angel's best selling album, isn't the least bit challenging, but then it isn't supposed to be. Angel was unapologetically commercial, and high-gloss numbers such as "Over and Over," "Stick Like Glue," and "Hold Me, Squeeze Me" point to the fact that the East Coast band was generally good at what it did. Also likable is Angel's cover of "Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore," which became a moderate hit. As far as pop-metal goes, Angel didn't quite have the hooks of Kiss, Sweet, or Cheap Trick; but while White Hot isn't fantastic, it's decent. If you want to hear one of the 1970s bands that helped pave the way for Bon Jovi, Winger, Warrant, and numerous other MTV-friendly hair bands that were huge in the 1980s, White Hot is worth a listen.

Greg Giuffria (keyboards)
Frank DiMino (vocals)
Barry Brandt (drums)
Punky Meadows (guitar)
Felix Robinson (bass)

1 Don't Leave Me Lonely 4:00
2 Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore 2:50
3 Hold Me, Squeeze Me 3:49
4 Over And Over 3:01
5 Under Suspicion 4:42
6 Got Love If You Want It 4:28
7 Stick Like Glue 2:38
8 Flying With Broken Wings (Without You) 3:32
9 You Could Lose Me 4:53
10 The Winter Song 3:44

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ANGEL – SINFUL – 1979 (US) hard rock

Angel's candy-coated Sinful, originally called Bad Publicity, was the last installment in their five album run of the mid-late '70s. Though a step down from the hit-or-miss White Hot and On Earth As It Is in Heaven, and a major step down from the hard rock/pomp classics Helluva Band and Angel, it's not completely without it's charms for fans of the band. Essentially an amusing series of chart-minded, fairly simple poppy rockers, including high school rebellion power pop gem "Wild and Hot", "Bad Time", "Don't Take Your Love" and "Waited a Long Time".

Greg Giuffria (keyboards)
Frank DiMino (vocals)
Barry Brandt (drums)
Punky Meadows (guitar)
Felix Robinson (bass)

1 Don't Take Your Love 3:32
2 L.A. Lady 3:45
3 Just Can't Take It 3:44
4 You Can't Buy Love 3:38
5 Bad Time 3:42
6 Waited a Long Time 3:15
7 I'll Bring the Whole World To Your Door 2:55
8 I'll Never Fall in Love Again 3:33
9 Wild and Hot 3:01
10 Lovers Live On 3:04

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THE AMBOY DUKES – THE AMBOY DUKES – 1967 (US) hard rock

The debut album by the Amboy Dukes should be high on collectors' lists. Fusing the psychedelia of the early Blues Magoos with Hendrix riffs and British pop, the band which launched the legend of Ted Nugent has surprises galore in these lost grooves. More experimental than Ambrose Slade's Ballzy -- could you conceive of the Cat Scratch Fever guy performing on Peter Townshend's "It's Not True" and Joe Williams' classic "Baby Please Don't Go"? The latter tune was the flip side of the group Them's single "Gloria," but Ted Nugent and the boys totally twist it to their point-of-view, even tossing a complete Jimi Hendrix nick into the mix. The Amboy Dukes issued this as the single backed with their sitar-laden and heady "Psalms of Aftermath." "Baby Please Don't Go" is extraordinary, but isn't the hit single that "Journey to the Center of the Mind" would be from their follow-up LP titled after that radio-friendly gem. Producer Bob Shad's work with Vic Damone, Dinah Washington, and Sarah Vaughan wasn't what prepared him for the psychedelic hard rock of "Colors," a song with some of the experimentation Nugent would take further on the Survival of the Fittest, Live and Marriage on the Rocks/Rock Bottom albums further down the road. Those latter-day Dukes projects took themselves too seriously and got a bit too out there. The fun that is the Amboy Dukes take on the Ashford/Simpson/Armstead standard "Let's Go Get Stoned"; it's the kind of thing that could have stripped away the pretension of the post-Mainstream discs. The dancing piano runs and Ted Nugent confined to a pop-blues structure certainly got the benefit of Shad's record making experience, and it is a treat. Of the 11 tunes, seven are band originals. Taking on a faithful version of Cream's "I Feel Free" is interesting, and like Slade's first disc, they inject enough cover material to make the product interesting for those who had never heard of this group. "Down on Philips Escalator" could be early Syd Barrett Pink Floyd, and that's what makes this album so very inviting. As essential to the Amboy Dukes' catalog as the non-hit material on Psychedelic Lollipop was to the Blues Magoos, the first album from the Amboy Dukes is a real find and fun listening experience. "The Lovely Lady" almost sounds like the Velvet Underground meets the Small Faces by way of Peanut Butter Conspiracy. This is a far cry from Cat Scratch Fever, and that's why fans of psychedelia and '60s music should cherish this early diamond.

Ted Nugent (bass, guitar, percussion, vocals)
Steve Farmer (rhythm guitar)
Rick Lober (keyboards)
Bill White (bass)
John Drake (vocals)
David Palmer (drums)

1 Baby Please Don't Go 5:39
2 I Feel Free 3:45
3 Young Love 2:49
4 Psalms of Aftermath 3:24
5 Colors 3:27
6 Let's Go Get Stoned 4:29
7 Down on Philips Escalator 3:05
8 The Lovely Lady 3:03
9 Night Time 3:16
10 It's Not True 2:44
11 Gimme Love 2:51
12 J.B. Special [Alt. Version] 2:23

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THE AMBOY DUKES – MIGRATION – 1969 (US) hard rock

The most prominent feature of Migration (the Amboy Dukes' third recording, originally released on Mainstream records) is the lack of a spaced-out follow-up to the group's biggest hit, "Journey to the Center of Your Mind." Perhaps "terrible" Ted Nugent was starting to win the drug war that was beginning to wage within the band, a war that would ultimately claim more than a few key lineup casualties. No matter the reason, Migration -- with it's less opaque drug references and general grooviness -- was given a cool reception at record stores as listeners perhaps became slightly confused about the Michigan band's intentions while pondering Nugent's relatively eclectic musical approach. Case in point: the spot-on version of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers' "I'm Not a Juvenile Delinquent." Besides this bizarre but affective cover, other highlights include the instrumental opener "Migration" and one of Nugent's all-time favorite songs, "Good Natured Emma." More ambitious than the group's huge-selling effort from the year before, "Migration" might be the better of the two discs, if not the best of the Amboy Dukes' career.

Ted Nugent (bass, guitar, percussion, vocals)
Greg Arama (bass)
Rusty Day (vocals)
Steve Farmer (rhythm guitar)

1 Migration 6:06
2 Prodigal Man 5:48
3 For His Namesake 4:26
4 I'm Not a Juvenile Delinquent 1:53
5 Good Natured Emma 4:37
6 Inside the Outside 3:22
7 Shades of Green and Grey 3:05
8 Curb Your Elephant 3:49
9 Loaded for Bear 3:05
10 J. B. Special 2:32
11 Sobbin' in My Mug of Beer 2:20

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RARE EARTH – MA – 1973 (US) heavy psych

Rare Earth's most satisfying LP, Norman Whitfield wrote and produced all five songs. "Ma," the title track, had been done by Temptations and Undisputed Truth but nobody rocked the sucker like Rare Earth; they jam for 17:17 on the funkiest mama song ever. "Hum Along and Dance," first appeared on the Temptations' Psychedelic Shack; Rare Earth gives the groover and update, a rolling organ sets it off. Lead, Gil Bridges brags about his musical ability on the loud, horn dominated stomper "Big John In My Name."A haunting arrangement of "Smiling Faces Sometimes" will make you shiver. And you don't get much more sensual than the soft and lush "Come With Me," where a female simulates an orgasm that puts Donna Summers' exhibition on "Love to Love You Baby" to shame; it's the only new song on the LP, but who's quibbling, MA is da bomb!

1 Ma 17:17
2 Big John Is My Name 4:21
3 Smiling Faces Sometimes 6:00
4 Hum Along and Dance 5:14
5 Come With Me 4:46

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GENESIS – GENESIS – 1972 (Uruguay) heavy psych

Very good Uruguayan band: a mixture of psychedelic, jazz and candombe (typical Uruguayan sound with African roots).

Eduardo Patrón (vocals, percussion)
Ruben Laborde (guitars, vocals)
Jorge Silva (guitar, vocals)
Carlos Souza (bass)
Yamandú Pérez (drums, percussion)
Héctor Mosquera (bass)
Nery Cáceres (vocals, keyboards)
César Arbón (bass)
Daniel Levy (drums, percussion)

1 Canción de un tiempo 1:51
2 Lógrame 2:35
3 Mañana 2:29
4 Nosotros hoy 3:53
5 Ya 2:08
6 Solo voy despertando 6:26
7 Reflexión 2 4:17
8 Tenía una vez 4:18
9 Despiertas 3:12
10 Cuerpo 6:34
 Músicas extras 
11 Nebulosa 2:15
12 Cuerpo 2:36
13 La búsqueda 2:41
14 Los pesos 2:44
15 La plaza 4:38
16 María mañana 4:27
17 De mi cerro 2:56
18 En la ventana de un bar 2:58

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PAN – PAN – 1970 (Denmark) heavy psych

The Scandinavian continent may not be recognized for its '70s psychedelic scene, but this self-titled obscurity from Pan champions a Groundhogs-style hard rock with inventive progressive leanings. Some great moments of classic '70s distortion bliss and muscular boogie in the vein of Kalevala, Human Instinct, and Spacefarm. In keeping with Little Wing's exquisite design aesthetic, this comes packaged rather mysteriously but with a beautiful embossed card cover.

Robert Lelievre (vocals, guitars)
Thomas Puggaard-Müller (lead guitar)
Henning Verner (piano, organ, vibes)
Arne Würgler (bass, cello)
Michael Puggaard-Müller (drums)

1 Tristess 5:07
2 To Get Along Alone 5:52
3 We Must Try Something Before the End of the Day 3:27
4 Lady of the Sand 6:49
5 My Time (Instrumental) 0:37
6 If 4:07
7 Song to France 2:16
8 I Don't Want to Know 3:44
9 They Make Money With the Stars (Instrumental) 1:17
10 Il n'y a pas si longtemps de ca 5:27
11 So Many Songs Have Been Lost 1:49
 Bonus Tracks 
12 In a Simple Way 3:48
13 Ride Across My Bed 5:53

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RENAISSANCE – RENAISSANCE – 1972 (MEX) heavy psych

Reissue of rare early 70s stoned Mexican hippy rock album with acid guitar.

1. Listen To Me People
2. Strange Dream
3. Life/Down In Mexico
4. Love The One
5. A Dome Of Love
6. I'm Dying
7. Buried Alive
8.The Gift/A New Man Is Born In Me

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WHISTLER – HO HUM – 1971 (UK) progressive folk rock

Soft and delicate, yet melodic, confident and self-assured, this Deram act's only album resides somewhere between period UK country rock (Cochise, Quicksand, Southern Comfort, Quiver) and singer-songwriterdom (Mike Maran, Pete Atkin, Tony Hazzard) with plenty of light and shade thrown in from both sides.
Featuring crème de la crème of Britain's studio scene and aided by a sympathetic and lush production, this band manages to produce twelve superbly orchestrated tracks full of energy, effervescence, vigour, character, rich flavour and originality. It also features no less than three lead vocalists and - count them! - five guitarists, including none other than Southern Comfort's Gordon Huntley.
Was Eric Bell the same guy who played in Thin Lizzy, on Mk I line-up's biggest hits, "Whiskey In The Jar" and "The Rocker"?
Clem Cattini is featured in our other PICKs: Hungry Wolf, Ugly Custard, John Schroeder and Fancy.
Jimmy Hastings, of course, needs no introduction, being a long-standing member of Canterbury prog legend Caravan.

Eric Bell (guitar)
Tony Carr (percussion)
Clem Cattini Ork (drums)
John Chuter (vocals, guitar, bass)
Ant Grouth-Smith (guitar, bass, sax, vocals)
Jimmy Hastings (flute)
George Howe (vocals, guitar, keyboards)
Gordon Huntley (steel guitar)
Barry Morgan (drums)
Douglas Wright (drums)

1. Help Me
2. Hello Lady
3. I Can't Believe My Eyes
4. City Boy
5. Blind Leading The Blind
6. Machine Side 2 1. See The Wheels Are Turning
2. Whenever
3. Do It for Mother
4. Blind Man
5. Nothing At All
6. See What The future Brings"

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JUSTINE – JUSTINE – 1970 (US) psuchedelic/folk rock

Though this obscure 1970 LP falls into the general folk-psych-rock category, its focus is so all-over-the-place that it's hard to get a read on it. The group are British, but at times the record seems very influenced by the poppiest side of American folk-rock, particularly in the blends of male and female vocal harmonies, which are extremely reminiscent of the Mamas & the Papas' approach in places. Yet there are also songs that have a more specifically British, gentle reserved acoustic quality; a character portrait of "Mr. Jones" with a whimsical British feel; and occasional off-the-wall burning fuzzy psychedelic guitar. At its most mature, it's slightly similar to, if an obscure reference point is allowed, the folk-prog-rock recordings that Giles, Giles & Fripp made as they were morphing into King Crimson (though not nearly as inspired). At its sappiest and most cooing, it could almost pass for a Californian sunshine pop recording. What the songs lack, however, are memorable choruses, or much cohesion between the parts, although the individual parts (especially the female vocalists' contributions) are often pretty. File under the section with the many stylistically confused rock bands of the period who had some talent and tried hard to say something important, but didn't quite have the goods.

  1 Flying/Love You More Than Is Good for Me To/Nostrils 7:25 
  2 She Brings the Morning with Her 3:18 
  3 Back to Boulder 5:07 
  4 Traveller 2:46 
  5 See Saw 2:31 
  6 Mini Splurge/Mr. Jones/Is That Good. That's Nice 10:54 
  7 Clocks/Hey I Used to Know You 5:02 
  8 Unknown Journey 7:07 
  9 Leave Me Be 3:54 
  10 Clown 2:39

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CARSON – ON THE AIR + BLOWN – 1971/1972 (Australia) progressive rock

A popular Melbourne band who functioned between 1971-73. They were known earlier as Carson County Band. Their work was wide-ranging, but can best be described as boogie rock.
The “Travelling South” 45 saw the band extend beyond their earlier strictly-blues format on the A-side which was notable for a dual-guitar lead riff that leads into a passage of superb slide guitar playing. The flip side was a strong blues song with lots of riffs and superb slide.
Their debut album, ‘Blown’, was a solid effort full of wild bluesy hard rock. It's notable for Sleepy Greg Lawrie's slick slide guitar work and sported a cover with striking (but simple) sci-fi imagery. It contained a version of ‘Boogie’, which differed considerably from the single. The material ranged from powerful numbers like this to laid-back blues evidenced in ‘Up In Queensland’ and ‘Sunday In The City’ with a rock'n'jazz offering in ‘Rock And Roll Game’ and an instrumental, ‘Banana Power’, providing further diversity.
By 1973, they'd lost their sense of direction, as evidenced on ‘On The Air’. If you're into blues though, there's still a lot of relaxed playing to be heard here. There are some good guitar licks on Elmore James' ‘Dust My Broom’ and another version of ‘Boogie’, whilst ‘Dingo’ and ‘Laid-back Feel’ were good mood pieces. The album is a document of their performance at the 1973 Sunbury Rock Festival.

Ian Ferguson - Bass
Greg Lawrie - Guitar
Tony Lunt - Drums
Broderick Smith - Vocals, Harmonica
Ian Winter - Guitar
Barry Sullivan - Bass
Garry Clarke - Bass
Mal Logan - Keyboards
Mal Capewell – Sax

1. Dingo not rated 7:21
2. Laid-Back Feel not rated 6:47
3. Dust My Broom not rated 5:01
4. Boogie not rated 7:21
5. Sunberry Jam not rated 10:15
6. Rock And Roll Game not rated 3:40
7. Better Times Will Come About not rated 3:16
8. Sunday In The City not rated 4:56
9. Banana Power not rated 5:25
10. Boogie not rated 6:34
11. Let Me Sleep not rated 6:55
12. Up In Queensland not rated 1:59

thanx to Chris

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PARRISH & GURVITZ – PARRISH & GURVITZ – 1971 (UK) folk rock

Parrish & Gurvitz's one-off album, mostly of west-coasty material and interesting slow tracks. This is a rarity deserving another go. Parrish later went on to a solo career while Gurvitz unleashed his guitar prowess on GUN & BAKER-GURVITZ albums. Kellie, formerly joined SPOOKY TOOTH.

Paul Gurvitz (guitar, vocals)
Brian Parrish (guitar, vocals)
Mike Kellie (drums)

1 Another Time, Another Day / Take What You Want 
2 It's A Shame 
3 Libra 
4 I've Got Time 
5 Janine 
6 Dozy Gwen 
7 Why 
8 As If I Were Blind 
9 More Than Life 
10 Loving You

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STACKRIDGE – STACKRIDGE – 1971 (UK) progressive rock

The debut album from Stackridge consists of nine curiously light folk-tinged tracks, with elements of progressive rock cropping up here and there in the friendly Canterbury style. Their music takes on the classic storytelling route, but is bolstered and heightened by instruments like violins, flutes, cellos, trumpets, and the distinct sound of the harmonium played by Andrew Creswell-Davis. Both James Warren and Creswell-Davis take turns at singing such merry lyrical excerpts as "40 missing floorboards, 50 frantic far-out mice below," sounding attractively waggish and peculiarly quaint in doing so. Without coming off as overly Celtic or far too English, Stackridge culminates the humor and the essence of figurative devices and lays them out within the field of woodwind and stringed instruments. With barely any percussion, songs like "Percy the Penguin" and "The Three Legged Table" carry out their jovial entendres to the eloquence of hand-plucked piano strings and a trio of trumpets. Their refined singing style helps each song render its own character and eccentricity when added to the numerous instruments. The albums that followed such as Friendliness and The Man in the Bowler Hat housed the same poetic components as their first release with the music sounding more progressive and slightly commercial.

- Andy Creswell-Davis / guitar, keyboards, vocals, bass
- Michael “Mutter” Slater / flute, vocals 
- Mike Evans / violin, cello
- Billy “Sparkle” Brent / drums
- James Warren / vocals, guitar

1 Grande Piano 3:23
2 Percy the Penguin 3:42
3 The Three Legged Table 6:49
4 Dora the Female Explorer 3:48
5 Essence of Porphyry 8:06
6 Marigold Conjunction 5:00
7 32 West Mall 2:27
8 Marzo Plod 3:08
9 Slark 14:07

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JASPER – LIBERATION – 1969 (UK) blues/psych

Jasper's sole album is an odd, unbalanced affair that doesn't have enough ideas or songs to really merit a full-length release, even as it betrays sporadic hints of quirky imagination. There's John Mayall-styled blues-rock ("Ain't No Peace," "Confusion"), Colosseum-like jazz-blues-rock ("Baby Please Don't Go," "The Beard"), rambling morbid bluesy instrumental jamming (including a six-minute wordless version of "St. Louis Blues" with hauntingly sad harmonica), and a Baroque-psychedelic arrangement of Donovan's "Cuttin' Out." Weirdest of all is "Liberation," a repeated classical-sounding bolero that's actually rather catchy, but seems more suited for the soundtrack of a movie like To Sir With Love than a late-'60s underground blues-rocky LP. Weirder still, the "Liberation" motif is repeated four times in varying arrangements over the course of the album, twice in full-length versions, and twice as briefer interludes. It's not an offensively bad record by any means, but it's not noteworthy as either blues-rock or off-the-wall strangeness.

Nick "Nicky" Payne (vocals, harmonica, flute)
Steve Radford (guitar)
Jon Taylor (bass)
Brian "Chico" Greenwood (drums)
Alan Feldman (keyboards)

1 Liberation I 3:47
2 Ain't No Peace 2:56
3 Baby Please Don't Go 7:18
4 Shelagh 2:24
5 Liberation Interlude 1:15
6 Liberation Interlude 0:33
7 Confusion 2:29
8 St. Louis Blues 6:32
9 Cuttin' Out 2:42
10 The Beard 3:49
11 Liberation II 3:08
12 Finale 0:48

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PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC – ARE YOU READY/PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC – 1969/1970 (US) progressive rock

Pacific Gas & Electric's second and third albums, 1969's Pacific Gas & Electric and 1970's Are You Ready, were their two most popular LPs, and are reissued together as a two-CD package with historical liner notes (in English) on this German release. On most of Pacific Gas & Electric, they play soul-rock with some dash and verve, though the songwriting isn't up to the level of musicianship or Charlie Allen's genuinely soulful vocals. Pacific Gas & Electric are really a band that would be better served by a selective compilation than any of their individual LPs, and strong candidates for such an anthology would include "Death Row #172" and "Bluesbuster," which are a little like early Blood, Sweat & Tears with more blues-rock and less bluster. Some of the other songs are closer to average period blues-rock workouts, like "Miss Lucy" and the live cover of John Lee Hooker's "She's Long and She's Tall," though the group original "My Women" finds them getting into a slow blues-funk groove with graceful style. The four-part, 17-minute "PG&E Suite" is typical of the highs and lows of many such psychedelic rock experiments of the late '60s, starting off promisingly with the cinematic jazz-rock instrumental "The Young Rabbits." But it runs off the rails with too much drum soloing, and the momentum utterly drains when the suite peters out into poor white-boy blues that's obviously trying to be drolly humorous, yet ends up being painfully lame. The closing blues-soul-rock stomper "Redneck" restores the energy level somewhat, but it's an erratic record on the whole, as would be its follow-up, 1970's Are You Ready. Anchored by their sole hit, "Are You Ready?," it treads a thin line between eclecticism and confusion, and is actually weaker on the whole than its predecessor. Certainly the ominous yet inspirational gospel-funk-psychedelia of "Are You Ready?" was the strongest track, and to this day the only one that most casual rock fans remember. Yet other cuts on the album indicated they couldn't decide whether to be a heavy blues-rock group ("Hawg for You"), a more soul-dipped version of the Band ("Staggolee"), a swampy soul-rock outfit (a cover of the Isley Brothers' "The Blackberry"), or, least convincingly, cry-in-your-beer honky tonk balladeers ("Mother, Why Don't You Cry?"). This wouldn't have been such a handicap if the material wasn't as mediocre as it was, and any song titled "Love, Love, Love, Love, Love" is a warning that lyrical imagination wasn't in abundance on the day it was composed. They do play the James Brown-psychedelic rock fusion card with some gusto on "Elvira," and Charlie Allen's vocals are pretty soulful, though it's only on a cover of Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman" that they come to the fore in a no-nonsense manner.

Charlie Allen (vocals)
Tom Marshall (guitar)
Brent Block (guitar, bass)
Frank Cook (drums)
Glenn Schwartz (guitar)
Ken Utterback (guitar)
Frank Petricca (bass)
Ron Woods (drums)

1 Are You Ready? 5:46 
  2 Hawg for You 4:42 
  3 Staggolee 3:49 
  4 The Blackberry 5:31 
  5 Love, Love, Love, Love, Love 3:51 
  6 Mother, Why Don't You Cry? 5:06 
  7 Elvira 1:58 
  8 Screamin' 4:27 
  9 When a Man Loves a Woman 4:31 
  10 Bluesbuster 2:55 
  11 Death Row #172 3:55 
  12 Miss Lucy 2:28 
  13 My Women 5:35 
  14 She's Long and She's Tall 6:18 
  15 Pacific Gas & Electric Suite Medley: The Young Rabbits/Constitutional S 16:41 
  16 Redneck 3:30

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KREIS – ALLE MANN AN DECK – 1977 (DDR) rock

http://www.ostbeat.de/Kreis.htm

Arnold Fritzsch
Eva Fritzsch
Gerhard Witte 
Hellmut Sickel 
Uwe Perschk

A1 Sie Ist Immer Noch Allein (3:30)
A2 Ich Will Ihr Mann Sein (3:15)
A3 Du Hast Mein Wort (4:10)
A4 Gib Dich Nie Auf (3:45)
A5 Alle Mann An Deck (4:35)
B1 Fremder Mann (4:25)
B2 Rock'n Roll Madonna (3:35)
B3 Ich War Der 5. Beatle (4:10)
B4 Wir Spielten Mann Und Frau (4:30)
B5 Nachtvogel, Flieg (4:30)

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KREIS – KREIS – 1976 (DDR) rock

A1 Philly's Tanz (3:47)
A2 Ich Will Dich (3:35)
A3 Denn Ich Liebe (4:40)
A4 Wirst Du Da Sein (3:35)
A5 Du Machst Mich Müd' (3:45)
A6 Leg Dich Hin (2:22)
B1 Doch Ich Wollt' Es Wissen (4:34)
B2 Ein Tropfen Nur Auf Einen Heißen Stein (3:05)
B3 Ich Muß Dich Sehn (3:15)
B4 Bleib Doch Hier (4:45)
B5 Und Wir Gingen Auf Uns Zu (4:52) 

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ВИСОКОСНОЕ ЛЕТО (Visokosnoe Leto) - THE STORE OF WONDERS: 1972-1979 (USSR) progressive rock

VISOKOSNOE LETO was formed in the summer of 1972 (hence the name of the band, which means “The Leap Summer”). After having started playing Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple covers, the musicians (Alexander Sitkovetsky – vocals and guitar, Kris Kelmi – kybds, Yuriy Titov (then Anatoly Abramov and later Valery Efremov) - drums) turned to composing their own music – an original mixture of Art and Hard Rock (close to early Uriah Heep/Kansas stuff).
Reinforced by MASHINA VREMENI’s (a legendary Russian rock-band) bassist and vocalist Alexander Kutikov, who was obsessed with the idea of creating a national rock music culture, VISOKOSNOE LETO began its triumphal performing activity in the Soviet underground (rock music was still prohibited in that time). They were one of the first groups in the USSR who experimented with stage scenery, using disguises and theatrical elements during their shows. In 1978 they recorded an amateur tape version of their legendary prog-rock opera, “Prometheus the Imprisoned”(sadly never re-released on CD), and a number of other songs and epics. A few months later they disbanded, at the very peak of their popularity.
Kutikov and Efremov returned to MASHINA, with whom they’re still playing, while Sitkovetsky and Kelmi formed AVTOGRAF, another legendary Art-Rock band from the Soviet Union, more popular and professional, though sadly no longer active.
In 1995 some tape recordings (featuring such classics as “The Slumberthief” and “The Store ,of Wonders”) and tracks from the rock opera were released on CD as “The Store of Wonders: 1972-1979”. Almost out-of-print now, it gives you a unique chance to experience the music of one of the earliest Art-Rock bands from USSR. Enjoy the classics!
See also Russian band AUTOGRAF, for an additional understanding of what had been done in the former USSR, in terms of prog-rock.

The material itself is wonderful. BTW, check the Russian Prog Thread and Free Legal Prog Music Downloads thread as well - you can listen to these songs if you LEGALLY download them from the proposed links.
To give an impression, imagine a mixture of DEEP PURPLE, URIAH HEEP and ELP - band's keyboardist Kris Kelmi deeply shared guitarist's (Alexander Sitkovetsky - later he'll form AUTOGRAF, another Russian Prog legend) views on composing and performing their material. Being one of the first Prog-Rock bands in USSR, VISOKOSNOE LETO composed hard-rock songs supplying them with fiery keyboard passages and complex signatures.Their magnum opus , "PROMETHEUS THE IMRISONED" ,never saw the light as a CD (despite the fact that it is avalaible on some half-legal sites...oops, I'm silent!)...Sadly, now nobody from the former members has no interest to their past activity (though Sitkovetsky did a self-cover of "Satan's Hop" for his recent solo-album). I wish "PROMETHEUS ..." will be released someday as a CD - I even could wrote a story for inlay booklet...
OK, down to the music. Boxset opens with "Overture" - instrumental composition in a manner of "ELP's Toccata meets KANSAS".Astonishing one, and a frequent live number. The following one is probably one of the most known works band ever did - "The Slumberthief" (Pokhetitel Snov),a 8-minute opus about the magic person who steals dreams and slumbers. It begans with a nervous solo, and only on 4th minute Alexander starts singing. Haunting and even frightening track, that represents LETO's best (IMHO). Another hit follows - "The Store of Wonders" (Lavka Tchudes)! Imagine BLACK SABBATH mixed with PINK FLOYD - heavy verse changes into dreamy chorus with background voices...The mid-part reminds of DEEP PURPLE's most mature works with legendary Blackmore/Lord interplays... "Mona Lisa" is a simply and enjoyable pop-rock-song, very memorable and catchy. "Rondo outside the Tone"(Rondo vne tonalnosti) is again a dark and heavy instrumental, confirming band's reputation as one of the best in USSR in 70s. "Mirrors" (Zerkala) is a short and unusual acoustic song, leding to another public's favourite - "The Song about the Rioter" (Pesnya o Buntare), very good lyrically and musically...ironic and even cynical view on rioter's life . "Paradox" is the same way paradoxical (excusance for calambour) - "Hail to the enemies - they're sometimes more frankly than friends"(and the whole lyrical concept of the song is based on related sayings). "The World of Trees" is actually a part of "PROMETHEUS..." opera ,not the best one, but the most melodical and ballad-like. Closing "Satan's Hop" is again nervous and complex instrumental track in best LETO's traditions. progarchives.com

Alexander Sitkovetsky - vocals, guitar
Kris Kelmi - keyboards
Alexander Kutikov - bass, vocals
Valery Efremov – drums
1. Увертюра/Overture 5.25
2. Похититель снов/The Slumberthief 8.05
3. Лавка чудес/The Store of Wonders 5.32
4. Мона Лиза/Mona Lisa 3.30
5. Рондо вне тональности/Rondo Outside the Tone 7.23
6. Зеркала/Mirrors 1.12
7. Песня о бунтаре/The Song About the Rioter 6.18
8. Парадокс/Paradox 4.05
9. Мир деревьев/The World of Trees 4.25
10. Сатанинские пляски/Satan’s Hop 5.50

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TRIUMVIRAT – SPARTACUS – 1975 (GER) progressive rock

This album is faultless! That's deep! They could not have done better! All the songs are excellent. Reminds me EMERSON LAKE & PALMER, with a better sound. The instruments are less in the background and the songs are more melodic: so the album is very dynamic: actually, quite more dynamic than ELP! Thi record is one of the most dynamic albums ever listened!! You understand it when you turn up the volume!! I also like the fact that all the instruments are very well played and no one looks like ordinary or irrelevant. The second part of "Spartacus" reach the quintescence. The keyboards are the main force of this album, but the drums and bass must not be neglected. Even the classical guitar parts are essential!! The album also has a couples of smooth songs, which are really well made; they give you a feeling of hope, strength and pride. The keyboards performance is absolutely outstanding and it's even sometimes quite jazzy! progarchives.com

- Jürgen Fritz / piano, synthesizers
- Helmut Köllen / bass, acoustic guitars, vocals
- Hans Bathelt / drums and percussion
1. The Capital Of Power (3:13)
2. The School Of Instant Pain (6:22)
- a. Proclamation
- b. The Gladiator's Song
- c. Roman Entertainment
- d. The Battle
3. The Walls Of Doom (3:56)
4. The Deadly Dream Of Freedom (3:54)
5. The Hazy Shades Of Dawn (3:09)
6. The Burning Sword Of Capua (2:41)
7. The Sweetest Sound Of Liberty (2:35)
8. The March To The Eternal City (8:46)
- a. Dusty Road
- b. Italian Improvisation
- c. First Success
9. Spartacus (7:38)
- a. The Superior Force of Rome
- b. A Broken Dream
- c. The Finale
10. The Capital Of Power (live) (3:16)
11. Showstopper (previously unreleased) (3:37)

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TRIUMVIRAT – A LA CARTE – 1978 (GER) progressive rock

Very bizarre change of direction for this once good German trio. From a pure ELP sound they switched to a pop sound a la Supertramp. One of the problems, is that they are only the shadow of a sub-par Supertramp. What you'll find here is rather poor music, overwhelmed with orchestrations (viloins, cellos, trumpets and lots of choirs). Not really my cup of tea.
We'll travel from poor to worse here. The latter being "For You", by no doubt. An insipid and syrupous ballad (on par with the closing number "Good Bye". Truely awful and difficult to imagine how low "Triumvirate" has evolved. In this aspect "I Don't Even Know Your Name" just looses by an inch the highest step of the podium.
The least boring numbers being the ones that will sound the most to the Tramp : "Waterfall" and "Late Again". But don't expect too much. But of course, compared with "A Bavarian..." and the funky-oriented "Original Soundtrack...", they sound like masterpieces.
"Darlin' " is also a good joke. But a bad song with stupid chorus and trumpets.
It is really a poor album and I can only recommend to stay away from this "work". One star of course and nothing prog to be found. progarchives.com/

- Jürgen Fritz / keyboards
- Matthias Holtmann / drums
- Werner Kopal / bass
- David Hanselmann / vocals
- Richard Hurwitz / trumpet
- Bill Lamb / trumpet
- Mark Isham / trumpet
- Vinnie Fannele / trombone
- Randy Alcroft / trombone
- Marie Robinson / French horn
- Allen Robinson / French horn
- Tommy Johnson / tuba
- Bob Hardaway / tuba
- Jene Cipriano / tuba
- Jules Chaikin / contractor
- Rob Stevens, Jon Osbrink, Jerry Whitman, Stan Farber, Walt Harrah, Larry Kenton, Fred Frank, Bill Brown, Gene Moredro, Gene Merlino, Allan Davies, Diana Lee, Sally Stevens, Terry Stilwell, Gloria G. Prosper, Linda Harmon, Susie McCyne, Darice Richman, Jackie Ward, Sue Allen, Peggy Clark, Myrna Matthews, Jan Gassman, Karen Kenton / singers
- Bill Cole / contractor
- Gordon Marton / conductor violins
- Israel Baker, Michelle Grab, Ken Yerke, Robert Lipsett, Brian Leonard, Robert Dubow, Spiro Stamof, Peter Kent, Mari Tsumura, John Wittenberg, Bonnie Douglas, Linda Rose / concert master
- Sam Bogossian, Denise Buffom, Linda Lipsett, Dan Neufels / violas
- Fred Seykora, Glenn Grab, Juliana Buffom, Gloria Strassner / cellos
- Steve Edelman, Buell Neiblinger / basses
1. Waterfall (4:58)
2. (Oh I'm) Late Again (6:48)
3. Jo Ann Walker (4:46)
4. For You (5:53)
5. I Don't Even Know Your Name (4:47)
6. A Bavarian In New York (5:38)
7. Original Soundtrack From The Movie (3:48)
8. Darlin' (3:46)
9. Good Bye (4:28)
Bonus tracks
10. Waterfall [Single Edit]
11. Jo Ann Walker [Single Edit]

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ZODIAC – DISCO ALLIENCE/MUSIC IN THE UNIVERSE – 1980/1983 (USSR) space electro

It was rather difficult to imagine any serious "vinyl” collection without this record in the eighties of the last century. People were buying "Disko-alliance" record of Zodiac by exchange, by stealing; moreover, "Disko-alliance" was as a payment of a debt sometimes. This record was played all over the former one-sixth part of a land by the miraculous native production as "Accord" record player. An instrumental record of Zodiac - « Disko Alliance » was like “a sacred cow” of the Russian electronic music. It was successfully sold together with the second one, named - «Music in the Universe". The total run was more than 20 000 000 copies. There are not so much artists, who have a similar success: a huge profit out the two albums as well as out the all discography. Today - quarter of the century later - « Disko Alliance » is not perceived as an archaism.
It is interesting, that the participants of the first cast: Janis Lusens, Andris Silis, Zane Griva, Andris Reinis and Ainars Ashmanis weren’t conceiving so big success of the first album. The students from the different departments and courses of Latvian Conservatory were peacefully and diligently studying, going to become the newly-made young experts in the field of the academic music. « We were not thinking about some kind of musical innovation," - says Janis Lusens, - We were living a usual student life, playing absolutely different music in different groups. It was as Jazz as Dixieland. We were interested in electronics, were fond of various records exchanging such as Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Jean Michel Zharr. I was trying to write down at home something like that ».
The experimental cassette of the 21-years old student from the conservatory - Janis Lusens (the participant of the " Arka " group under the direction of Juris Kulakovs), was brought to the producer Alexander Griva - one of the best sound producers of USSR. He was working with serious music and was a deputy director of the Riga department of the firm «Melody” at that moment. Lusens and Co was not the pioneer in the electronic music. There was a great simplicity in Lusen's music in comparison with Edward Artemyev's creativity that was demanding a certain preparation. Millions guys and girls of USSR were subjugated due to this great simplicity. Alexander Griva was a strong sound-producer. He was approximately fifteen years elder than other participants of the group and was a strict leader. At the same time A. Griva knew, that in spite of the harmless instrumental genre, excessively using the studio time for the working with the young non-professional musicians can't be appreciated by the government. Perhaps, « Disco Alliance » was also the first album that was designed in a new, absolutely unusual style. There was a futuristic painting on the cover, made by the familiar artists of Riga. Their skills in this kind of art were very poor at the time. They were working for the most part instinctively. The record with the futuristic painting cover was standing out among the other records with the ordinary illustrations such as Russian eminences and photos of the brushed soviet crooners with the sour smile. « Disco Alliance » record was striking due to the bright photos of the young musicians. Moreover, all the instruments that were played by the musicians were mentioned on the backside of the cover. Lusens was a fortunate owner of «ARP Omni» complete and an «ARP Odyssey " synthesizer.
The impossibility of the ideological captious objections was the main advantage of the record « Disco Alliance ». There was only an instrumental music recorded, and it could be easily played on the disco parties like any other music of the Soviet Baltic republic musicians. The envious people started a rumour. They asserted that all participants of Zodiac had been the children of the Central Committee party's members, in spite of the fact that all participants of "Zodiac" had arrived to Riga from the small Latvian towns for studying. Zodiac was taken by the enlightened music fans as a poor parody of the French group Space but not by the majority of the youth. « Disco Alliance » was considered to be an explosion and the first change in all-Union firm «Melody» for the young people.
All of the « Disco Alliance » album members are anyhow engaged in music now. The album « Disco Alliance » appeared in all countries of the East Europe, in Finland, Austria and Japan. A leitmotif from the album's play was used in a popular dancing track of the Russian team PPK "Reload". That was one of the most appreciable references to the team's creativity for the last 10-15 years.
We are nourishing the hope now, that the opportunity to see the revival of the initial Zodiac will be occurred. Janis Lusens has a 21 years old son, who is also a composer and is writing the music for advertising. He is of the age, when his father with the friends made a sound-recording of « Disco Alliance » - the most popular record of the country that is not present on a map any more.

Jānis Lūsēns - ARP Omni, ARP Odyssey, celesta, production
Zane Grīva - piano, ARP Omni, vocals
Andris Sīlis - guitar
Ainārs Ašmanis - bass guitar
Andris Reinis – drums

Disco Alliance 1980:
1 Zodiac (Zodiaks / Зодиак) 5:12
2 Pacific (Pacific / Пасифик) 3:52
3 Provincial Disco (Procinciāls disko / Провинциальное диско) 4:18
4 Polo (Polo / Поло) 3:17
5 Mirage (Mirāža / Мираж) 4:02
6 Rock on the Ice (Roks uz ledus / Рок на льду) 2:42
7 Alliance (Alianse / Альянс) 3:41
Music In The Universe 1983:
8 Таинственная галактика (The Mysterious Galaxy) 4:45
9 Лазерная иллюминация (Laser Illumination) 4:11
10 Серебряная мечта (Silver Dream) 3:32
11 Фотофиниш (Photo Finish) 4:43
12 Обратная сторона неба (The Other Side Of Heaven) 5:17
13 В свете Сатурна (In The Light Of Saturn) 3:47
14 Полет над Эльдорадо (Light Over El Dorado) 5:07

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ZODIAC – Music From the Films – 1982 (USSR) space electro

Very funny, electronic psychedelic überkitsch. Sounds a bit like kraftwerk, but in a much more Soviet way. Cool to have for electroweirdo's

Jānis Lūsēns (keyboards, synthesizer)
1 Пришельцы (Strangers) (2:57)
2 В Таинственном Квадрате (In A Mysterious Square) (3:09)
3 Зеленые Чудовища (Green Monsters) (4:47)
4 Поединок (Duel) (3:38)
5 Мирное Небо (Peaceful Sky) (3:22)
6 Огненные Дороги (Fiery Roads) (2:42)
7 Девичьи Грезы (Maiden's Dreams) (4:31)
8 Волшебная Ночь (Magic Night) (3:46)
9 Идущие Впереди (Going In Advance) (5:17)
10 Сердце Стучит (The Heart's Beating) (3:15)

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ZODIAC - IN MEMORIAM – 1989 (USSR) space electro

Zodiac was formed by Jānis Lūsēns, then studying composition at the Latvian State Conservatory in Riga. The other four members of the group were also students of various faculties of the same conservatory.
Zodiac's first vinyl record Disco Alliance (Russian: Диско альянс, Latvian: Disko alianse) was released in 1980 on the monipolist Melodiya label, during the band members' studentship. A significant part of the group's success was that the album was produced by Aleksandrs Grīva, one of the best sound engineers of the country,[who?] also the father of band member Zane Grīva. The music featured a lot of then-unusual synthesized sounds and effects together with more conventional disco elements while in whole remaining very melodic, atmospheric and easy to understand.
The second album Music in the Universe (Russian: Музыка во Вселенной) released two years later was much inspired by a meeting with cosmonauts in the Star City, Moscow and their tales about space flights. The music of the album featured many rock tones and parts, became even more atmospheric and somewhat less conventional.

During that time the band also performed the music of Viktor Vlasov for the films Zhenskiye radosti i pechali (Woman's Joys and Sorrows, 1982) and Ekipazh mashiny boevoy (The Tank Crew, 1983), the soundtracks for the both films were released on a vinyl record Music from the Films (Russian: Музыка из кинофильмов) in 1985. The music of the group was also used in the documentary film about the cosmonaut artist Aleksei Leonov Zvyozdnaya palitra (Star Palette, 1982).
The last album In memoriam was composed and produced by Jānis Lūsēns alone and released in 1989. The album was dedicated to the ancient and modern cultural and natural heritage of Latvia. The sounding of the album turned from disco to light techno/synth pop while gaining a lot of fine classical music features that gave it a very unusual Baroque/Romantic taste, together with some ambient influences of Jean Michel Jarre.

Jānis Lūsēns - synthesizers, piano, production
Zigfrīds Muktupāvels - vocals, DDD-1, violin
Dzintars Sāgens - computer, guitar
Guntis Zvirgzdiņš - synthesizer
Maija Lūsēna - vocals on track 4
Normunds Šnē - oboe on track 3
Aivars Gudrais - guitar on track 5
Ivars Piļka - sound engineering
1 In Memoriam/Kurzeme (9:06)
2 Moriscala (3:53)
3 Brivdabaz Muzeja (5:16)
4 Rundales Pils (3:50)
5 Vecricas Nami (4:32)
6 Pastorale (3:31)
7 Zila Kalna (5:20)

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SPACE ART – ONYX – 1976 (FRA) space electro

Space Art is a French band that was formed by two friends in Paris in 1977. The group consisted of Dominique Perrier on keyboards and Roger Rizzitelli on drums. Their first (self-titled) of three albums was released in the same year as Jean-Michel Jarre’s, “Oxygene.” Knowledgeable Jarre fans will recognize the names, because both went along on the 1981 China tour. Dominique Perrier has since played keyboards on most Jarre albums and live performances and is sometimes credited with artistic collaboration - small wonder, as their styles are very much compatible. But as this and the other albums show, Space Art is not a mere clone and has a distinctive style of its own. This is due in large part to the heavy drums very well employed by Roger Rizzitelli (highly inspired by bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Soft Machine, etc). It was all about experimenting with new sounds on new machines. They specialize in a certain set of highly tragic/dramatic chords which appear on all their best tracks, a perfect example being the title-track. Apart from ‘Onyx’, the other tracks that really stand out are ‘Axus’ (an astonishing sonic explosion), and ‘Laser En Novembre’ (the most experimental track). A 3 CD box set will be released in ’08 including SPACE ART (1977), TRIP IN THE HEAD CENTER (1978) and PLAY BACK (1980).

Dominique Perrier (keyboards)
Roger Rizzitelli (percussion)
1 Onyx
2 Naissance de Cassiopee
3 Interlune
4 Axius
5 Aquarella
6 Ode a Clavius
7 Laser en Novembre

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SPACE ART – TRIP IN THE CENTER HEAD – 1977 (FRA) space electro

" Trip in the Center Head " is a typical end-seventies french space synth music in its depressing aspect and sense of drama screenplay, that doesn't really push me up or excite me. Just a curioisity of the sci-fi sadness of the time.

Dominique Perrier (keyboards)
Roger Rizzitelli (percussion)
1 Speedway 2:53
2 Odyssey 4:00
3 Eyes Shade 6:47
4 Watch It 3:00
5 L'obsession d'Archibald 5:30
6 Hollywood Flanger 3:50
7 Psychosomatique 10:52

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SPACE - MAGIC FLY – 1977 (FRA) space electro

The single, track 5 i.e., is the stand out. And it's great frog-rock - synth heavy though. A very memorable melody, which you'll probably recognise and think 'oh, ok, so that's what *that* is.' The rest of the LP is ok, but pretty much wallpaper. Albeit '70s futuristic wallpaper.

Didier Marouani [aka "Ecama"] (synthesizers)
Roland Romanelli (synthesizers)
Joe Hammer (drums, percussion)
1 Fasten Seat Belt 5:58
2 Ballad For Space Lovers 2:16
3 Tango In Space 4:27
4 Flying Nightmare 3:25
5 Magic Fly 4:17
6 Velvet Rape 4:26
7 Carry On Turn Me On 7:11

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SPACE – DELIVERANCE – 1977 (FRA) space electro

One of the most ambitious Euro-electro acts of the late 1970s was Space, which shouldn't be confused with the alternative rock band that recorded Spiders in 1996. By the time that Space was formed in the 1990s, the Euro-electro act heard on Deliverance had long since called it quits. Recorded in London and Paris in 1978, this conceptual, mostly instrumental LP employs a lot of futuristic sci-fi imagery and is quite high-tech for its time. Synthesizer-dominated instrumentals like "Air Force" and "Running in the City" give the impression that Jean-Philippe Iliesco, the album's producer, had been paying close attention to German innovators like Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder-and yet, Deliverance has a high-tech energy of its own. In the U.S., this record was ignored by radio programmers, but European dance clubs found that the album's faster material was great for moving bodies. At times, Deliverance ends up sounding like European movie music and fades into the background. But when Space hits its mark, Deliverance is both interesting and infectious.

Didier Marouani [aka "Ecama"] (synthesizers)
Roland Romanelli (synthesizers)
Joe Hammer (drums, percussion)
1 Prison [feat. Madeline Bell] 6:25
2 Let Me Know the Wonder 7:10
3 Running in the City 4:17
4 Air Force 4:30
5 Baby's Paradise 5:38
6 Deliverance [feat. Madeline Bell] 6:45

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SPACE – DEEPER ZONE – 1980 (FRA) space electro

Fourth studio album for the band, but without Didier Marouani as he left the ship. Those french guys that mix a special blend of funk and disco with predominant synthesizers, sometimes à-la-Jean Michel Jarre made here another interesting album. "Inner Voices" is an especially good track, very modern I think, with a slow metronomic two notes bassline/beat that lead a catchy cycling piano/synth melodic phrase; almost hip-hop, was largely sampled by Fingathing on the excellent "Spacecrumbs" featured on Superhero Music. I knew that version before the original which was more a sort of a re-edit, and pratically was required because like other good tracks on this album, they are just too long and often make the listening quite irritating. There's many good ideas, structures and fresh new grooves on this record but also it gives an impression of heavyness in juxtaposing dramatic climate, and tend going megalomaniac; A characteristic of that band actually. Although some seventies cosmic-music freaks could find it too easy-cheesy, the best stuff of Space that you can pick on all of their 3 albums, is truly innovative, unusual and accessible.

Roland Romanelli (synthesizers)
Cissy Stone (vocals)
Jannik Top [aka Yannick Top] (bass)
Patrice Tison (guitar)
1 Deeper Zone 7:16
2 Inner Voices 3:31
3 Space Media 3:27
4 Mixed Up 5:43
5 On the Air 3:28
6 Love Starring You and Me 5:26
7 Robbots [*] 3:38
8 Tender Force [*] 3:57

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