Exposé Online » Reviews of releases for 1973

Items found : 85

Dzyan - Time Machine

Sometime during the cosmic period of German rock, when bands like Ash Ra Tempel, Amon Düül and Tangerine Dream flourished, there was Dzyan — who were busy forging their own cosmic...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 1994-02-01)

Cozmic Corridors - Cozmic Corridors

Guerssen and Mental Experience have unearthed one of those Krautrock obscurities recorded and produced circa 1972-73 in Köln, Germany that was purported to have been released as an...

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(Posted by Henry Schneider 2017-08-10)

Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen - Live from Ebbetts Field Denver, Colorado Aug. 11, 1973

Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen might seem to be a bit of a stretch for Exposé, but considering in the early 70s there was a considerable amount of experimentation with...

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(Posted by Henry Schneider 2017-07-13)

Spirit - 1984

Be warned, this is not an authorized release — not even close. What we have here is (a) one track ("1984") recorded live in Bremen in 1969 (no further details...), (b) the entire...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 1999-01-01)

Nuova Idea - Mr. E. Jones & Clowns

Nuova Idea are probably best known for being part of Italy's largest family tree, including the New Trolls and Osanna. Nuova Idea's Ricky Belloni (on Clowns) joined the New Trolls...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1996-08-01)

Slapp Happy - Acnalbasac Noom

After recording Sort Of, a second album emerged but Polydor pulled the plug and Uwe Nettelbeck signed both Faust and Slapp Happy to the burgeoning Virgin label in the UK. They re-recorded...

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(Posted by Henry Schneider 2017-01-21)

Pihasoittajat - Hattukauppiaan Aamu

These two discs contain material culled from three albums released in the early 70s. The earliest album, Kivinen tie Dublinniin (Rocky Road to Dublin), was released in 1972, and finds this...

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(Posted by Jon Davis 2000-10-01)

Camel - Camel

Most used record stores in the late 80s had multiple batches of Camel albums, in fact the record shop owner who introduced me to them gave me Rain Dances first, which even to this day was...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2017-04-27)

The Blue Öyster Cult - Tyranny and Mutation

There was always something a bit sinister, a bit weird, a bit occult, and a bit conspiratorial about Blue Öyster Cult and as a kid I just ate that up, in fact I'd guess BÖC probably...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2017-04-13)

Aktuala - Aktuala, La Terra & Tappeto Volante

The creative forces behind Aktuala were Walter Maioli (arabic oboe, bamboo flute, naj, harmonica, piccolo, etc.) and Daniele Cavallanti (soprano and tenor sax, clarinet) who formed the band in...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 1995-07-01)

Nektar - Remember the Future

For me, Remember the Future has always been the Nektar album. It was the first one I heard, and the others have seemed like variations on its format (disregarding the later...

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(Posted by Jon Davis 2005-03-01)

Nektar - Remember the Future - 40th Anniversary Edition

In late 1973 and early 1974, Nektar was at the peak of their powers, and this concept album was about to sweep over American audiences with generous radio play followed by a massive concert tour...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-06-20)

Gong - Flying Teapot

McLatchey's Second Tier

One of the most unfortunate things about the CD issues of Gong's first entry in the Radio Gnome Trilogy is that because of the legal...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2016-04-14)

Battiato - Fetus, Pollution, Sulle Corde di Aries & Clic

Franco Battiato, as is well known, was an Italian pop singer who for a span in the 70s made a string of very experimental albums that fit in the vein of groups such as Opus Avantra or Pierrot...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1995-07-01)

David Tudor - Microphone

In 1973 longtime John Cage associate David Tudor recorded the two pieces on this album, which could best be described as ambient sonic experimentation. Low register audio outbursts of varying tone...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 1997-02-01)

Herbie Hancock - Sextant

McLatchey's Second Tier

You can easily see each era of pianist Herbie Hancock's discography flow in colors. While he started in the Miles Davis Quintet, he was both leader...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2016-05-05)

Guru Guru - Seven Reissues

Guru Guru is one of the better known Krautrock bands from the 70s. In Spring 1973 they released their fourth album Guru Guru, engineered by the legendary Conny Plank, featuring drummer...

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(Posted by Henry Schneider 2008-01-01)

Guru Guru - Seven Reissues

Guru Guru is one of the better known Krautrock bands from the 70s. In Spring 1973 they released their fourth album Guru Guru, engineered by the legendary Conny Plank, featuring drummer...

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(Posted by Henry Schneider 2008-01-01)

Funkadelic - Early album reissues

Funkadelic’s self-titled debut album from 1970 shows the band in search of a style. There are still remnants of the 60s soul of their background, essentially expanding a kind of...

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(Posted by Jon Davis 2003-02-01)

Agitation Free - 2nd

Early 70s Germany provided the environment for a massive number of inventive and experimental albums, but the closest of these to what was going on in the San Francisco bay area had to be Agitation...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2016-12-29)

Tangerine Dream - Atem

McLatchey's Second Tier

The final album of the Ohr years would show the solidification of the classic Froese-Franke-Baumann trio and would perhaps show the influence of the...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2016-10-06)

Darryl Way's Wolf - Canis Lupus, Saturation Point & Night Music

The 70s continue to be a repository of stimulating music that new and old labels don’t stop digging out. Well, this is not all gold that glitters, but several forgotten works resurface,...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2009-07-01)

Darryl Way's Wolf - Canis Lupus, Saturation Point & Night Music

The 70s continue to be a repository of stimulating music that new and old labels don’t stop digging out. Well, this is not all gold that glitters, but several forgotten works resurface,...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2009-07-01)

Klaus Schulze - Revisited Records Reissues, Part 1

Revisited Records continues its reissue of the Klaus Schulze back catalog with another 12 CDs. I haven’t quite figured out their rationale, but they are releasing 12 a year covering the...

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(Posted by Henry Schneider 2008-01-01)

Paragong - Live '73

From GAS (Gong Appreciation Society), the same folks that brought us Camembert Eclectique, we now have a disc featuring live recordings by this legendary 1973 Gong spinoff featuring...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 1996-03-01)

Paradiso a Basso Prezzo - Paradiso a Basso Prezzo

This is a CD I really expected to like, considering this is an Italian progressive from 1973 live and unreleased. That’s not to say it's bad. It certainly has a lot of typical elements to...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1996-08-01)

Laser - Vita sul Pianeta

This one surprised me a bit – I guess I was expecting it to be much worse. I suppose it's a bit dated for 1973, with definite psych / beat influences and shorter songs. In many ways,...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1996-08-01)

Il Giro Strano - La Divina Commedia

Around a core six-piece of organ, guitar, bass, drums, sax+flute, and powerful lead vocalist Mirko Ostinet, Il Giro Strano were ex-members of equally obscure bands Tramps and Voodoo. They recorded...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 1996-08-01)

Lee Michaels - The Complete A&M Album Collection

What could be more intense than a great singer and songwriter powered instrumentally only by the mighty Hammond organ and drums? For a major chunk of his recorded career and most of his live dates,...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 2016-02-05)

Pholas Dactylus - Concerto delle Menti

Originally on the Magma label, Pholas Dactylus recorded one album with two side-long suites called Concerto delle Menti. Obviously a concept of some sort, my Italian is much too shabby to...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1995-07-01)

Triade - 1998: Storia di Sabazio

Occasionally hailed as a classic, I for one don't see what the big deal is. Triade were one of numerous keyboard-based trios that proliferated in Italy in the early 70s. The sound was based...

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(Posted by Mike Ohman 1995-07-01)

E.A.Poe - Generazioni (Storia di Sempre)

The original enthusiastic response to this reissue was based, I think, more on the extreme rarity of the original vinyl item than on anything else. Don't misunderstand, though, the music here...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 1995-07-01)

Odissea - Odissea

For 1973, Odissea's sole album was far surpassed in innovation, and the collection of shorter songs here seems fairly dated. Regardless, there are some nice moments – symphonic flights...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1995-07-01)

Dalton - Riflessioni: Idea d'Infinito

Dalton were another beat group turned "progressive" in 1972, and yet another one with an adventurous bent on a well-worn style. Dalton were very similar to bands like early Metamorfosi, I...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1995-07-01)

Dedalus - Dedalus

Dedalus were the jazziest of the Trident groups and this, their debut, has been the only one reissued of their two albums. Dedalus were very similar to the laid back fusion of Perigeo, with spacy...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1995-07-01)

Magma - Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh

With the almost complete overhaul of Magma's lineup in 1972 came a similarly drastic shift in musical style and direction. Two of the group's main jazzmen, François Cahen and Jeff...

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(Posted by Rob Walker 1995-11-01)

Seatrain - Watch

The Blues Project is remembered as an innovative, somewhat erratic band of the mid-60s who combined rock with folk, blues, and jazz. In 1967 they split up, with some members going on to form Blood,...

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(Posted by Jon Davis 2003-12-01)

Organisation & Kraftwerk - Tone Float, Kraftwerk 1 & 2, Ralf & Florian

Kraftwerk, like many of the long running German outfits, was a completely different creature at its inception then after they rose to popularity. These albums, including the pre-Kraftwerk...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1995-11-01)

Canned Heat / John Lee Hooker - Hooker 'n' Heat, Historical Figures, Ancient Heads, & The New Age

If you don't dig the blues and you don't boogie, skip this review. Canned Heat's stock in trade was merging classic blues with rock, and in the late 60s nobody did it better, due in...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 2007-03-01)

Alphataurus - Dietro l'Uragano

In the early 70s, there were so many great progressive bands on the Italian scene, that even some of the best were overlooked. Case in point: Alphataurus were a five-piece who released their only...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 1996-08-01)

Latte e Miele - English Papillon, Live & Vampyrs

These albums make up the present archives of previously unreleased Latte e Miele music. Latte e Miele are best described as an Italian ELP and have a very big sound for a trio. They released three...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1996-08-01)

Latte e Miele - English Papillon, Live & Vampyrs

These albums make up the present archives of previously unreleased Latte e Miele music. Latte e Miele are best described as an Italian ELP and have a very big sound for a trio. They released three...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1996-08-01)

Jumbo - Vietato Ai Minori di 18 Anni?

McLatchey's Top Tier #14

This is one of four Italian progressive rock albums in my top tier; in fact when it comes to the genre I tend to prize a lot of these more than the...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2015-05-14)

Semiramis - Dedicato a Frazz

McLatchey's Second Tier

Some of the most ambitious albums of the time weren't recorded by long-time, veteran musicians, and Semiramis' sole album was something of a...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2015-12-31)

Museo Rosenbach - Zarathustra

McLatchey's Second Tier

There are so many outstanding melodies and themes on this album that you get the impression the band might have gotten a little over judicious. As an...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2015-10-29)

Virus - Remember

The German band Virus is mainly known in progressive rock circles for their 1971 debut album Revelation. By the time they recorded this live radio concert in 1973, they had abandoned...

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(Posted by Jon Davis 2005-03-01)

Walter Wegmüller - Tarot

From 1968 to 1974 the Swiss Gypsy Walter Wegmüller and Austrian writer and story-teller Sergius Golowin traveled Europe in search of gypsy legends. In 1973 they collaborated on a series of...

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(Posted by Archie Patterson 1995-07-01)

Fripp & Eno - No Pussyfooting & Evening Star

Enough has been said about No Pussyfooting, a record of singular stature and importance to the gradual adoption of the avant-garde by popular artists, that if its creative success and...

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(Posted by K. Leimer 2009-07-01)

Santana - Welcome

McLatchey's Second Tier

After members of the original Santana band started leaving the group, Carlos Santana moved the music in a jazzier direction and during the era he'd...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2016-08-25)

Hatfield and the North - John Peel Session (12th January 1973)

McLatchey's Second Tier

The great Hatfield and the North only released two albums in their lifetime and then an odds-and-ends album a few years later, so unless you're a...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2016-08-04)

Hatfield and the North - Hatfield and the North

McLatchey's Second Tier

I picked the LP of this one up on high school and, like a few others, it was probably from some list back in the day of good art rock albums. I...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2015-12-17)

Ash Ra Tempel - Join Inn

McLatchey's Second Tier

In many ways Join Inn could be seen as the first Ash Ra Tempel Mk II. It too had a side of intense psychedelic rock and a side bliss-out, all...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2016-07-28)

Embryo - Steig Aus

McLatchey's Second Tier

I'm not sure how many bands in any genre had as strong a run as Germans Embryo did from their debut to somewhere deep in the 70s. This was a group...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2016-06-02)

The Trip - Time of Change

Another one from the Trident label. In the early 70s The Trip produced three fairly unremarkable albums as a four-piece led by guitarist/singer Billy Gray. After the 1972 album Atlantide,...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 1995-07-01)

Semiramis - Dedicato a Frazz

Originally released on the rare Trident label, Semiramis have a very high reputation, and with good reason – their only album is a superb classic, and one of the most essential of the 70s...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1995-07-01)

Metamorfosi - ...E Fu il Sesto Giorno & Inferno

Metamorfosi were more or less a keyboard oriented trio with the addition of a lead vocalist. Their debut album was a very 60s psych/beat album with progressive touches – an overblown concept...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1995-07-01)

Between - And the Waters Opened

[Parts of this review specifically relate to the 1995 reissue on Germanofon. -ed.]

The Germany-based sextet is probably most well known as representing the baby steps of...

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(Posted by Mike Ezzo 1996-08-01)

Pavlov's Dog - The Pekin Tapes

In 1973, nearly two years before the release of their major label debut Pampered Menial, Pavlov’s Dog from St.Louis, by that time already grown from their beginnings as a quartet of guitar,...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2015-03-05)

Kevin Ayers - Joy of a Toy, Whatevershebringswesing, Shooting at the Moon & Banamour

Ex-Soft Machine bassist Kevin Ayers left that group after their full-on live U.S. assault with the Jim Hendrix Experience in 1969. After that time, Ayers spent the following years putting together...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2003-12-01)

Madden and Harris - Fools Paradise

There is absolutely no information provided in the liner notes to this CD, so all I can tell you is that it is a reissue of an album originally released in Australia in the early 70s. Actually, I'm...  » Read more
(Posted by Rob Walker 1994-10-01)

Slapp Happy - Acnalbasac Noom

Dagmar Krause’s singing tends to be one of those divisive factors in music. A lot of people really detest her voice, mostly due to what they’ve heard on later recordings like Art Bears. For those...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2007-03-01)

Lard Free - Gilbert Artman's Lard Free, I'm Around About Midnight & Third

Artman's Lard Free project has received considerable amount of documentation in progressive periodicals, so I won't bore you with the details. Here's a quick overview; all are essential listens —...

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1994-10-01)

Amon Düül II - Carnival in Babylon, Wolf City & Vive la Trance

Revisited Records is busy reissuing classic Krautrock albums by Klaus Schulze, Kraan, Guru Guru, Holger Czukay, and Amon Düül II. These latest discs are Amon Düül II’s fourth, fifth, and...

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(Posted by Henry Schneider 2008-01-01)

Love - Black Beauty

Love, with Arthur Lee at the helm, were the undisputed kings of psychedelic rock in Los Angeles in 1966 when they were originally signed by Elektra along with the Doors. Their first album was...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 2014-12-01)

Area - Arbeit Macht Frei

McLatchey's Top Tier #3

The singular Italian jazz rock band of the 70s created classics after this one, but I'm not sure any of their other albums had quite the grooves this one did....

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(Posted by Mike McLatchey 2014-11-23)

Gentle Giant - 2005 DRT Remasters

[Note: This review was written upon the release of the albums on DRT in 2005.]

DRT is Derek Shulman’s US based label, which has taken ownership of the band’s North America CD...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2005-09-01)

Gentle Giant - In a Glass House

[Note: This review was written upon the remastered release version of In a Glass House from 2000]

Having owned the re-issue of this album by the Terrapin Trucking Company, I...

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(Posted by Jeff Melton 2001-07-01)

Kollektiv - Kollektiv

Kollektiv, an obscure Krautrock band, released their self-titled album in 1973. Three months later they recorded an hour-long session for SWF radio in Baden-Baden. Long Hair released this session...

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(Posted by Henry Schneider 2008-10-01)

Maelstrom - Maelstrom (AKA On the Gulf)

A 1973 release originally titled On the Gulf, this album from American sextet Maelstrom is representative of what myriad groups were attempting in the early 70s following the explosion of...  » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2014-06-15)

Spirit - The Original Potato Land

Anyone hearing this disc for the very first time might well conclude that this is the weirdest album ever produced. On one level there is an Orwellian concept running through all the tracks, but...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 2014-01-16)

Zao - Z=7L

It appears that Musea is reissuing Zao’s albums at the rate of one per year. This year they present Z=7L, the debut album by this Magma offshoot. While strongly rooted in the zeuhl...  » Read more
(Posted by Henry Schneider 1993-12-31)

Faust - BBC Sessions+

The “BBC” part of Sessions + is a twenty minute piece named simply for its date of broadcast: “BBC 1.3.73.” The first section of this track (“The Lurcher”) is a bass and drum...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-09-01)

Maelstrom - Maelstrom

Black Widow has unearthed an extremely rare and overlooked gem from the early 70s. Maelstrom was formed and led by the late Roberts Owen (guitars, piano, Mellotron, and sax), James Larner (flute,...  » Read more
(Posted by Henry Schneider 2013-09-23)

Museo Rosenbach - Zarathustra

Although this Korean release is the fourth reissue of this album, its tenuous distribution still means that this, possibly the greatest Italian symphonic rock album of all time will still remain hard...  » Read more
(Posted by Mike McLatchey 1995-07-01)

Homestead & Wolfe - Our Times

Homestead & Wolfe represents an obscure bit of early 70s Bay Area music history. The name refers to the location of the church in Cupertino, California, where this group formed out of a youth...  » Read more
(Posted by Paul Hightower 2006-05-01)

Roger Powell - Cosmic Furnace

This legendary album from the early days of electronic music is a welcome reissue. The overall sound is a bit unusual because of Powell’s use of ARP synthesizers rather than Moogs. The tracks...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2006-05-01)

Jan Akkerman - Tabernakel

In Focus, Jan Akkerman was one of the most interesting and distinctive rock guitarists of the 70s, and with this solo album, originally released in 1973, he showed an amazing range. Six of the ten...  » Read more
(Posted by Jon Davis 2002-04-01)

Zao - Z=7L

For those not familiar with Zao, they were the first true Magma spin-off band, formed by reedsman Yochk'o Seffer and pianist Francois "Faton" Cahen, at a time when their creative role within that band...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 1994-05-01)

Todd Rundgren - A Wizard, a True Star

For those of you — the uninitiated — Todd Rundgren holds a unique place in the annals of progressive rock. In the early seventies, the man had left the power pop innovators The Nazz and strove to...  » Read more
(Posted by Jeff Melton 2000-05-01)

Odin - SWF Session 1973 & Live at the Maxim

Along with the reissue of this quartet's amazing self-titled debut album from '73 (which originally appeared on the Vertigo label), Long Hair has released these two collections of archival...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 2008-01-01)

Guru Guru - Wiesbaden 1973

This show, recorded at Wartburg Auditorium on September 17th '73, features original guitarist Ax Genrich and drummer Mani Neumeier, along with new bassist Hans Hartmann, who had just replaced outgoing...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-05-23)

Blocco Mentale - POA

Here's an Italian band from 1973 that, instead of taking their cue from the keyboard driven sound of ELP, have more in common with the sound of Jethro Tull, early PFM, maybe Blodwyn Pig, and perhaps...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 1994-05-01)

Campo di Marte - Campo di Marte

Heaped amidst a surprising number of great 70s Italian prog bands comes this very recent CD reissue, and it is quite remarkable. Perhaps more subtle than some of their contemporaries, this five-piece...  » Read more
(Posted by Dan Casey 1994-05-01)

Acqua Fragile - Acqua Fragile & Mass Media Stars

Acqua Fragile is best known as the band that featured singer Bernardo Lanzetti prior to his joining PFM in time for their Chocolate Kings album. But in fact from their very beginnings,...

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(Posted by Peter Thelen 2013-04-01)

Vander / Top / Blasquiz / Garber - "Sons" Document 1973 - Le Manor

With the relase of AKT I - Les Voix de Magma, Christian Vander launched his new label to release live and unreleased studio material to all the eager Magma fans around the world, following...  » Read more
(Posted by Peter Thelen 1994-02-01)