Pioneering group's first album (of only two)
592455
A classic and unique album that's of its time but also transcends it. Impossible to find the LP but the CD adds the excellent version of "Heard it through the grapevine."
3851157
The Dixie Cups, despite their fairly standard 3-girl line-up, hold a number of distinctions in the girl-group era. Their Southern, New Orleans, origin gave their musical style a jazzy edge (magnified by the horn charts often included in their backing arrangements) not heard in the New York bred groups. Further, their timing gave them access to the songs of Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich precisely at the time they'd broken free of Phil Spector's production (though they continued to write with him) to work for Leiber & Stoller's Red Bird Records. The confluence of talent created some of the most unique sides in girl-group history.

Leading off this package is the group's debut, Red Bird's debut, and the first #1 hit for both, "Chapel of Love." Having penned this song with Spector, Barry & Greenwich were eager to give it another try. Unissued takes by The Ronettes and Darlene Love had found the song unsuccessfully matched up to Spector's Wall of Sound. Red Bird peeled away the layered backing to focus on the innocent harmonies of the Dixie Cups. Though probably lost on AM listeners of the era, this was a beautifully produced stereo recording that reveals terrific subtleties on CD.

The group's New Orleans roots show up with a vengeance on "All Grown Up." Previously waxed by The Crystals, The Dixie Cups version has a rhythm and piano line reminiscent of Fats Domino, and a horn chart that has the Crescent City written all over it. Similarly, "Iko Iko," with its rhythm-and-bass backing is perhaps one of the era's most unusual top-20 singles. An alternate "a capella" version of "Iko Iko" closes the disc, featuring only the Dixie Cups and the rhythm track. What's really surprising is how little this latter version misses the bass accompaniment of the hit single.

Other treats on this collection include "Gee the Moon is Shining Bright" with its soulful horns and touches of celeste, "Another Boy Like Mine," originally recorded by Barry & Greenwich as The Raindrops, and two versions of the summertime romance, "People Say." The innocence of the latter -- both song and singers -- is incredible.

Varese's collection gathers all of the group's official sides for Red Bird, adding a pair of alternate versions, a mono single mix of "Gee the Moon is Shining Bright," and the rare, "Wrong Direction," previously available only on an import collection. The latter two tracks, plus newly penned liner notes, make this the best Dixie Cups compilation available, besting Collectables' 1999 issue. The remastered sound is tremendous, with surprisingly rich true stereo on most tracks.

After recording these sides, the Dixie Cups' manager abruptly moved them to ABC, where their New Orleans edge was quickly dropped in favor of straight-ahead pop. Their collaboration with Barry & Greenwich ended at the same time, and their recording career folded shortly thereafter. Luckily these superb sides were captured at the group's prime.
3137453
It took some time and more than a few listens before I fully warmed up to this 1976 release - the heavy Gentle Giant influence struck me as being completely unoriginal.  However, after putting the album back on the shelf for a while and coming back to it, I realize now that it is a fairly original sounding piece of music.  It just took me a few listens to appreciate it.

With respect to the music, it sounds a great deal like any Gentle Giant album released during the 1971-1976 timeframe (dense counterpoint, asymmetric time signatures, complex vocal harmonies) and features shorter pieces.  Overall though, the music is warmer and more accessible - that is, there is very little in the way of spasmodic rhythms.  The group also uses different instrumentation including early electronic instruments such as the ondes Martenot.  There is also greater emphasis on warm sounding synthesizers, and most significantly, the vocalist (an alto I think) is female.  She is an excellent vocalist and sings in French.  The musicians are all first chair players and the ensemble work is fairly intricate.

The recording quality of this album is excellent and the liner notes feature the recording credits and a few photos of the group.

All in all, this is yet another fine album of progressive rock from the Quebec progressive rock scene that should appeal to Gentle Giant fans.
2446007
I don't watch TV and I've never seen the famous "Breaking Bad," but my introduction to the Peddlers also came very recently, and very belatedly, via two tunes by the Peddlers that were included on some very interesting Irma Records (a label out of Italy) CD compilations. One song was their cool cover of "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" and the other was "Say No More," a song that would have suited Mel Torme very well. I was impressed enough by those two tunes that I ordered this 2-CD set, and I'm quite satisfied.

What struck me the most about the Peddlers were two things; the funky organ playing on many of their tunes, and also the distinctive vocals of lead singer Roy Phillips, who also happens to be the organ player. Man, what a voice! In an interview back in 1966 he dubbed the group's sound as "Pop-Art-Jazz" and that's a pretty fair description of what you'll hear over the course of these two discs. It's certainly not traditional jazz, but I don't think jazz fans will be totally adverse to what they hear. It's more of a hip, easy listening mix of jazz and pop stylings, plus a bit of Bossa Nova and other sounds. Very cool indeed!

I'm shocked that I only heard about this group recently. The fact that they have remained so under the musical radar for so long is both puzzling and maddening. But I'm delighted to have finally discovered their music and this 2-CD was a great introduction. "Say No More" indeed!
2094448
1967 was a GREAT year for rock and pop music.  Think of it; the first album by The Doors, Sgt. Pepper, The Stones "Satanic Majesties", the first album by Hendrix.  And THIS!  This "boy band" of the time (they were heavily promoted by 16 magazine and Dick Clark) really delivered first-rate pop songs, and this album is probably their best (although fans may say that the album after it, "Revolution" is as good or better).  While there are the usual run of adolescent love songs there are also quite serious numbers such as "Our Candidate" and "Oh To Be A Man".  These guys were one of the closest analogies to the British Invasion, and if you loved The Hollies, Yardbirds, and other great bands of that era you won't want to miss this first-rate album, if you didn't get it when it first came out.
4444211
I had bought this album back in my day of 1980. Found it sitting in a drug store discount music bin with other least popular LP's I never heard of before. I thoroughly enjoyed the new sounds this group put together after listening to it repeatedly on my small kiddy record player back then. The best songs were "Alien Eyes" and "Zarion". I would recommmend this as a "one group wonder" collector.
2116701
With this stunning debut album, the Eagles immediately wrote music history, thanks to a number of very succesful hit singels: Take It Easy, Witchy Woman and Peaceful Easy Feeling. But they aren't, in my opinion, the most interesting songs; instead I would like to strike a blow for Glenn Frey's acoustic ballad "Most of Us are Sad", with its incredible vocal harmonies (but with lead vocals by bassist Randy Meisner!) and Bernie Leadon's "Train Leaves Here this Mornin" (co-written by Gene Clark during Bernie's spell with Dillard & Clark in the late 60s).
It is hard to belive that the album, with its strong american country sound, actually is recorded in London (by the genius producer Glyn Johns, who also in the same studio -- his own Olympic Studios -- produced and recorded McGuinnes Flint a couple of years earlier, among others). It was also Glyn Johns who "created" the band's sound and made them aware of their vocal harmony skills and country roots, although some of the members wasn't quite happy with the musical direction. Glenn Frey is said to have been the strongest opponent to the country sound, due to his own aim to lead the band into a more straight forward rock'n roll and white soul band. Thank [goodness] Glyn Johns didn't give in.
...if one -- like myself -- already has heard milestones like "Hotel Californa", this album could turn out as a surprise, and even maybe a disappointment, because it is so musically different from the music of the Eagles that are mostly played on the radio or on TV. Despite of the very commercial sounding and succesful hit singels on the album, this Eagles debut requires a number of listenings until one can fully appreciate it, like for example the hard rock tune "Chug All Night" or Meisner's Woodstock-sounding psykadelic song "Take the Devil". But when you do, and if you give it a chance, you will soon find it to be their most interesting album, much better than the highly over-rated "Hotel California" (yes, I am serious!!). A genuine classic!
1746016
Beatles For Sale is an album that seems to be rarely talked about amongst the Beatles community. A lot of people think it was rushed out, and that the boys were very tired from touring, both of which may be true, but it has several rewarding aspects.

Perhaps most interesting are the first two numbers, No Reply and I'm A Loser, both of which are John's songs. They have a very Dylan-esque feel to them that John would later perfect with You've Got To Hide Your Love Away on the Help album. They're both very memorable songs that people rarely talk about anymore.

Also of interest is Paul's number I'll Follow The Sun which is a very catchy, bright little number. It has the same feel of Yesterday, which would debut in the next album. This album has several cover versions, which is a slight disappointment since The Beatles' previous album A Hard Day's Night had been their first full album of all original songs. Still, Paul's cover of Kansas City is a nice piece of old fashioned rock and roll, as is the song titled, suitably enough, Rock & Roll Music. Another good song is Eight Days A Week which was also a single.

Overall, it's a good album but maybe not essential if you're not a hardcore Beatles fan. Still, it offers several good songs, so borrow a copy first and then decide if you want to buy.
2212397
I first heard Liege & Lief nearly 20 years ago, when my brother purchased a vinyl copy of the album.  It took me some time before I fully got into Fairport Convention, but I had the best entry point a fan could possibly have--this was the record that has defined the band in the years since its release, with Sandy Denny's beautiful vocals, Richard Thompson's stinging guitar work, and Dave Swarbrick's always-excellent fiddle.
Thus, when I spotted the remastered and expanded CD here at Amazon, my first thought was "About freakin' time!"  It was the only one A&M bothered to keep in print in the States, and the CD remaster from 1988 was only a minor improvement over the original LP.  The original tracks burn as intensely as ever, with greater clarity and width of sound; the bonus tracks are revealing.  "Sir Patrick Spens" is a bit slower and not quite as good as the final version on Full House, but Sandy does well enough with the vocals, or as well as one vocalist can manage (remember, the final version had Swarb, RT and Simon Nicol all harmonising); "Quiet Joys of Brotherhood" is rather too slow, however.  I much prefer the version from Sandy's 1972 solo album Sandy, and rather wish that the band's cover of "Ballad of Easy Rider," recorded during the L&L sessions, had been included here rather than on the expanded remaster of Unhalfbricking...but there you go.  Fine work nonetheless.
777709
Before Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart took on the title of the Eurythmics, they were key figures in a band called the Tourists.  "In the Garden" (their first album as the Eurythmics) is a clear stride away from the power pop sound of the Tourists, and it also serves as a bridge to the sound that would make them famous.

"In the Garden" may not be as polished and brilliant as their breakthrough album "Sweet Dreams," but it contains the elements of creativity and songcrafting that they would perfect on that next album.  What it also contains is the spirit of two people setting out on their own.  Here, Annie and Dave merge their punk roots with the emerging new wave sound.  Instead of sounding like many of their contemporaries, however, they create something very unique and very English.

The songs on the album are all gratifying in their own right.  The first two songs, "English Summer" and "Belinda," are the closest works to potential singles or "hits."  They both have great hooks and strong melody.  After this, songs like "Caveman Head," "Take Me to Your Heart" and "She's Invisible Now" bring in the sweet melancholy of their signature sound, while giving them the license to be quirky and dark.  By the end, "Revenge" leaves the listener with a sense of beauty, finely mixed with sadness and even unease.  But, the most interesting element here is that Annie's voice acts as a supplement to the music, instead of supporting her usually central voice.  The decision to subdue Annie's glassy, ethereal vocals (ala the Cocteau Twins) may be dissapointing for many listeners (because, let's face it, Annie's voice helped carry the Eurythmics to super stardom), but the music and lyrics here are very introspective and moody, so the cloudy vocals work.

Overall, "In the Garden" is a very enjoyable album.  It may not be the best of what they would do, but it's a fascinating start for one of the most eclectic, lasting bands of the 80s.
2250780
The British Progressive (nee Classical) Rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer followed up their self-titled debut album with this second effort in 1971. That first album was a balance between the synthesizer overkill of Keith Emerson's keyboard work on tracks like "Knife-Edge" and the soaring melodic songs like Greg Lake's classic "Lucky Man." However, "Tarkus" is most decidedly in the camp of the former. As such, the first seven tracks on this album, considered collectively as the "Tarkus Suite," represents the best ELP effort in that vein, although "Aquatarkus" suggests the lads did not really have a way of ending the whole thing.

"Tarkus" is made of seven parts, alternating four instrumental sections ("Eruption," "Iconoclast," "Manticore," "Aquatarkus") with three songs ("Stones of Years," "Mass," and "Battlefield"). The suite does not really have a plot, although the cover artwork hints that Tarkus was some sort of hybrid armadillo tank that was born during a volcanic eruption. After a battle with a Manticore, Tarkus became Aquatarkus and apparently went swimming away to live happily ever after. However, if the story does not really hang together at least the music does, flowing from one section to the next and providing much more of a unified whole than we usually see in ELP's most ambitious efforts.

For me "Tarkus" is just too much at the extreme of synthesizer excess in terms of ELP's music career, although the album did make it to #9 on the Billboard charts. I really like the later synthesis between the two styles the boys attained with "Karn Evil 9" on "Brain Salad Surgery," although I suppose it comes down to a preference for the piano over the organ, which applies as much to the works of Beethoven and Back as it does to that of Keith Emerson. The rest of this album really comes across as leftovers from their first recording sessions that should have remained on the cutting room floor ("Jeremy Bender") with some really inane lyrics ("The Only Way (Hymn)"). After the thematic unity of the "first side," the remaining hodge-podge is pretty lame. If you like the heavy synthesizer use the Tarkus Suite is a great example of Emerson on the organ. But if you prefer him on the keyboard and songs that better feature Greg Lake's vocals (best represented by the "Battlefield" movement of the suite), "Tarkus" will have a lower place in your ELP rotation.
699820
Just to be clear, their first release was/is fantastic.  This is a group that I will continue to look forward to hearing from.  Great stuff.
2840491
I've been aware of Maxophone for many years. This band had managed an album in 1975 and a single in 1977 before disappearing. There are actually two versions of their album. The original which is sung in Italian, and the English language version. The Italian original is by far the hardest to find on LP, it was released in 1975 on the black Produttori Associati label. The English language version was released on the orange Produttori Associati label in Germany (in 1976), as well as in the United States and Canada on the PAUSA label (PAUSA stands for Produttori Associati USA, obviously such a long Italian name would be over the heads of most Americans).

Listening to their album, this band had all the potential to make it, but like other latecomers of the Italian prog scene, like Locanda Delle Fate or Corte dei Miracoli, it was simply bad timing, and you can guarantee had Maxophone released their album around 1972 or '73 they might have stood a better chance. Plus they did what PFM did before them: record in English for hopes of international exposure. Also Produttori Associati was largely a jazz and soundtrack label so the label had little understanding of rock music in general, but apparently the label did see the potential in the band, and rightfully so.

Half the group were classically trained, and the other half were from rock backgrounds. The group consisted of keyboardist Sergio Lattuada, guitarist and pianist Roberto Giuliani, wind player (clarinet, flute, sax) Leonardo Schiavone, wind player (French horn, trumpet) and percussionist Maurizio Bianchini, bassist, flautist, and lead vocalist Alberto Ravasini, and drummer Sandro Lorenzetti.

How to describe their music? Lush symphonic prog rock, lots of great arrangements. The keyboard playing tends to be low-key so you won't find much in the way of ELP-like bombast, but there might be one or two passages with ELP-like organ playing. They are not exactly heavy, so Il Balletto di Bronzo they are not. The acoustic ballads like "Al Mancato Compleanno di una Farfalla" and "Mercanti di Pazzie" might bring to mind a little of PFM. Those two just really blow me away. The latter features a nice harp intro, based on some sonata by Paul Hindemith. "Elzeviro" has a bit of an ELP feel in one section, but for the most part the band has a sound all their own. Like Campo di Marte, they're one of the few bands that incorporated the French horn into their sound (Maurizio Bianchini plays the French horn). "Fase" is an instrumental piece and can prove the band can hold their own without vocals. "Antiche Conclusioni Negre" starts off with a horn section. This part might throw some off because it sounds so much like a 1970s TV game show theme, but luckily it gets much better. Nice vocal harmonies, some synths. At the end it sounded a bit out of place because of the gospel feel, then it occurred to me it was a variant of a theme on this cut.

This is very much the masterpiece that I've heard it was from many for years. This is an essential album to your Italian prog collection.
304627
The 1966 debut of the British rock group, The Small Faces, is essential British Invasion music with lots of bluesy vocals, guitar feedback, and energetic drumming.  The Small Faces get a lot of comparison to The Who (ironic because Small Faces drummer, Kenny Jones, would become The Who's drummer after Keith Moon died), but they are very different bands and the Small Faces were not as popular and haven't received the credit they deserve.  Just listening to this album, especially the soulful vocals of guitarist Steve Marriott (a sound he already had on the debut!), shows where a lot of Robert Plant's influence came from.  Honestly, at times, the likeness between Marriott and Plant is uncanny (it's only magnified when Marriott sings "You need coolin', baby I'm not foolin', I'm gonna send you back to schoolin'..." (from "You Need Lovin'") - words obviously adopted for Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love").  The rest of the band is equally exciting whether it's the inspired drumming of Kenny Jones, the bass of Ronnie Lane, or the organ of Ian McLagan, they all work together here.  The album (originally 12 tracks) has been remastered and also expanded to 17 tracks (5 tracks from a French EP) that don't match up to the recording quality of the rest of the album, but are nonetheless energetic, alternate versions of selected songs on the album.  The Small Faces are probably best known for their hit "Itchycoo Park", a song released two years after the debut.  That song was released after the Small Faces began to experiment with their sound and studio space, but it's also less raw than what you will hear on this album (both periods of their music are definitely worth while though).  In 1969, Marriott would leave to form Humble Pie (with Peter Frampton) and the Small Faces would hire Rod Stewart and Ron Wood, then becoming "The Faces".  That incarnation is also noteworthy for obvious reasons, but this debut of the Small Faces is essential because of the influence it provided to several other British, as well as American bands.
454484
The Allman Brothers's same-titeled debut album is nothing short of pure brilliance. Though it was unknown in time of it's release, and the ABB was completely unknown band at the time (1969), this album is witnessing the birth of one of the rock's finest and most enduring live acts. While later (1971) "The Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East" builds monument to their peerless live performance, this album sets solid base for their musical work and famous (and tragical) career.
To this day the ABB are hittin' the road and today are, as mentioned above, one of the rock's most famous and enduring, almoust unparelleld live acts. But it wasn't just 'live' that put their name in the stars; series of (commercialy successful) studio albums was released that witnessed their music abilities.
And this album, though was not comercialy succerssful, was equal to their later releasements. It sound fresh, pure and honest; it can be described as clean sounding blues-rock, with certain dose of psychedelia (album is released in 1969!). Playing is brilliant throghout the album. Duane Allman and Dickey Betts guitars are in perfect cohesion, and here they set standards for their own trademark dual lead-guitars. You can notice that right on the first track, brilliant cover "Don't want you no more", so on "Black hearted woman" or outstanding twin solo on "Every hungry woman". Greg Allman's strong and soulful singing is presented in every song; you can check "It's not my cross to bear", (hard) blues from the heavens - hearing that is 100% enjoyment. Many of these tracks became standards in ABB concert repertoire, notable "Trouble no more" which appears in 'ABB At Fillmore East", and may sound more fluently there, but here is fresh and of sound more laid-down. Two classic tracks on this record which goes on every 'greatest hits' collection are hypnotic/psychedelic "Dreams" (another Greg's shining performance, along with his organ and classic Duane slide guitar), and heavy "Whiping Post", which you have to hear to believe it. Oh yeah, that's  THE fire.
This album also may be first southern rock album, as the Allamns are fathers of all southern bands that are to come in the seventies.
If you heard of Allmans, you don't want to miss this album, and if you want to know how perfect blues-rock sounds, just get this album and enjoy!
4499173
Equinox was the very first Styx album for A&M. They already released four albums on the Wooden Nickel album and by the time they signed for A&M they started getting some chart success with "Lady" which appeared on Styx II (1973), but didn't start charting until after Man of Miracles was released near the end of 1974. Although their Wooden Nickel albums are worth owning, those albums demonstrated that they weren't certain whether they wanted to be a straight-ahead hard rock band or a prog rock band. Styx newcomers are obviously avised to go with their major label efforts (particularly Equinox, Crystal Ball, The Grand Illusion, and Pieces of Eight) first before diving deeper in to the Wooden Nickel catalog. With a new label, and new album, Equinox, the band was able to merge the hard rock, prog and pop styles in a more cohesive fashion. It was also their final album with John Curulewski. Tommy Shaw came in just in time to tour with the album.

Three songs on this album had received FM radio airplay: Dennis DeYoung's "Light Up", Dennis DeYoung and James Young's "Lorelei", and DeYoung's epic "Suite Madame Blue". Other great songs include DeYoung and Curulewski's "Mother Dear" and DeYoung's "Lonely Child". The album also has two hard rock numbers, James Young's "Midnight Ride" and Dennis DeYoung and John Curulewski's "Born For Adventure". Curulewski's "Prelude 12" is a short acoustic piece that makes me think of the introduction of a Yes song, "And You and I". FM radio station generally play "Prelude 12" when they play "Suite Madame Blue".

This album proved that they were able to make great music without Tommy Shaw, just that they needed a better label. If you want to hear any pre-Tommy Shaw albums, Equinox is obviously the album to start,
3988526
Although earlier albums hinted at the direction that they were heading in, Thick as a Brick (1972) constitutes the first full-blown album of progressive rock by the band.  With respect to the "concept" on Thick as a Brick (I may be way off here - I am just a Biologist), the cynical lyrics seem to take a poke at (amongst other things) English provinciality and the class system; certainly the "newspaper articles" on the cover reinforce this.  I should note however, that there are several alternative interpretations of the lyrics.

The lineup on this album included Ian Anderson (flute, acoustic guitar, vocals, violin, saxophone, and trumpet); Martin Barre (electric guitar, lute); the excellent Barriemore Barlow (percussion, tympani); John Evan (piano, Hammond organ, and harpsichord); and Jeffrey Hammond (bass guitar, vocals).  All of the guys are fantastic players, and the addition of the amazing Barriemore Barlow was definitely a plus.  The intricate ensemble work on Thick as Brick is light years ahead of albums like Aqualung (1971) and is more in keeping with most English progressive rock practiced at the time by groups including Yes, Genesis, ELP, King Crimson etc.

In contrast with Aqualung, which featured acoustic pieces and harder rocking pieces, Thick as Brick merges the two approaches and boosts the compositional and arranging sophistication to a new high.  Elements of classical form are also introduced and dense group ensemble work is emphasized over hard rock riffing.  In all fairness, there are heavy riffs on the album, but they are just more thought out and complex.  Melodies are also used more fully.  The difficulties of writing a continuous, 40+ minute piece for the original vinyl format were overcome by writing some "transitional" material on "Side 1" of the LP.  Hearing both sides played continuously on the CD format is pretty cool.

The remastering of this album is very good and the "new and improved" Thick as a Brick features great sound quality along with an 11'48" live version of Thick as Brick taken from a concert at Madison Square Garden from 1978 (great sound quality) and a 16'28" interview with Ian, Martin, and Jeffrey.  The liner notes include the lyrics and original LP art.

All in all, this is a superb album by Jethro Tull that finds them playing full blown prog rock.  This album is very highly recommended along A Passion Play (1973).