How's Tricks
Artist: Jack Bruce

A wonderfully tortured Jack Bruce vocal on the song "Without a Word" opens up How's Tricks, the second LP for RSO records by the journeyman bassist/vocalist. Produced by Bill Halverson, who engineered Cream as well as solo Eric Clapton recordings, the material further fuses the all out jazz of Things We Like with the pop found on "Songs for a... Read More

Best of Barclay James Harvest, Vol. 2
Artist: Barclay James Harvest
Gone to Earth
Artist: Barclay James Harvest

Barclay James Harvest had streamlined their sound considerably after leaving the Harvest label, culminating (so many felt) in the mellifluous music of Gone to Earth. Their pretensions to progressive rock all but abandoned, BJH here invites comparison to contemporaries like Supertramp, REO Speedwagon, and Fleetwood Mac (some of whom were... Read More

Best of Barclay James Harvest, Vol. 1
Artist: Barclay James Harvest
Ghosts
Artist: The Strawbs

Ghosts was the last album by the Strawbs to appear while the band was on its upward curve of commercial success; a more lyrical follow-up to Hero and Heroine, it was the group's last thrust at wide-audience appeal, with a hoped for-hit ("Lemon Pie") that didn't materialize. The group's mix of acoustic guitars, electric lead and bass, and Rod... Read More

Wish You Were Here
Artist: Pink Floyd
Community Score: 8.33

Pink Floyd followed the commercial breakthrough of Dark Side of the Moon with Wish You Were Here, a loose concept album about and dedicated to their founding member Syd Barrett. The record unfolds gradually, as the jazzy textures of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" reveal its melodic motif, and in its leisurely pace, the album shows itself to be a... Read More

801 Live
Artist: 801

801 provided Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera with one of his most intriguing side projects. Although the band only played three gigs in August and September 1976, this album captures a night when everything fell right into place musically. That should only be expected with names like Eno and Simon Phillips in the lineup. (Still, the... Read More

Heavy Horses
Artist: Jethro Tull
Community Score: 7.53

Jethro Tull's 11th studio album, Heavy Horses, is one of their prettier records, a veritable celebration of English folk music chock-full of gorgeous melodies, briskly played acoustic guitars and mandolins, and Ian Anderson's flute lilting in the background, backed by the group in top form. This record is a fairly close cousin to 1977's Songs... Read More

Songs From the Wood
Artist: Jethro Tull
Community Score: 9.00

Far and away the prettiest record Jethro Tull released at least since Thick as a Brick and a special treat for anyone with a fondness for the group's more folk-oriented material. Ian Anderson had moved to the countryside sometime earlier, and it showed in his choice of source material. The band's aggressive rock interplay and Anderson's... Read More

Focus Con Proby
Artist: Focus
Community Score: 4.95

As great ideas go... this probably wasn't one. Take one down-on-its-luck European prog band, three years and several missing members past its prime; one 60s semi-superstar whose actual renown as a performer was never as vast as his admirers and PR cuttings insisted it was;and then send them in the studio together. What do you think you'd get?Read More

The Kick Inside
Artist: Kate Bush
Community Score: 8.23

Kate Bush's first album, The Kick Inside, is her most unabashedly romantic, the sound of an impressionable and highly precocious teenage singer/songwriter spreading her wings for the first time. "Wuthering Heights" was a monster hit everywhere in the world except America, and it's still an impressive debut nearly 20 years later, but Bush would... Read More

Time Is the Key
Artist: Pierre Moerlen's Gong

The instrumental Time Is the Key ushers Moerlen's Gong into the new age. A lighter version of their previous release, Downwind, the band plays mostly progressive rock-based compositions with a drastically different personnel. Peter Lemer's keys, coupled with the sound of vibes and electravibe in particular, give the music a generic, new age... Read More