Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
Artist: The Moody Blues
Community Score: 7.80

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour is the best realized of the Moody Blues' classic albums. The lush melodies and the sound of Michael Pinder's Mellotron were never richer, and the guitar pyrotechnics on pieces like "The Story in Your Eyes" were never more vivid. "Emily's Song," "Nice to Be Here," and "My Song" are among the best work the group ever... Read More

Barclay James Harvest and Other Short Stories
Artist: Barclay James Harvest

Like the work of Buffalo Springfield or the Moody Blues in the first go 'round, you'll need to take it on faith that the Baroque touches on Barclay James Harvest & Other Stories were effective for their time. The fuzzed guitars, mellotron, bongos, heavy orchestration, and dreamy arrangements may sound stilted today, but strip them away (or... Read More

The Dark Side of the Moon
Artist: Pink Floyd
Community Score: 8.51

By condensing the sonic explorations of Meddle to actual songs and adding a lush, immaculate production to their trippiest instrumental sections, Pink Floyd inadvertently designed their commercial breakthrough with Dark Side of the Moon. The primary revelation of Dark Side of the Moon is what a little focus does for the band. Roger Waters wrote... Read More

Acnalbasac Noom
Artist: Slapp Happy

The history of this album is a bit complicated. Originally titled Casablanca Moon, it was recorded for Polydor in 1973, but scrapped when the group signed with Virgin; their first Virgin release was an entirely re-recorded version of the same material, although it was entitled Slapp Happy when released. To compound the confusion, the Virgin... Read More

Per un Amico
Artist: PFM
Community Score: 9.70

This is PFM's brilliant follow up to Storia di Amico, both of which are considered progressive rock classics, and for good reason. The diversity, complexity, and integrity of the music here is as fine as anything produced during the early '70s from other prog rock giants such as Yes, Genesis, or King Crimson. The lyrics are in Italian and, while... Read More

If 2
Artist: If
Community Score: 5.00

The second If album came out within the same year as the first, and continues in the same distinctive jazz-rock vein the band worked on its debut. The playing is excellent, with the sax and flute work of Dave Quincy and Dick Morrissey carrying the group's sound to a level unmatched by other, better known contemporaries like Chicago and Blood,... Read More

Live
Artist: Barclay James Harvest

Though it seems odd that a double-live album could serve as a band's breakthrough release, Live shows the band clearly building upon the strengths of their previous studio albums while avoiding their excesses. Without a string section to back them up -- or to smother them, depending on your thinking -- the band draws more heavily on its rhythm... Read More

Baby James Harvest
Artist: Barclay James Harvest
Barclay James Harvest
Artist: Barclay James Harvest

Barclay James Harvest's sensibly titled debut album was one of the unsung classics of the late '60s, a post-psychedelic pop album that posits a peculiar collision between the Bee Gees' vision of classic grandeur and the heftier sounds leaking out of the rock underground. Add Norman Smith's epic production and one cannot help thinking that if the... Read More

666
Artist: Aphrodite's Child
Community Score: 9.50
Bursting at the Seams
Artist: The Strawbs
Community Score: 10.00

The 1998 remastering of the Strawbs' best album (A&M 540-936-2 is the new catalog number) sports the finest sound of any of their CDs, which, by itself, would make this purchase worthwhile -- the detailed notes and the presence of three bonus tracks -- the shorter, punchier single version of "Lay Down," "Will Ye Go," and "Backside" -- only add... Read More

Home
Artist: Procol Harum
Community Score: 7.00

The group's hardest-rocking classic album is, beyond some superb vocalizing by Gary Brooker, principally a showcase for Robin Trower's high-powered guitar and a rock-hard rhythm section, with B.J. Wilson only a little less animated than Ginger Baker on some of the music. Procol Harum had a split personality by this time, the band juxtaposing... Read More

Photos of Ghosts
Artist: PFM

The group's phantasmagorical debut English-language album (sung phonetically), originally released on ELP's Manticore label, is filled with beautifully melodic, classically based songs; strong inclinations toward psychedelia; and a refreshingly open and airy sound, free from the thick Germanic textures of competing classical rock bands.... Read More

This Is the Moody Blues
Artist: The Moody Blues

It might surprise those coming in late to their story that the original double-LP version of this album, from 1974, was the first compilation devoted to the Moody Blues' work. That's seven years after their switch from R&B-based British Invasion rock & roll to psychedelic music and ten years into their overall history, an awfully long time for a... Read More

The Battle of Hastings
Artist: Caravan
Community Score: 1.50

Listening to this beautifully melodic, midtempo album by Caravan is a bit like stepping inside of a time-warp. The group sounds astonishingly good vocally, and Pye Hastings' songwriting skills are as fine as (and maybe finer than) ever, as though they've scarcely skipped a beat from their 1970s heyday. Released in 1995, The Battle of Hastings... Read More