HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Streetmark – Nordland – 1976 (GER) progressive rock

Streetmark is one of the lesser known german bands of the 70's.One of the reasons is that the musicians kept their day-jobs, toured mainly in their area and didn't develop a follow up like GROBSCHNITT or NOVALIS who toured heavily.STREETMARK played together since 1968 but took time to record their first record 'Nordland'.They took the time to play the songs live and work them out. 'Nordland' was recorded and produced by the well knownengineer/producer Connie Planck on the new Sky label.Side one starts with a suite ' House of 3 windows'. The first part shows influences of Ekseption and Focus especially towards the end when G.Buschmann does vocalises like T. van Leer.The second part goes more in the direction of Procol Harum, Gary Brooker being the obvious model for Buschmann.The third part is a cover of 'Eleanor Rigby' ( a minor hit for STREETMARK) and quite an interesting approach of such a classic track. STREETMARK plays the song up- tempo and agressive which works fine.'Amleth Saga' is another Procol Harum influenced track. The only weak track on side one is 'Italian concerto in rock' a pseudo baroque instrumental à la Ekseption or Wendy Carlos with cheesy synth sounds. The second side 'Nordland is more athmospherique.The first part, an instrumental reminding NOVALIS goes into a more jazzier track' Lyster Fjord'. The third part 'Ladoga' is my favourite track on the record, a beautiful melody ,the only weak point are the vocals. The second side closes with 'Reality Airport' an uptempo rocker with nice rhythm changes. On the CD edition there is a Bonus track 'Da Capo' a variation on the 'Eleanor Rigby' theme.

- Georg Buschmann / lead vocals
- Dorothea Raukes / keyboards
- Thomas Schreiber / guitars
- Hans Schweiss / drums
- Wolfgang Westphal / bass

1. House of three windows: (10:55) 
a) House for hire 3:15 
b) Green velvet curtains 2:20 
c) Eleanor Rigby 5:20 
2. Amleth saga (7:10) 
3. Italian concert in rock (2:30) 
4. Nordland: (20:19) 
a) Waves and visions 2:50 
b) Lyster fjord 7:24 
c) Ladoga 3:45 
d) Reality airport 6:20

Rip from CD 256@ (artwork included)
Download link
Download

The Greatest Show On Earth – Horizons – 1970 (UK) progressive rock

Although the Greatest Show on Earth (GSOE) were not the first bunch of rockers to incorporate a powerful brass and woodwind section, they are among the best and heaviest-sounding British bands to have emerged from the post-psychedelia of the late '60s and early '70s. GSOE were, in essence, the invention of EMI Records subsidiary Harvest, who were focusing in on new and progressive artists such as Pink Floyd and Deep Purple. When the group was initially signed in 1968, they were an R&B/soul revue whose forte was more along the lines of Stax or Motown, instead of trippy acid rock. After ditching their original vocalist, Ozzie Lane, they eventually settled on Colin Horton Jennings, a multi-faceted performer who would begin to compose originals that would allow the octet to incrementally abandon their Yankee soul leanings. After a few months of woodshedding new tunes, they emerged with a fresh sound and material for their debut, Horizons (1970). The extracted single "Real Cool World" is marked by its open-throttle, galloping tempo and some equally pungent electric organ riffs. As such, it was also given a few cursory spins on BBC's Radio One; however, the remainder of the disc was criminally overlooked. To modern ears, this is a great shame, as the effort is full of well-crafted and adeptly executed material. Of primary interest is the aggressive rocker "Angelina" and the groovy "Skylight Man." The latter title features a brief and buoyant trumpet-led introduction by Dick Hanson that recalls the Tijuana Brass more so than, say, Blood, Sweat & Tears or Chicago. The darker "I Fought for Love" stands as one of the edgier sides and is augmented by some stellar organ leads and fills from Mick Deacon. The title track extends over a quarter-hour and allows the combo room to demonstrate their remarkable improvisational skills in the context of an ensemble. In particular, Ron Prudence (drums/percussion) and Norman Watt-Roy (bass/vocals) stand out as a rock-solid rhythm section. Although they stuck around for a follow-up effort, The Going's Easy, the Greatest Show on Earth were never given the due that this release so evidently deserves.

- Colin Horton-Jennings / vocals, flute, guitar, percussion
- Garth Watt-Roy / vocals, guitar
- Norman Watt-Roy / vocals, bass
- Mick Deacon / keyboards
- Ron Prudence / drums, congas
- Dick Hanson / horns
- Tex Phillpots / saxophone
- Ian Aitcheson / woodwinds

1. Sunflower Morning (5:00)
2. Angelina (4:10)
3. Skylight Man (4:33)
4. Day Of The Lady (4:12)
5. Real Cool World (4:52)
6. I Fought For Love (4:26)
7. Horizons (14:02)
8. Again & Again (4:02)

Rip from CD 256@ (artwork included)
Download link
Download

The Greatest Show On Earth – The Going's Easy – 1970 (UK) progressive rock

As had been the case with the Greatest Show on Earth's (GSOE) debut long-player, Horizons (1970), the follow-up, Going's Easy (1970), made very little impact despite their originality and certainly better-than-average material. The band's rather auspicious origins were the invention of EMI Records subsidiary Harvest, who set out to manufacture a British version of Blood, Sweat & Tears or Chicago -- both of whom successfully fused a brass and woodwind section into the framework of a rock & roll combo. After a less-than-stellar initial outing, GSOE returned to the drawing board and reconvened with a disc of longer and more jammed-out sides. They had also been listening to their stateside counterparts. The extended track "Borderline" is a group-credited composition that seems to lift several distinct features from the David Clayton Thomas version of Blood, Sweat & Tears. Colin Horton Jennings' (vocals/flute/guitar) bluesy lead vocals seem to practically mimic Thomas'. In fact, GSOE even goes one better than Blood, Sweat & Tears with an exceedingly heavier rock vibe. The acoustic and lilting "Magic Touch Woman" as well as the dark, pastoral "Storytimes & Nursery Rhymes" include some well-crafted harmonies that could easily be mistaken for latter-era Hollies. This is particularly interesting as the Hollies actually scored a minor hit with "Magic Touch Woman." "Love Magnet" is another lengthy track that features some of the band's best ensemble work. Mick Deacon's (vocal/keyboard) electric organ solo is especially noteworthy, giving GSOE a really jazzy workout. Lacking consumer or industry support, GSOE disbanded by mid-1971. Even while the group was able to sell out shows throughout the rest of Europe, the total lack of interest back home inevitably sealed their fate.

- Dick Hanson / horns
- Colin Horton-Jennings / vocals, guitar, drums
- Tex Philpotts / saxophone
- Ron Prudence / congas, drums
- Garth Watt-Roy / vocals, guitar
- Norman Watt-Roy / vocals, bass

1. Borderline
2. Magic Woman Touch
3. Storytimes & Nursery Rhymes
4. The Leader
5. Love Magnet
6. Tell The Story
Bonus Track 
7. Mountain Song

Rip from CD 256@ (artwork included)
Download link
Download

Araks (Аракс) – The Star and the Death of Jaoquin Murieta – 1978 (USSR) progressive rock

Fantastic group 70080s years – Araks. Rock opera – it is based on product of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Great vocal, fine very original psych prog

Yuri Shahnasarov - lead gutar
Sergey Rudnizkiy - acoustic guitar, bass, organ, piano, synth
Vadim Golutvin - acoustic guitar, badjo
Sergey Belikov - bass, flute, vocal
Alexander Sado - vocal
Anatoliy Abramov - drums

1. Вступление
2. Песня Хоакина
3. Песня Шарманщика
4. "Золото!"
5. Хоакин и друзья
6. Ария Звезды
7. Ария Смерти
8. Сцена в таможне
9. "Прощай!"
10. Куплеты Смерти "Будет заваруха!"
11. Вопросы Блаженного без ответа
12. Сцена на корабле
13. Таверна "Заваруха"
14. Девицы и Хоакин
15. Драка в таверне "Заваруха"
16. Реплика Смерти
17. Заговор
18. Песня Тересы
19. Нападение
20. Колыбельная не родившемуся сыну
21. Реквием
22. Клятва Хоакина
23. Месть Хоакина
24. Вторая ария Смерти
25. Воспоминания о Родине
26. Шествие к могиле Тересы
27. Эпилог

Rip from CD 256@ (artwork included)
Download links
Download p. 1
Download p. 2

Cinderella – Udkoksning i tre satser – 1970 (DEN) heavy progressive

The liner notes in the booklet are strangely enough only in Danish, as if there wouldn’t be any foreigners interested in this band. The only thing I can make of the notes is that they were noticeably influenced by Rory Gallager, Vanilla Fudge, Hendrix and Cream, and secondly by Zeppelin & Doors which from which I don’t find any influence. They covered a Cream song, “Mr.Fantasy”, and two Hendrix tracks, “Fire” and “Break Song”. This last track is really convincing and shows a direct Hendrix endowment, and great solo guitar. I also saw the name Peter Quaife, bass player from The Kinks, mentioned as producer for their only 1971 album. 
More or less the only and sure deliberately arranged or prepaired song for the album is “Carlt”, one side of a very good single, which highlights with speeded up heavy percussion (congas, drums,..). I found out that after the single, most of the CD is this LP album, with an additional 5 live tracks. Without knowing that, the CD sounds more or less like one long concert. The group definitely stands in the walking shoes of that part of the psychrock scene which developed out of blues and boogie-woogie. As a progressive band for me they still stand in the shadow of their Swedish neighbours, but as a jamming band they have some convincing elements, although the music sometimes sound somewhat absorbed by the jamming nature, and the poor quality of the live recording is a confirmation to this feeling. We hear mostly fuckin’ rocking long jams and jammed songs, with dirty and fat guitars, which sound pretty smoked, -and who knows drugged and alcohol-boozed-. Like I was mentioning, at times this smoky and stoned atmosphere for the length of the CD works altough at times it is a bit saturating. The best sound for live recordings of this kind of music normally does not always matter too much, but in the end for me it did take its toll ; at the time when the last track, the rock’n roll “Long Tall Sally” comes in, I’m really drunk from the music and tired, and with a feeling as if I’m truly there at the concert I take a break to go for a pee.

Allan Vokstrup (drums)
Henning Kragh Pedersen (guitar, vocals)
Søren Hilligsøe (bass, vocals)

1 Carlt (4:31) 
2 Sexbombe (3:31) 
3 Udkoksning I Tre Satser (6:06) 
4 Break Song (9:20) 
5 Parchman Farm (2:24) 
6 Kong Galars Sang (4:23) 
7 Fire (3:18) 
8 Mr. Wild (3:35) 
9 Ana-T-Nas (5:04) 
10 Forurening (5:24) 
11 Break Song (13:21) 
12 Mr. Fantasy (9:11) 
13 Stormen (4:18) 
14 Long Tall Sally (3:02)

Rip from CD 256@ (artwork included)
Download links
Download p. 1
Download p. 2

Quicksand – Home Is Where I Belong – 1973 (UK) progressive rock

Pretty solid rock with occasional prog and West Coast influences. The guitar work is pretty solid and the use of organ/piano adds to it. Songs vary from slightly harder rock to almost folk. "Empty Street, Empty Heart" has a country feel to it with both acoustic and electric guitar with the occasional faint organ. "Hiding It All" is a darker, slower piece of psych. "Overcome the Pattern Flying" is another solid track. "Seasons Alpha Omega" has some very Emerson-like keyboard work.

Robert Collins (keyboards, vocals)
Jimmy Davies (guitar, vocals)
Phil Davies (bass, vocals)
Anthony Stone (drums, vocals)

1. Hideaway My Song (3:11) 
2. Sunlight Brings Shadows (4:22) 
3. Empty Street Empty Heart (3:44) 
4. Overcome The Pattern (8:16) 
5. Time To Live (3:30) 
6. Home Is Where I Belong (4:58) 
7. Seasons - Alpha Omega (8:23) 
8. Hiding It All (4:13)

Rip from CD 256@ (artwork included)
Download link
Download

Ruphus – New Born Day – 1973 (NOR) progressive rock

Lost Norwegian classic that time forgot from '73. Solid debut from a band that never really became known outside their native land although they did perform in Germany & Switzerland, this album in particular has over the years been unfairly compared to the likes of Uriah Heep and Yes but it really stands by itself. Harder rocking than the afore mentioned with powerful male/female vocal pairing and thoughtful lyrics despite the overall heaviness set them apart from UK contemporaries and if any comparisons could be drawn then the German band Octopus, who were yet to arrive on the scene would come the closest. Every track has it's own catchy groove here with vocal harmonies, keyboard orchestrations, guitar freakouts and some really heavy dominant Hammond organ.The sheer energy and dynamics of New Born Day cannot be over-stated with it's fluctuating arrangements which also have classical suggestions and jazz aspirations which would come into prominence as the band's career progressed. Not lacking prowess, the music veers into so many directions with more melodic sections featuring acoustic guitars, saxophone and flute which are particularily effective on tracks such as the prophetic Scientific Ways and up-tempo Still Alive giving the compositions even more colour. Other devices such as vocal incantations and emotive screams from vocalist Gudny Aspaas also come into play making this a total early seventies art/rock package which would give any contemporary band a run for their money. Although not a concept album per say all the tracks are loosely connected by cold war themes which are evident on tracks like Scientific Ways, The Man Who Started It All and Day After Tomorrow. 
Anyone into everything from early Deep Purple to Yes ought to check out this precious blast from the past to see what was really happening musically in Scandinavia during the early seventies besides ABBA. While it may sound a bit dated, without question it personifies the true spirit of what was progrock back in it's glory era.

- Gudny Aspaas / lead vocals 
- Thor Bendiksen / drums, percussion 
- Hans Pelter Danielson / guitar 
- Håkon Graf / organ, piano, vibes 
- Kjell Larsen / guitar, flute 
- Asle Nilsen / bass, flute 
- Rune Sundby / acoustic guitar, saxophone, vocals

1. Coloured dreams (4:04) 
2. Scientific ways (5:59) 
3. Still alive (4:35) 
4. The man who started it all (5:28)
5. Trapped in a game (6:08) 
6. New born day (5:43) 
7. Day after tomorrow (8:47)

Rip from CD 256@ (artwork included)
Download link
Download

String Driven Thing – The Early Years – 1968-1972 (UK) prog folk

Scotland’s contribution to progressive rock may appear rather minute, but the role the Scots played in the development of folk rock (and by the same extent progressive folk)is simply enormous. After Donovan, the Incredible String Band, the Pentangle and a few more, came this Glaswegian trio called String Driven Thing in 67, composed of Chris Adams and his wife and guitarist John Mannion. While they stayed rather unsuccessful for a long while, with their debut album completely unnoticed on a independent label. By 71, the group had seen Mannion leaving, but he was replaced with violinist Grahame Smith and bassist Colin Wilson. Soon they got signed to the Charisma label and with Shel Talmy producing two excellent albums, encountering a certain kind of success in Continental Europe, but staying close to unknown in the Isles. After health-related problems in a tour founder Chris Adams quit with his wife leaving Grahame Smith reforming the group from scratch for two further albums. Neither of these albums will have the charm or adventure of the two earlier albums, developing a more AOR rock that had no real distinction except for a violin sound and the group folded in the mis-70’s. 

SDT reformed in the mid-90’s under Chris Adams’ instigation releasing a live album. SDT still plays now and again as the millennium is well under way.

- Chris Adams / guitars, vocals
- Pauline Adams / vocals percussion
- Colin Wilson / bass, guitars, banjo
- Grahame Smith / violin, viola
- John Mannion / guitar

1. July Morning
2. Say What You Like
3. Magic Garden
4. Wonderful Places
5. City Man
6. Another Night In This Old City
7. That's My Lady
8. No More You And I
9. Lie Back And Let It Happen
10. One Of The Lonely People
11. Someone Else's City ( Home Demo '67)
12. Sometimes I Wish ( Home Demo '67)
13. Waiting For The Sky To Fall (Home Demo '67)
14. Magic Garden (Dave Cousins Demo '69)
15. No More You And I (Dave Cousins Demo '69)
16. Say What You Like (Dave Cousins Demo '69)
17. Lie Back And Let It Happen (Dave Cousins Demo '69)
18. Lie Back And Let It Happen (Ironic Jam With Colin Wilson, '70)
19. Let Me Down (Home Demo, Chris & Colin, '70)
20. Old Love New Love (Studio Demo, '71)
21. Jack Diamond (Home Demo (only track with all five on it) '72)
22. Argyle Street (Home Demo, '72)
23. Winter Is Coming (Home Demo, '72)
24. Regent Street Incident (Home Demo, '72)
25. To See You (Blackpool 2001)
26. Circus ( Blackpool 2001)

Rip from CD 256@ (artwork included)
Download links
Download p.1
Download p.2

Tabula Rasa – Tabula Rasa – 1975 (FIN) progressive rock

This mid-70's Finnish prog release might be a nice record to check out for those listeners, who like URIAH HEEP, JETHRO TULL and don't mind lyrics sung in Finnish. The band was signed to Love Records, and thus got good changes at local prog markets. The texts are quite good passionate writings of Mikko Alatalo, who has had a succesful popular music career (not referring to my own tastes with this claim). The melancholic ballad "Gryf" is my favorite track of this record and of the band. It's guitar player Heikki Silvennoinen is a really talented musician, and he has worked as a professional musician and as actor after his commitment to this group.

- Heikki Silvennoinen / guitar
- Jukka Leppilampi / vocals
- Tapio Suominen / bass
- Asko Pakkanen / drums
- Jarmo Sormunen / flute
- Jim Pembroke / piano

1 Lähtö 
2 Miks' ette vastaa vanhat puut 
3 Tuho 
4 Gryf 
5 Tyhjä on taulu 
6 Nyt maalaan elämää... 
7 Vuorellaistuja 
8 Prinssi

Rip from CD 256@ (artwork included)
Download link
Download

The Load – Praise The Load – 1976 (US) progressive rock

This album strikes me as a collection of semi-serious musings by a couple of seventies Midwest suburbia kids who either spent a lot of their free time at the Lowry Organ & Piano store in their local mall, or maybe snuck some time in on their church’s Wurlitzer after services. The seventies Midwest suburbia types is pretty much accurate; not sure where they cut their musical teeth. In any case they undoubtedly listened to a lot of seventies keyboard music back then, and I suspect they had some classical training as well.

This is a pretty entertaining record, although getting your hands on the original vinyl release would be pretty difficult. Fortunately the album was reissued on CD in the nineties, and that one isn’t very hard to find. There are basically two types of tracks here – keyboard-crazed instrumentals, and keyboard-crazed instrumentals with vocals. The lineup is a trio consisting of brothers Tom and Sterling Smith, plus guitarist Dave Hessler. Apparently Sterling Smith has subsequently made a career of session work, no surprise since his keyboard skills are readily apparent all over this album. The other two have appeared as part of “America’s Favorite Party Band” the Danger Brothers for the past quarter-century. So they’ve managed to make a living in the industry, albeit not playing this type of music. But they have this and one other early recording and their memories, which is nice I suppose.

The opening track “Fandango” is an eleven minute instrumental featuring what sounds like acoustic guitar, slightly syncopated and lively drumming, and a whole cornucopia of Hammond and synth keyboard passages that are pretty entertaining and kind of impressive for the skill of Sterling Smith’s fast fingers if nothing else.

“Flyaway” features more detailed keyboard work and electric guitar, well done except for the harmonized and uncredited vocals which are quite dated-sounding and kind of pithy in their lyrics. This one sounds like a hundred different forgotten seventies bands, but wouldn’t have been too bad on the radio back then.

“Brandenburg #3” is another instrumental, mostly keyboards, and quite a bit shorter than “Fandango” but with the same kind of lively tempo. Smith seems to favor string synths, which is okay since he plays them quite well.

The Hammond and some electric piano are featured on “Dave’s ‘A’ Song”, and this is the one that reminds me of those Lowry organ showrooms in the malls back in the seventies. Peppy tempo, light and lively progressions, but not a whole lot of substance. This clocks a little over seven minutes but actually seems a lot longer than that. 

There’s a short blast of the “William Tell Overture” included which is almost all organ, with a few synth flourishes for good measure. Heck, why not?

The longest and probably most ambitious track is “The Betrayal”, an eleven minute blend of funky bass, light guitar, and almost jazzy drum work. Again the featured instruments are the various keyboards, although they are a bit more subdued here. I think this is some kind of religious-themed song, but the lyrics are a little hard to follow since they almost seem like an afterthought added once the instrumental tracks had been laid down. Again the vocals are very dated, but wouldn’t have been out of place thirty years ago when this was recorded.

There’s two ‘bonus’ tracks on the CD version, which is probably the only version anyone who doesn’t already own this is likely to find. Both are pretty good. “Sit Down” reminds me a bit of “Fandango” with its twangy guitar, off-beat drumming, and Wurlitzer-like keyboards. The lyrics are just silly, which probably explains why this one didn’t make the original release.

“She Calls My Name” sounds like a cross between the Nice and the Beach Boys circa the mid-seventies. Not a bad song, but nothing special.

- Sterling Smith / keyboards
- Dave Hessler / guitar, bass
- Tommy Smith / drums, percussion

1. Fandango
2. Flyaway
3. Brandenburg #3
4. Dave’s ‘A’ Song
5. The Betrayal
6. The William Tell Overture
7. Sit Down (bonus track)
8. She Calls My Name

Rip from CD 256@ (artwork included)
Download link
Download

The Web - Theraphosa Blondi – 1970 (UK) progressive rock

One presumes that whoever was responsible for green-lighting this LP — on a pretty big British label — either didn't last long at their position or was in such favor at the company that they couldn't get fired no matter what impractical decisions they made. For records from the early progressive rock record don't get much stranger, inconsistent, or uncommercial than this one. It's beyond bizarre, which doesn't mean that it's very good. The biggest drawbacks are the vibrato-laden lead vocals, which sound kind of like Ray Collins of the Mothers of Invention might have if he A) wasn't nearly as good a singer, and B) was singing without a trace of satirical irony. And in fact, much of the opener, "Like the Man Said," sounds like a humorless variation on the early Mothers of Invention; the complex, shifting song structure and blend of rock and experimentalism are there, but none of the wit or knowing comedy is evident. It gets more distasteful than that when the track incorporates Jethro Tull-like sections and glides into a histrionic cover of "Sunshine of Your Love." Yet the very next cut is a sensitive middle-of-the-road pop ballad for which the quasi-operatic singing is wholly ill-equipped. Next is a percussive instrumental with an African-meets-West Indies flavor; then there's a seeming, and again wildly incongruous, attempt to emulate Burt Bacharach's smooth late-'60s pop with "1,000 Miles Away," though the singer surely ain't no Dionne Warwick. By the time it's followed by a swinging jazzy flute-paced instrumental, "Blues for Two T's" (actually the best thing on the album), it's apparent this band was thoroughly confused as to what direction to pursue. More messy zigzagging follows with the exotica of "Kilimanjaro," which is the kind of thing you might have expected to hear at a Hawaiian lounge bar in the 1950s (though the singing would likely have been better), and an ill-conceived cover of "Tobacco Road" that shifts into an early jazz-rock version of "America" (from West Side Story). As to whom might have bought this record when it was released, that's anyone's guess; it's not just an unappetizing mixture, but it must have been thoroughly unmarketable.

- John L. Watson / vocals
- Kenny Beveridge / drums, percussion
- Lennie Wright / vibes, percussion
- John Eaton / guitar
- Tony Edwards / guitar
- Dick Lee-Smith / bass
- Tom Harris / saxes, flute

1. Like the Man Said / Sunshine of Your Love (13:54) 
2. ‘Til I Come Home Again Once More (3:02)
3. Bewala (2:32)
4. One Thousand Miles Away (4:34)
5. Blues for Two T’s (2:51)
6. Kilimanjaro (3:54) 
7. Tobacco Road / America (5:40)

Rip from CD 256@ (artwork included)
Download link
Download

Todd Rundgren's Utopia – Another Live – 1975 (US) progressive rock

It's hard to say exactly why Another Live works better than either Todd Rundgren's Utopia or Initiation, Rundgren's two previous excursions into synth-heavy prog-rock. It's not that the music is more energetic or focused, since it isn't. Neither is the music more challenging or ambitious -- it's simply better. It's true that the second half is devoted to covers (West Side Story's "Something's Coming," the Move's "Do Ya") or Rundgren classics ("Heavy Metal Kids," "Just One Victory"), all of which are more song-oriented than anything on the first half, or anything on either TR's Utopia or Initiation. That said, the prog-rock epics that comprise the first half of the album cut deeper than before, possibly because the band has worked out the kinks in its style, developing a unified, provocative sound. It still tends to be a little excessive and impenetrable, but intriguing moments float to the surface alarmingly often. Too bad the hideous cover will prevent anyone but the most devoted Rundgren/Utopia fan from discovering that...

- Moogy Klingman / keyboards, vocals 
- Roger Powell / synthesizers, vocals 
- Todd Rundgren / vocals, electric guitar 
- Ralph Schuckett / keyboards, vocals 
- John Siegler / bass, vocals 
- John Wilcox / drums

1. Another life (7:07) 
2. The wheel (6:59) 
3. The seven rays (8:46) 
4. Intro/Mister Triscuits (5:24) 
5. Something's coming (2:49) 
6. Heavy metal kids (4:14) 
7. Do ya (4:09) 
8. Just one victory (5:17)

Rip from CD 256@ (artwork included)
Download link
Download

Blues Magoos – Psychedelic Lollipop – 1966 (US) psychedelic rock

"(We Ain't Got) Nothing Yet" is an extraordinary and magical two minutes and ten seconds which, like the Box Tops' "The Letter," is one of those little two-minute blasts of pop which brought the transistor radio to life and which is the proverbial breath of fresh air on oldies radio stations daring enough to play psychedelia. Psychedelic Lollipop is the real thing, the band looking on the LP cover like Captain Kirk abandoned them on some forgotten Star Trek planet, the music inside authentic acid pop. They stretch J.D. Loudermilk's "Tobacco Road" across four and a half Seeds-style minutes, obliterating the Nashville Teens' 1964 hit recording in the process. D.Blue's "Queen of My Nights" may have inspired the Troggs' 1968 hit "Love Is All Around." The melody might be different, but the intro music is identical to what Reg Presley gave the world a couple of years after this. Producers Bob Wyld and Art Polhemus do a great job of keeping the intensity up across two sides of this album. James Brown's "I'll Go Crazy" gets splashy garage rock sounds and Mike Esposito's guitar work cannot be denied. Check out the jangle mayhem on "Gotta Get Away." According to the LP The History of Syracuse Music, Vol. 7, Esposito performed in the Escorts with Felix Cavaliere, and that vibe from the Rascals' rendition of Laurie Burton's "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore" is the same type of authority these kids pour all over "Psychedelic Lollipop." "One By One" has that band going from the garage group to the Beatles transition -- and what's so disappointing is that they couldn't mature in this direction. Had this lineup stuck around for the ABC albums, who knows what they might have been capable of? Psychedelic Lollipop is a solid and precious gem from the Nuggets vaults, the difference between this and other one-hit artists being that you can play the entire album repeatedly, quite an accomplishment coming from the era of the hit single. That such a tremendous smash like "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet" kicks the whole thing off is just an added bonus.

1 (We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet 2:14
2 Love Seems Doomed 3:02
3 Tobacco Road 4:30
4 Queen of My Nights 2:52
5 I'll Go Crazy 1:58
6 Gotta Get Away 2:35
7 Sometimes I Think About You 3:35
8 One by One 2:50
9 Worried Life Blues 3:45
10 She's Coming Home 2:36
11 Tobacco Road 4:41 
12 Sometimes I Think About 4:12 
13 (We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet 2:17 
14 Gotta Get Away 2:40

Rip from CD 256@ (artwork included)
Download link
Download

Jasper – Liberation – 1969 (UK) jazz/blues-rock

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

Rip from CD 256@ (artwork included)
Download link
Download

The Deviants - The Deviants 3 – 1969 (UK) heavy psych

The third and, for the time being, final Deviants album is also, according to frontman Mick Farren, the record that they should never have made. Writing in his 2001 autobiography, Give the Anarchist a Cigarette, Farren observes that even the album's title encapsulated the group's state of mind -- "so creatively tapped out we couldn't even come up with a snappy name for the damned record." He is being harsh. While The Deviants, No. 3 can in no way be compared to either of its predecessors, or to Farren's own magnificent solo album Mona, it is still a fascinating glimpse into the state of the British underground in 1969. A few of the songs are indeed as unrehearsed (and certainly undeveloped) as Farren has since complained -- "Death of a Dream Machine" is little more than a jingle, when it ought to be a masterpiece. But it's also a considerably more coherent album than the group's speed-freak monster mash reputation might allow you to expect, and it doesn't even sound that horribly dated. At its most seething, "Billy the Monster," the sinister Zappa-esque chant with which the album opens, captures the archetypal hippie-freak. Then, skip over the somewhat Airplane-y "Broken Biscuits" and "First Line," and you reach "The People's Suite" -- and what could be more brilliant than a suite that lasts just two and a half minutes? "We are the people who pervert your children, lead them astray from the lessons you taught them": Again, Zappa hangs heavy over the proceedings, but if the tabloids of the day ever needed to have their worst fears confirmed, the Deviants were pleased to oblige. Musically, The Deviants, No. 3 hangs in a void somewhere between the early Edgar Broughton Band, with whom they enjoyed the wildest rivalry, and the incipient Pink Fairies, to which all the members bar Farren soon fled. Culturally, however, it is a brutal reminder of that moment when the '60s dream teetered on the brink of the precipice, and the planet went to hell in a handcart around it.

Mick Farren (vocals, piano)
Russell Hunter (drums)
Duncan Sanderson (guitar, bass)
Paul Rudolph (guitar)

1 Billy the Monster 3:25
2 Broken Biscuits 2:11
3 First Line (Seven the Row) 2:44
4 The People Suite 2:27
5 Rambling B(l)ack Transit Blues 5:41
6 Death of a dream Machine 2:53
7 Playtime 3:08
8 Black George Does It with His Tongue 1:22
9 The Junior Narco Rangers (If We Gotta Get Raleigh from Chicago, We're Gonna) 0:30
10 Lets Drink to the People 1:32
11 Metamorphosis Exploration 8:55

Rip from CD 256@ (artwork included)
Download link
Download

Apocalypse – Apocalypse – 1969 (GER) psychedelic rock

They sound somewhat like "The Beatles" in their psychedelic ventures but here you can find other influences, of a more rock based nature, mainly the rest of the heavy German rock bands who experimented with the boundries of rock in the late sixties. 
It's not a bad album, but nothing really innovative. 
The sitar solos are nice, and the vocal harmonies are good in most parts.

Gerd Müller (vocals, guitar)
Enrico Lombardi (vocals, guitar)
Bernd Scheffler (vocals, percussion, drums)
Jürgen Drews (vocals, guitars)

1 Life Is Your Profession 
2 Let It Die 
3 Patricia 
4 Milkman 
5 Try to Please Me 
6 Pictures of My Woman 
7 Linda Jones 
8 Blowing in Blow

Rip from CD 256@ (artwork included)
Download link
Download

After All - After All – 1969 (US) heavy psych

After All may have only been a band in the loosest sense of the term, but its only record is a quite wonderful -- if ultimately difficult to categorize -- one-shot relic of the transitional late-'60s. The four members of the combo were actually friends and acquaintances in different bands on the Tallahassee, FL, rock circuit before culling their skills together, along with lyrical assistance from young local poet and songwriter Linda Hargrove, when an opportunity to record an album in a Nashville studio presented itself. The resulting piece of work is the type of strangely compelling hybrid album that could only have come together in the musical gumbo of the post-psychedelic era. Drummer and primary vocalist Mark Ellerbee wrote most of the music, and his songs are basically freeform, open-ended tone poems that eschew typical verse-chorus and melodic considerations (although the odd melodic hook or harmony surfaces from time to time) for music that is much more amorphous and improvisational. There are elements of rock, R&B, blues, progressive, classical, avant-garde composition, and, to an even greater degree, jazz weaving through the music, while a thick hallucinatory cloud hovers over the whole of the album, giving it an oddly surreal and even ghostly demeanor. It is a complex and ambitious mix that doesn't always come off seamlessly, but is by and large an engaging amalgam, exploring similar territory to that being investigated during the period by much higher profile bands such as Chicago, Procol Harum, and Blood, Sweat & Tears (Ellerbee's singing, in fact, is a dead ringer for David Clayton Thomas). Each band member displays near virtuosity on his instrument, which allows After All to harness all its sonic influences and renders the music exciting to hear even when the songwriting drags the slightest bit or loses its way. But, for the most part, the songs are rather outstanding. "Intangible She" and the psychedelic "A Face That Doesn't Matter" play with the foreboding, seedy flair that frequently made the Doors' songs seem like such ominous musical prophecies, while "Blue Satin" is a bit more swirling and romantic but maintains an edgy sense of intangible mystery, represented by the flute that threads through the song's final moments. "Let It Fly," on the other hand, is pure groove, and maybe the best example of the band's playing capabilities (if not the best song), while "And I Will Follow" builds a slow, tensive burn to match the yearning nature of the lyrics before turning more wistful. Hargrove's beautifully lustful and longing words frequently create an interesting tension with the spacier instrumental interplay, and the music is even more enigmatic as a result. After All is not easy to fully enter, but it is well worth the effort. As obscurities from the era go, it may not be one of the most fascinating, but it may have some of the most accomplished musicianship.

Bill Moon (vocals, bass)
Charlie Short (guitar)
Alan Gold (keyboards)
Mark Ellerbee (drums)

1 Intagible She 7:10
2 Blue Satin 3:46
3 Nothing Left to Do 7:07
4 And I Will Follow 4:51
5 Let It Fly 4:32
5 Now What Are You Looking For 3:05
6 A Face That Doesn't Matter 4:31
7 Waiting 4:23

Rip from CD 256@ (artwork included)
Download link
Download

38 Special - 38 Special – 1977 (US) southern rock

.38 Special's first album made them one of the full-force unique Southern Rock bands in 1977. Unfortunately their sound became more aor polished. There are not many Skynyrd-influenced songs but they rock. If you're a southern rock fan you know that there aren't many bands or albums to pick, the chances are limited. So don't even hesitate to buy this album. Southern Rock will always rule!

Don Barnes (lead vocals, guitar)
Donnie Van Zant (vocals)
Jeff Carlisi (guitar)
Ken Lyons (bass)
Steve Brookins (drums)

1 Long Time Gone 4:01
2 Fly Away 5:14
3 Around and Around 3:30
4 Play a Simple Song 3:14
5 Gypsy Belle 4:58
6 Four Wheels 4:42
7 Tell Everybody 4:10
8 Just Hang On 5:02
9 I Just Wanna Rock & Roll 5:59

Rip from CD 256@ (artwork included)
Download link
Download

38 Special – Wild -Eyed Southern Boys – 1980 (US) southern rock

Building on the bandmembers' own personal accomplishments that came from the Rockin' Into the Night album, .38 Special released an even stronger bunch of songs a year later with Wild-Eyed Southern Boys. Focusing on the same Southern-based rock & roll formula, the efforts from Southern Boys contain a little more guitar zing while complementing the band's ability to produce marketable radio music. "Hold on Loosely," with its smooth vocal stride, managed to peak at number 27 in April of 1981, giving .38 Special its first Top 40 single, and the title track, "Honky Tonk Dancer," and "Back Alley Sally" keep a homespun flavor alive and well, indicating that the band's Southern roots haven't been dismissed completely. Even though the bulk of the tracks lean toward .38 Special's rootin'-tootin' good-time persona, tracks such as "Fantasy Girl" and "First Time Around" reveal a stronger regard for producing catchy and approachable rock & roll tunes. It's on Wild-Eyed Southern Boys that .38 Special seemed more confident, harnessing a distinct guitar rock sound that enabled the group to distinguish itself from other FM rock bands. Cracking the Top 20 on the album charts and eventually reaching platinum status, Wild-Eyed Southern Boys marked the onset of the band's success throughout the course of the decade.

Don Barnes (lead vocals, guitar)
Donnie Van Zant (vocals)
Jeff Carlisi (guitar)
Ken Lyons (bass)
Steve Brookins (drums)

1 Hold on Loosely 4:39
2 First Time Around 3:59
3 Wild-Eyed Southern Boys 4:18
4 Back Alley Sally 3:11
5 Fantasy Girl 4:06
6 Hittin' and Runnin' 4:55
7 Honky Tonk Dancer 4:59
8 Throw Out the Line 3:45
9 Bring It On 5:38

Rip from CD 256@ (artwork included)
Download link
Download