Erna Schmidt - Live 69-71. Germany (archival)

I've spoken about this prior, but worth repeating here: There's an Essence of Krautrock. To me the term has an esoteric meaning. It's not just one thing, or one style of music, but rather it was the spirit of the moment. Zeitgeist is the proper term, though often overused today. Many bands fall into the Krautrock vortex, whether they be hard rock, cosmic electronic, progressive jazz, etc... It certainly doesn't mean "rock from Germany". In fact, it can be from anywhere, even though its origins are definitively from the Fatherland. And with that...

Erna Schmidt is the pure embodiment of Krautrock. One of the best examples there is, certainly of those that weren't released real time in their day. They feature a classic lineup of guitar, flute, bass, and drums. Erna Schmidt were your prototypical hippie troupe, that lived the commune lifestyle, and played concerts throughout the country. They were signed to the Ohr label, the perfect home for a band such as this. Probably if looking for label comparisons, Erna Schmidt ties closest to Mythos at the time of their debut, minus the ill advised vocals. One could point to dozens of other examples, but it's not necessary because you already know the type of sound. The beauty of Krautrock is each brings their own ingredients to the figurative bowl of stew. No formal studio recordings were ever made, but fortunately a future entrepreneurial engineer recorded multiple hours of live material - in great sound for the time and place. Because of the volume of recordings, they were able to vet out some fantastic moments. The highs of Live 69-71 lie in the middle of the disc, which is how many of the best archival albums are laid out. Not too much at once, and don't wait until the end for the "good stuff". The booklet hints there are SWF tapes as well, though we're 22 years on from this release, so perhaps that isn't the case. In short though, if Krautrock is your bag, Erna Schmidt should already be your collection. If not, buy it now.

Ownership: CD: 2000 Garden of Delights. Purchased new upon release. The usual fantastic job from GoD with lengthy liner notes and better-than-you-would-expect sound. There are no details on the exact dates of each track, though it says the majority are from 1970. Apparently - perhaps sadly - this wasn't a big seller, as you can still purchase the CD new and it was never repressed. I wouldn't wait forever though.

3//10; 7/31/22 (new entry)

Kraan - Wiederhören. 1977 Germany

From a collection perspective, I see 2021 as the year that I loaded up on jazz funk LPs and CDs. It seemed everywhere I went, I ran into cool early to mid 70s American albums that specialized in this genre. But what of my older European prog collection that was secretly hiding similar type music - would it hold up in court? Kraan's 5th album would put that theory to test. I knew when this one came up in the random search that it belonged to Kraut Fusion, but my memory had it that it was more funky than I usually cared for. That is to say, it wasn't going to scratch that Embryo and Missus Beastly itch. It's been close to 20 years since I heard it, so let's see what we have here.

'Just One Way' opens the album and all my fears came straight to the front. It's rather dreadful "uptight white guy" funk with terrible vocals and stiff rhythms. Well, so much for that I said to myself. Ah, but wait. Next up is 'Vollgas Ahoi' and all is right again with its fiery fusion. This is followed by 'Silky Way' which provides the perfect soundtrack while viewing the islands from your fantasy yacht. Like all of our favorite albums, it gets better as it goes, and the final 2 tracks provide the highlights. Something to look forward to as you immerse yourself into Wiederhören's magic world. Even the other vocal cut 'Let's Take a Ride' isn't so egregious, bringing about a fine funk fusion number. Basically start with track 2 and never look back. This listen was close to a +2, much better than I had anticipated it would be.

Ownership: CD: 2000 FünfUndVierzig. Standard jewel case release with no extras. Album cover is boring, so getting this on vinyl is no priority either. If I find one out in the wilds cheap, I'll likely replace this CD, but I have no intention of seeking this one out online otherwise.

7/30/22 (new entry)

Maynard Ferguson - Conquistador. 1977 USA

This was the first jazz album I ever bought, going all the way back to 1981 while still a sophomore in high school. Ferguson was popular with the brass section of our school marching band, which I was part of. I really enjoyed it at first, but I didn't really have a foundation or perspective for the music, and a few years later I parted with it. I don't think I allowed myself a chance to like it honestly. Now it fits perfectly with my ever increasing interest in jazz funk. I'm a sucker for the 'Rocky Theme' anyway, and what better way to open an album. 'Mister Mellow' and 'Soar Like an Eagle' are superb jazz funk numbers. And the title track starts off in progressive rock territory of all things. After the opening trumpet proclamations, it breaks down into a massive oft-kilter bass and drum riff, before joining the rest of the album's genre motif. Today I consider this an excellent album and glad to be reunited.

Ownership: LP: 1977 Columbia. Single sleeve. Half-Speed Mastered. Just picked this up at a thrift shop yesterday some 4 months after the above review, which also came from a thrift shop (commodity LP release). 

1981; 3/12/22 (LP 3.7); 7/29/22 (new entry)

Eddie Henderson - Realization. 1973 USA

Depending on what you read, Realization is either an unnecessary straight copy of same era Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock - or it's a well executed rendition of a favorite style. I fall to the latter school, just as I would with prog rock - or with anything else in life. Great ideas don't have to begin and end with one set of people or company, and there's plenty of room for other interpretations. Realization is, in effect, Hancock's band (including himself), with Henderson in full-on Miles mode. And they're going for the deep groove for all of side 1. Whereas side 2 goes into the deep space galaxy as the cover suggests. Easy recommendation for fans of the aforementioned artists.

Ownership: LP: 1973 Capricorn. Single sleeve. White label promo. Found this copy last year (2021) at a local store at a steal of a price ($4).

6/1/21 (LP 2.24); 7/28/22 (new entry)

Helmet of Gnats - Timeslip. 2004 USA-Connecticut

Timeslip is Helmet of Gnats second album, 8 years after their debut. Here their stock and trade is retro jazz rock/fusion, with Hammond B3 and electric guitar leading the way. Melody is front and center so this isn't a chops fest, just the way I prefer it. At times it sounds like Niacin with some spruced up psychedelic guitar leading the solo parade. That reads like a great combination to me! If your tastes in fusion run towards the early 70s side of the continuum then Timeslip will most certainly satisfy.

Ownership: CD: 2004 Ambient. SACD. Comes in a fine tri-fold dig-pak. Received in 2006 from the band. 

For years I thought the album was self-titled, or simply known as II. But if you look carefully at the bottom front, you'll see the words Time on top, and Slip on the bottom, intertwined. I thought it was just a symbol, like you'd see on a door design. Haha.

7//06; 7/28/22 (new entry)

Judas Priest - Sin After Sin. 1977 England

Sin After Sin is Judas Priest's 3rd album, and the one where they really began to shape their sound of the future. As for me personally, once I acquired Hell Bent For Leather as an impressionable 14 year old, I went about looking for all the Priest I could find. Sin After Sin was readily available and may have been the second one I heard by the band (either this or Stained Class, I can't remember for certain). So it's an album that's part of my DNA at this point. But going back to 1979 on that first exposure, Sin After Sin was a bit lesser in the metal crunch department than what I'd hoped at the time. But of course I didn't realize that I was sitting on the metal revolution. With an historical lens, Judas Priest were way ahead of the pack in 1977 - branching far off mainstream hard rock, and beginning to hone what ultimately became known as "the riff". They were also beginning to trim off the prog tendencies of Sad Wings of Destiny. Blessed with one of the most perfect vocalists in history in Rob Halford, Judas Priest slowly but surely began to cultivate a cult audience that lasts until this day. 'Sinner', 'Let Us Prey / Call For the Priest', and 'Raw Deal' each took the idea of revolving the songwriting around the almighty riff. The truly groundbreaking moment, though, comes at the end with the jaw dropping 'Dissident Aggressor', arguably the heaviest and fastest track recorded to tape up to that time. The beginning of power metal and even thrash. As for the other tracks, Priest's cover of Joan Baez's 'Diamonds and Rust' was a fan favorite and concert staple for years. 'Starbreaker' is a solid mid album hard rocker, and 'Here Comes the Tears' is a strong power ballad, one that sets up the smashing 'Dissident Aggressor' perfectly. Only 'Last Rose of Summer' hasn't aged well, a dull ballad that doesn't play to any of Judas Priest's strengths. Overall Sin After Sin is a must own for fans of the band, and ranks among their top releases.

Ownership: LP: 1977 Columbia. Single sleeve. Local trade credit acquisition in 2021. The copy I bought as a teenager was released after obtaining the CD (not the one below). It was pretty worn out, so no major loss, and this copy is fantastic. Also - I wonder if Game of Thrones didn't get the idea for the House of Black and White from this album cover?

CD: 2001 Columbia Legacy. Jewel case release with lyrics and a short history of the album itself. Features two bonus tracks - one is a great cover of Gun's 'Race With the Devil', a good choice for a band like Priest. Apparently they played it live quite a bit back in those days. The other is 'Jawbreaker' from Defenders of the Faith which came out in 1984. Not sure why they mixed and matched eras like this, as I'm sure they could have pulled a live version of something more topical.

1979 (first listen); 10//05; 12//12; 7/27/22 (review / new entry)

Samadhi. 1974 Italy

One of the earliest series of Italian progressive rock CD reissues - or just progressive rock in general - came from Fonit Cetra in 1989. Up until that time, the CD seemed reserved for only mainstream artists, not for rare obscuros. The cost was deemed too expensive for manufacturers, labels, and consumers. But considering that original LPs had skyrocketed in price during the late 80s, $30 for a CD copy seemed like a reasonable investment. Today it seems almost absurd that prices were once so high for a garden variety CD, but such was the landscape of the times.

Of that first batch, Fonit-Cetra released some real gems, albums that were sought after but unattainable on LP. But Samadhi was at a different level. Something akin to "Who? What?". Only a handful of people in the world knew of this record. Even today, for every Samadhi that's been offered, 50 Museo Rosenbach Zarathustra's have already sold during that time frame. Popsike shows about 10 former global ebay auctions; Discogs has never sold one; And I don't recall ever seeing it in a rarities catalog that I poured over in my youth. Clearly a micro release. 

But why so obscure? Samadhi was made up of veterans of the Italian prog scene (most notably Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno), and Fonit (original label) was well known and had great distribution throughout Italy. That's a tough question to answer, as there doesn't appear to be a specific historical reason such as a recall. The only logical conclusion is that the album didn't sell many copies to begin with. By 1974, Italy's interest in progressive rock was certainly beginning to wane. The more established bands had continued on with success, but newer groups were struggling to gain attention. And we do know that unsold copies in Italy were recycled in the early/mid 70s. I remember meeting some well heeled collectors in Rome and they told me that a large part of their Italian prog collections came from the United States! And as far as I know, Samadhi was never imported via Peters International like so many others of its ilk. Further complicating the matter is that - as mentioned a few times here before - Japanese businessmen cleaned out Italy in the 80s as demand back home was enormous. So your best bet to find an original is probably in Japan.

For as scarce as this album is, Samadhi is not typical of that situation. It's not a radical underground album at all. With a name like Samadhi, you might expect an exotic, Eastern mystical oriented work. Nope, it's very much the sound of Italy at the time - a tad more orchestrated, polished, and bright perhaps, but ultimately very satisfying with its implied complexity and romantic melodies. If looking for a comparison, I would offer up Delirium's 3rd album, which has a similar type of approach. For my tastes, the super tracks are A2, A4, and B3, but everything on here is at least excellent. A very professional album that time basically forgot. Since that first reissue, Samadhi has been easily accessible, but interest remains nominal. But if an original showed up, now that will draw attention...

Ownership: CD: 2011 Arcangelo (Japan). Papersleeve edition that replicates the awesome textured gatefold cover. This replaced the first jewel box edition mentioned above that was purchased real time. While an original would be nice, I doubt I'll ever be offered one, much less could afford it anyway.

11/21/11; 7/26/22 (new entry)

Garden Wall - Path of Dreams. 1994 Italy

I've written about Garden Wall in a few posts already, so I won't cover too much of that again. Path of Dreams is their second album, and the one I point to as the beginning of the sound they are most famous for. As I've said before, Garden Wall pretty much marched to their own drummer. While listening, whatever you think might happen, probably won't. Like watching the original Game of Thrones episodes, it defies all normal convention. Looking like a couple of mental patients on the back cover (on purpose I presume...), Path of Dreams fulfills that one expectation, especially considering Alessandro Seravalle's vocal delivery. This is one of those albums that ostensibly gets filed with prog metal, but could just as easily be true progressive rock (though not the kind that what we typically associate Italy with). Any way you slice it, complexity is its calling card. Almost every track here requires multiple listens to absorb. My favorite is 'The Bride of the Wind' as it contains the album's most memorable melody, and its placement in the album order is bizarre and fascinating. Of course it is. The 1990s harbored all sorts of these odd progressive bands that are mostly forgotten today. Rediscovery awaits, but I'm certainly glad to have lived it real time. If you're looking for something different - and very progressive - Garden Wall is a band worth following. And Path of Dreams is one of the easier albums to get into compared to some of their others.

As an aside, can someone enlighten me on the language used in Maj di Muart? I presume it's a regional dialect, as the group's origins are very close to Slovenia and Austria. I tried typing the lyrics into Google Translate but it kept flipping back and forth between Italian and Krio, the latter is a Creole type language spoken in Sierra Leone. Ah wait - I think I answered my own question after further research: Friulian it's called. It's a part of Italy I've never been to. Though I've been on a train through it coming from Slovenia. Need to go...

Ownership: CD: 1994 Music is Intelligence (Germany). Jewel case release with recording details, lyrics, and paintings. Purchased new near the time of release. You can still buy this album on the used market dirt cheap. Forgotten I tell you, they are forgotten.

1995; 8/9/13; 7/25/22 (new entry)

Fates Warning - The Spectre Within. 1985 USA-Connecticut

My introduction to this album is an interesting story. While still in college in 1985, but flush with cash due to the summer intern engineering job (discussed elsewhere in this blog), I was desperate for new tuneage. I had yet to learn of Goldmine magazine, so I was completely unaware of the rarities I would soon know about. 1985 was a dire year in terms of new music. I suppose if you were an X-Wave fan, or loved corporate rock, it would have been the heyday. I wanted progressive rock or heavy metal! Of the latter, I had little interest in the bonehead variety that was proliferating the shelves at that time. The whole 'I Wanna Rock' scene was boring in 1980, much less 5 years later. So I decided to go through every record in the store to see if anything looked interesting. It was a Sound Warehouse, so a well stocked mainstream record store where everything was sealed. Only one stood out.

From a presentation standpoint, this had everything I was looking for. And the song titles looked appealing, as well as the lengths of the tracks (guessed that since the times weren't listed) indicated some thought would be applied to the compositions. Once I got it home and on the turntable, I knew I had struck gold. Not only was this my introduction to Fates Warning (having no clue this was actually their sophomore effort), but it also opened up a new world for me (and well for everyone really): Progressive Metal. Essentially Fates Warning took the Iron Maiden blueprint, and heaved it over the progressive rock goal line. Iron Maiden, for their part, were prog rock fans and dabbled in progressive themes, especially on the recent Powerslave (1984) album. But they stopped short of going too far, knowing their enormous fan base liked intelligent metal, but they didn't want to get too highbrow. 

What I like best about The Spectre Within is it's the anti-Dream Theater. It's dirty and messy. Well played and well executed - yes - but still grimy and "true" metal. I love John Arch's vocals which are way out of bounds, yet there's an odd control about them. The rhythms are complex but not crisp. And the guitar sound is appropriately heavy, more so than Maiden actually.

Historically speaking it was an instant classic. However in real time, not too many people were ready for what Fates Warning were up to. But I was hardly alone in the world looking for music just like this, and they built up a cult following rather quickly. For me, The Spectre Within ranks among my favorite metal albums of all-time. Hearing it again last night, after some 37 years of familiarity, still resulted in a +1 listen.

Ownership: LP: 1985 Metal Blade. Single sleeve. Purchased as told in the review above. 

CD: 1994 Metal Blade. Jewel case.

1985; 5/25/12; 7/22/22 (new entry)

Fashion Pink - Encore. 1971 Germany (archival)

Brainstorm were a band with 2 studio albums... and no less than 4 full posthumous archival releases. Between Garden of Delights and Long Hair, the group's backlog has been mined thoroughly. And yet, surprisingly, there's little repetition between them. Encore features not only Fashion Pink's earliest recordings from 1969 but also their last known show in 1975 as Brainstorm. Through it all, we hear their patented take on the Canterbury sound, without ever deviating into commercial realms. The first 8 songs compliment the SWF Sessions Volume 3 release, and are uniformly excellent. Best of all is the inclusion of a full EP that was released under the name T.A.C. (see Ownership section for some controversy). These tracks demonstrate early sketches of what was to be eventually released as Smile a While, and flow quite nicely together. If you're a fan of the collective, you'll want this, even if you have the other 3 archival albums.

Ownership: CD: 2005 Long Hair. Excellent archival release with fine sound and full historical liner notes. After the release of the SWF Sessions, original guitarist Helmut Rusch chimed in to clarify some of the history. Looks like I didn't get around to purchasing this until 2013.

Now for the promised controversy: T.A.C. There's no questioning the authenticity of the recording, the purpose of its recording, the moniker or anything else. It's an outstanding addition to the overall package. Some of you might recall my entry for a Dutch band called Crying Wood. I think we have a similar situation here. The liner notes indicate that an EP was released in 1971 by the corporate entity known as Beiersdorf. You can look them up on Wikipedia, and they remain a major provider of skin care products in Europe. The story goes that this album was given as a gift to customers. Pffffttttt. C'mon. Now we're not being harsh on Mr. Rusch, as it could have been misinterpreted what he said, or he may have been mistaken about it being actually released (you know musicians and their memories...). But I'm sure the recording themselves could have been made for such a purpose. All of that is believable, and again, these are authentic recordings. 

But wait - there's a version on Discogs (see photo on right). See? You're wrong again ol' Mr. UMR! Sure - and so are the Psi-Fi releases and the Crying Wood. Remember Art Jackson's Atrocity on Columbia? Haha. Here's what we know: The image on Discogs was taken from an ebay auction in 2008. There's no label or back cover. Which mysteriously can't be found anywhere. 2 people claim ownership, and a whopping 13 want it (including us now lol). So I'm supposed to believe that a major corporation used this album as a giveaway, and only 2 copies are owned after all these years? And almost no one knows about it? So it's that obscure? Yea, right. You know the RT had a lot of these corporate albums in his collection. I had to throw most of them away and use the covers as mailer filler. There's 1000's of them in the marketplace, all more worthless than the last. Note the date of the auction: 2008. Perhaps taken from the CD? Ya think? Well anyway, none of this is proof it doesn't exist. No more than I can prove that original LPs by Pyramid or Galactic Explorers doesn't exist. But the evidence looks awfully fishy. But was there a band named T.A.C. who recorded an EP for Beiersdorf in 1971? I can believe that for sure, yes.

4//13; 7/21/22 (new entry)

Caravan - Cunning Stunts. 1975 England

After Waterloo Lily, Caravan released For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night as well as the live Caravan and The New Symphonia, both of which I've covered already. So that takes us to Cunning Stunts, Caravan's 6th studio album and their final one for Decca. And it also signifies the end of an era for the great band from Canterbury. Though the band has continued on to this very day, they were never to be the same.

And really, Cunning Stunts signifies more their new beginning versus the past glories. In this way, it represents a different kind of bookend. They've definitely jumped the shark towards pop rock, though there are plenty of elements of their progressive rock predilection. Starting with 'No Backstage Pass', Cunning Stunts offers up an intriguing mix of both styles. This leads to their near side-long epic 'The Dabsong Conshirtoe', a fine energetic effort but faded compared to 'For Richard' or 'Nine Feet Underground'. This is the ride out in the sunset album. If you continue to follow them, you'll receive a Biblical 40 years lost in the desert scenario.

Ownership: CD: 2001 Decca (Japan). Part of the box set of Japanese papersleeves as put out by Disk Union. As with all in the series, this comes with copious liner notes, and 3 bonus tracks. One is the single version of 'Stuck in a Hole'. Another is an unreleased track called 'Keeping Back My Love' which probably should have been part of the album proper. And the big winner here is the 1974 live recording of 'For Richard' which was only previously on the compilation Canterbury Tales. An excellent performance of one of their classics.

LP: 1975 Decca. Single sleeve original picked up online in 2015. This one I probably won't keep, but there's still some runway for it. Historically I bought my first LP copy along with most of the others in 1985 on the US BTM label, which is long sold off.

1//13; 7/20/22 (new entry)

Parzival - Legend. 1971 Germany

Legend is unique among German folk rock albums, in that it's more in line with the English progressive folk rock movement. As such, these albums have long been held in high esteem from worldwide collectors who prefer the UK progressive style and lyrics in English. Only on occasion do Parzival play it straight, and long stretches of instrumental fancy are on display. With flute, violin, acoustic guitar, cello, viola, driving electric bass and drums, and piano, the instrumental palette is rich and the music is at times complex. The one anomaly is Groove Inside, which for me is the highlight of their canon. Imagine an instrumental kosmische Comus caught in a deep groove trance for 16 minutes. It's an amazing piece, and if the album in total was entirely like this, no doubt Parzival could have found themselves on the Ohr label.

Ownership: LP: 1971 Telefunken. Wonderful gatefold cover. Acquired online (2012) after many years of searching for it. My introduction to this fine album came via the 2 LP set that Nova released, which I purchased in 1994.

CD: 1998 EastWest / Telefunken. Jewel case release with liners in German and unique photos. 

1994; 1998; 6/22/14; 7/19/22 (new entry)

Tear Gas. 1971 Scotland

Now this is exactly the kind of hard rock I like. Great sounding heavy guitar with well thought-out compositions that contain more than one theme throughout. And superb solos. Only on 'Lay it On Me' do we hear Tear Gas go garden variety boogie rock, and even then, the guitar soloing saves the track from ruin. You'll also note an Elvis medley towards the end. Normally that would result in a complete disaster, but in the hands of Tear Gas, they make the tracks so much more interesting than they are. Overall a superb slice of early 70s hard rock.

Ownership: CD: 1993 Renaissance (USA). Standard jewel case reissue with one excellent bonus track, not found on the other reissues (including Esoteric). Acquired this from a friend in 2014.

11//14; 7/19/22 (new entry)

I was reading some old notes of mine from 2004, and I wasn't very keen on this title back then. Just goes to show how much my appreciation for hard rock has gone up since.

Styx. 1972 USA-Illinois

I think to fully appreciate Styx's debut, one has to immerse themselves into the era from which they came. As I've mentioned a few times prior, while England and Europe had full blown progressive rock scenes operating in the early 70s, America's labels didn't support it. Couldn't see the commercial value. Album rock was an English thing. Singles are where it's at! This mindset prevailed despite massive sales going to English bands thriving in that market. It isn't like progressive rock didn't exist on these shores, it's that they were 4 to 5 years behind the curve. There were meager attempts (commercially speaking that is) by awesome groups that remain unfairly obscure such as Ram, Polyphony, and Sanctuary. But they were few and far between. The mid to late 70s saw the grassroots prog movement here finally explode - to strictly local and regional audiences. Essentially the major labels missed the boat. Something they were careful not to replicate as the States were the leader in future musical endeavors, the various styles of heavy metal in particular comes to mind.

So back to Styx. Their debut was a fish out of water. A prog rock record released by an American band. Now it didn't help that Styx weren't really all that progressive to begin with. It's 1972, so you're up against Yes' Close to the Edge and Genesis' Foxtrot as but two examples of hundreds. It's miles less interesting than that. What Styx really did was predict the regional nature of such music here in America. They couldn't be more Chicago born even if they tried. Most folks were likely to discover Styx's debut after the fact, long after they were megastars. And in that scenario, they also fail, because this is a long way from their patented professional AOR / prog formula. Styx's debut is music for the local club set, not the arena.

With all of that in mind, were it a private press, or even a major label one-off flop, the album would have more underground fans. It's definitely charming. The lengthy opener 'Movement for a Common Man' has a lot of quality jams and songwriting. Besides, I heartily agree with the old codgers in 'Street Collage' lol. 'Best Thing' was their big bet on a hit. It's a really good song, but too heavy and dirty for 1972 pop rock. It's definitely an album rock cut. 'Quick is the Beat of My Heart' is another quality hard rock track. There's nothing weak on this debut, though it was hardly a bold statement going mightily forward. It sounds hedged primarily because Styx were never truly an all-out prog band. They were a Chicago bar band who extended their skills way beyond their peers. And it ultimately paid off.

Ownership: LP: 1972 Wooden Nickel. Single sleeve with a cool cover. I'm not sure how I obtained this. Memory had it I bought it new with the rest of the Styx back catalog back in 1977/1978. No way this would have been my original copy. Too used. The vinyl has fingerprints (something I never did even at 12 years old), and the markings aren't consistent with my older records that I bought new. Obviously I need to clean it lol. And the cover is also in worse shape than others from that era. I know I've had it forever, so I'm guessing I picked it up in college at a used store. In thinking about it, I had a buddy in the 7th grade that did buy this, and I don't recall liking it that much, so I never bought it back then. It would also explain why it's an original 1972 copy when there were repressing's readily available new by the late 70s, and all my copies were just that.

CD: 2005 Hip-O Select (The Complete Wooden Nickel Recordings). As I stated on the Man of Miracles review: Awesome - features 2 discs that encapsulates their 4 album run on RCA's Wooden Nickel imprint. Comes with liner notes and full album details. Funny enough, this is another Baltimore connection item. I happened to be in town for business in 2005, and had a little time to visit the Sound Garden. Picked this up of all things. 

1985; 7/19/22 (new entry)

Guadalquivir. 1978 Spain

My scratch off notes for Gnosis over 20 years ago says: Guadalquiver's self-titled debut approaches music similar to that of bands like Iceberg in that it combines fusion styles (for example Return to Forever) and adds indigenous Castillan Spanish themes. The final concoction is excellent and everyone should taste the flavor of Spain like this.

---  

Clearly I had yet to learn how to spell the band name correctly... Or Castilian... In any event, I'm a bit less enthused about the title now than prior. This is my first listen since then, and it resulted in a -1. Which is still good enough to keep. Other than perhaps the handclaps, the Spanish influence is very similar to what was going on here in the States at the time. Return to Forever being one of the primary proponents, and others in Chick Corea's sphere like Al Di Meola and Mingo Lewis. Also fellow countrymen Iceberg were operating in the same territory, as noted above. There isn't much diversity in terms of style - 7 tracks that mine the same cave. Best track for my tastes is A4 'Generalife'. Overall a very good example of the Spanish fusion genre of the late 70s, so if you're in the market for that, Guadalquivir is a good bet.

Ownership: LP: 1978 Harvest. Single sleeve pressed on green wax. Online acquisition (2015) and was an upgrade to the first copy I bought back in 1992 from a mail order dealer. I also owned the CD on EMI, but it adds nothing extra so it can go.

1992; 1/18/01 (Gnosis); 7/18/22 (new entry)

Caravan - Waterloo Lily. 1972 England

Major changes happened upon the Caravan camp in late 1971 with the departure of key member David Sinclair to Matching Mole. His keyboards, in particular the fuzz organ, and his unique style of playing were out the door. In comes Steve Miller from the band-that-should-have-made-it Delivery. His style is more jazzy and he prefers the Fender Rhodes. So with that, Pye Hastings and Richard Sinclair take a bigger role in the songwriting for their next album Waterloo Lily. And there's quite a drop off in quality overall. At least from my perspective. Having owned this album in the same near-40 year timespan, I've generally regarded Waterloo Lily as their least great album until Cunning Stunts. Note I used the phrase "least great" rather than "worst" because I still think it's a worthy album, just not at the level of the others. Part of that is Miller's influence, or lack thereof. The other is Pye Hastings taking more control over the songwriting - or at least there are fewer progressive rock outings. However there's still two lengthy suites to consider. The first 'Nothing At All' is the jazzy sequence, very good on the whole but not exemplary. The other is why Waterloo Lily can still hang with their classics: 'The Love in Your Eye' which is definitely a look back to In the Land of Grey and Pink. There are a contingent of fans who prefer Waterloo Lily, or at least state it's at the same level as its predecessors. Mostly you'll read that the songs are better, and the other albums were too "jammy". So if you hold a similar opinion about Caravan's classics, and haven't heard Waterloo Lily, then rest assured this might be the album you enjoy most.

Ownership: LP: 1972 Deram. Gatefold original. Bought this in 1985 at a store in the Dallas area known as Bill's, which was still around until 2020 (back then they were on Spring Valley in Richardson). It was the first original UK pressing for me to own by Caravan. In those days I didn't care about such things, but while the others all went through upgrades, this one stayed steady throughout.

LP: 1972 Brain. A true green Brain Metronome original. Online purchase from 2004. Own this one primarily because I collect the label. I'll probably sell it eventually, but not now.

CD: 2001 Deram. Of course I have this as part of the Disk Union box set right? Ummm... sort of. I won that box set in an auction at a ridiculously cheap price, and is now regarded as in my top 10 of all CD packages in the collection. Only one problem: Waterloo Lily was sent with the full packaging, but not the CD! Even without the CD, it was a total steal of a deal, so there wasn't much I could do - he looked but it was gone. Fortunately I already owned the European CD which is the exact same minus the papersleeve packaging. In any case, like the others, this comes with full historical liner notes and 4 unreleased bonus tracks. The latter not adding as much value as the others in the series.

7//85; 9//04; 1//14; 7/17/22 (new entry)

Renaissance - Ashes are Burning. 1973 England

Some of you might recall that last August I found a pile of near mint Renaissance albums on vinyl. Looks like I reported on 3 of those, but left off just as many including Ashes are Burning. I discuss my history with the band in at least one of those posts, so I'll skip that here. Ashes are Burning is the second album to feature soprano Annie Halsam, and the band's overall trademark sound is more established. I miss the quirkiness of its predecessor Prologue, but I'm warming more and more to Ashes are Burning. The lengthy bookend tracks are the clear highlights for me, bringing a Yes-like progressive rock structure - highlighted by John Camp's Rickenbacker bass work, similar to Chris Squire's. The 4 middle tracks are more geared towards folk and commercial rock, but not really, as they do maintain a progressive rock slant as well. Most of the Renaissance albums continue to grow in stature within the collection.

Ownership: CD: 1995 Repertoire (Germany). Decided to stick with the existing collection CD of this title whereas most of that thrift shop LP find replaced what I had on CD prior. Features copious historical liner notes from noted music journalist Chris Welch which takes it over the top - plus I like the sound of this CD. 

Historically I've owned the single sleeve version on Capitol at least twice. It's very easy to find here in the States, with most record stores charging less than $5 for clean copies.

1/15/94; 2/12/16; 9/26/21; 7/16/22 (new entry)

Dr. Z - Three Parts of My Soul. 1971 England

A much polarizing release, primarily due to the original being incredibly scarce. Featuring a gimmix die cut middle opening (similar to Ash Ra Tempel's debut), the LP barely sold any copies in its day. Like with the Still Life album we just spoke about, demand picked up a decade later, but no copies were to be found. In fact, even less so than any other on the venerable Vertigo swirl label. As such, it has been a 4 figure rarity for many years now. And with that you will have fans that like it because of just that. And... you will have those that say the album is overrated because the music doesn't substantiate the ridiculous high price of the original. Of course all of these opinions are due to the album being reissued in multiple formats. The reality is the music itself doesn't warrant strong opinion at all. It is very much a product of 1971 England - a traditional but quirky progressive rock album. A three piece with keyboards, harpsichord, bass, and drums. And unusual vocals. One could see The Mandrake Memorial taking this route if they continued on. 

Former ownership: CD: 2001 Vertigo (Japan). Papersleeve edition.

6/3/17 (first listen); 7/15/22 (review / new entry)