Half Alive in Hollywood
Artist: Beer for Dolphins
Community Score: 6.00

This is a dense, 2-CD set. Let's look at disc one. Here, BFD offers itself on the operating table to student engineers at the Musicians' Institute in Hollywood, CA. Keneally's detailed notes are everything the studio engineer and Keneally-buff need. If you just want to appreciate Mike's rabid feats of guitar science in arrangement and... Read More

Salad Days
Artist: Adrian Belew

This single disc features material from two acoustic albums previously available but somewhat hard to find, so completists should beware. If you don't already have those titles, this album offers an interesting consideration of Belew's considerable talents as a musician, composer and all-around wit. His pop songs are terrific (just listen to... Read More

Genesis Archives, Vol. 1: 1967-1975
Artist: Genesis
Community Score: 10.00

Prog rock audiences have always been receptive to box sets, especially sets that include an abundance of rare material -- witness the success of the numerous King Crimson sets. When it came time to assemble their own box sets, Genesis chose to follow the path of rarities instead of merely rehashing their old hits. That means, of course, that... Read More

Songs for Oblivion Fishermen
Artist: Caravan

This is the first of two collections of material Caravan recorded for the BBC, spanning the years 1970-1974. Caravan is one of the most versatile of the Canterbury family of English psychedelic and progressive rock, capable of winsome, witty pop songs as well as complex but melodic extended workouts. Songs for Oblivion Fishermen features... Read More

Missing Period
Artist: Brand X

Recorded before the release of the Brand X debut Unorthodox Behavior, these 1975-76 recordings represent the earliest known preservations of the group's beginnings. These are quality recordings that include previously unavailable material. The shining talent and genius of this, the most important of Brit jazz-fusion groups, comes through... Read More

Beyond & Before: BBC Recordings 1969-1970
Artist: Yes

Yes' early years, up until The Yes Album, are usually perceived as a formative period, primarily of interest to hardcore fans. This double-CD set of live BBC and other radio-related tracks from 1969-70, however, forces the listener to take this era of the group's history on its own terms. The performances and repertory all date from the tail end... Read More

Sluggo!
Artist: Beer for Dolphins
Community Score: 8.00

The odd-numbered of the first half-dozen tracks here are throwaways, in my book. It is especially insidious how Keneally infects the listener with the "potato chorus" to the opening number. Lyrically quirky, the songs are still possessed with a contrived, safe pop-rock feel that I do not want from a 'stunt guitarist' that first came to my... Read More

30th Anniversary Anthology
Artist: Procol Harum

The best collection yet devoted to Procol Harum's classic early period ties together the many facets of their sound and their early history, including numerous outtakes and all of the music on four albums from 1967 through 1970. The clarity of the sound makes the first album -- which was roundly criticized, especially in England, for having been... Read More

How High the Moon: Live at the Viper Room
Artist: Masters of Reality

Even though they play hard rock, the Masters of Reality's sensibilities have always been more in line with the improvisatory nature of late-'60s blues-rock than the plodding chords of late-'70s arena-rock. Consequently, it shouldn't be a surprise that How High the Moon: Live at the Viper Room captures the band at their best, running through... Read More

Red Queen to Gryphon Three/Raindance
Artist: Gryphon

This single-disc collection gathers the complete contents of both Red Queen to Gryphon Three (1974) and Raindance (1975), respectively the third and fourth titles from Gryphon. Initially the band made a significant niche for themselves with a myriad of intricate and equally beautiful acoustic folk melodies. However, by the time of these two... Read More

Hounds of Love - UK
Artist: Kate Bush

Kate Bush's strongest album to date marked her breakthrough into the American charts, and yielded a set of dazzling videos. The material ranges from the sensual ("Hounds of Love," "Running up That Hill" -- the latter one of the most sensual recordings ever made) to the mystical ("Hello Earth," "The Morning Fog"). This was also the first album... Read More