Rock — All Formats  

Rock 'n' soul from South Africa's The Flames – their '67 set Burning Soul and '68's Soultime – on a single CD! Burning Soul wasn't the group's first album, but it's the first featuring vocalist Blondie Chapman, who helped steer the group's more rocking roots to a sound more indebted to classic Motown and Atlantic soul! They do keep a nice undercurrent of rock & roll, though,and this is a nice little set with some really groovy covers. Titles include "You Got It Made", "Stop, Look And Listen", "Knock On Wood", "Hold On I'm Coming", "Purple Haze" and more. Soultime has a pretty cool mix of straighter late 60s style soul-rock with a bit of trippy psyche influences in the mix. At this point, the group reminds us a little bit of Soul Survivors and some of the acts on Dunwich – and the bass-heavy groove of the tracks is really wonderful. Titles include "Lost", "If You Think You're Groovy", "I Was Made To Love Her", "Useless Illusions", "Restless", "Wishes", and "Solitude".

A smoking little set from Flaming Ember – a rock group at the core, but one who has plenty of blue-eyed soul in the mix – thanks to great production from Greg Perry, and strong arrangements from HB Barnum and McKinley Jackson – all of whom give the record a vibe that's right up there with the best Hot Wax/Invictus soul sets of the time! There's a nice amount of fuzz in the grooves – that post-Motown style that uses lots of great bass and guitar alongside core Detroit soul modes – and although the vocals have more of a rockish approach, the instrumental undercurrent is a great mix of funk, rock, and soul! Titles include the sweet soul ballad "Sunshine", plus the cuts "Ember Blues", "1200 Miles From Heaven", "Livin High Money Low", "Gotta Get Away", "Heart On Lovin You", "Stop The World & Let Me Off", and "Ding Need Dong". CD features bonus tracks – "Robot In A Robot's World", "If It's Good To You It's Good For You", "If It's Good To You It's Good For You (inst)", "Heart On Lovin You (long version)", and "Stop The World & Let Me Off (long version)".

A stone classic from Flaming Ember – a combo with a sound rooted in rock, but filled with plenty of soul too – making they a key funky crossover act in the early 70s! These guys borrow the best of Motown soul and the best of the jazzier rock groups of the time – and often use lots of raw congas in with their percussion – which keeps things grooving with plenty of soulful inflections. There's some nice psych production at times – a bit like the best Norman Whitfield modes at the start of the 70s – and titles include "Flashbacks & Reruns", "The Empty Crowded Room", "Going In Circles", "Westbound #9", "Spinning Wheel", and "Shades Of Green". CD features three bonus tracks – "Filet De Soul", "Don't You Wanna Wanna", and "Desert Village".

The final proper album by The Jam! The Gift is a far more diversely soul-steeped set of tunes than anything they'd done up to this point – and in hindsight, it feels more like a starting point for Paul Weller's career to come than a final album for The Jam! While they're working more soul influences into the formula, there's still a devotion to insistently catchy hooks that they'd sported since the beginning. A classic that really deserves a lot more respect than it gets in some circles! Includes "Happy Together", "Ghosts", the nice "Psychedelic Shack"-styled "Precious", "Just Who Is The 5 O'Clock Hero", "Running On The Spot", "Circus", "The Planner's Dream Gone Wrong", "Carnation", the great Motown-homage and superhit "Town Called Malice" and "The Gift". This great 2CD 30th anniversary edition has bonus disc of singles, B-sides and most excitingly a bunch of previously unreleased demos! 15 tracks on Disc 2: "Beat Surrender", "Shopping", "Move On Up", "Stoned Out Of My Mind", "Carnation (instrumental demo)", "Shopping (aka Paul's demo)", "Solid Bond In Your Heart (demo)" and more.

Heavy rock and heavy drums – a fuzzed out classic that's one of the best lost hard rock albums of the 70s! These guys may have been a strange choice for Motown's rock-based Rare Earth label back in the day, but they've more than made a place for themselves in the history books – thanks to some really fierce rocking, and an approach to the drums that's kept the record in more than a few crates over the years – not totally a break record, but with plenty of tight work on the drums and some really monster bass! Titles include "Hard Working Man", "Uncertain Destination", "No Time", "Realization", "The Sorcerer Of Isis", "It Couldn't Be Me", "The Death Trip", and "In The Night".

Heavy rock and heavy drums – a fuzzed out classic that's one of the best lost hard rock albums of the 70s! These guys may have been a strange choice for Motown's rock-based Rare Earth label back in the day, but they've more than made a place for themselves in the history books – thanks to some really fierce rocking, and an approach to the drums that's kept the record in more than a few crates over the years – not totally a break record, but with plenty of tight work on the drums and some really monster bass! Titles include "Hard Working Man", "Uncertain Destination", "No Time", "Realization", "The Sorcerer Of Isis", "It Couldn't Be Me", "The Death Trip", and "In The Night".

The first really major album from Rare Earth – issued on their own self-named subsidiary of Motown! The set's a perfect blend of the rich undercurrents of the heady Detroit scene of the late 60s – at one level a tripped-out rock record with styles that almost hint at MC5, at another level a batch of blue-eyed funky soul, with keen appreciation for the grooves coming out of the headier end of the Motor City indie spectrum! There's lots of tripped-out guitar work on the set – reminiscent of contemporary work by Dennis Coffey and George Clinton – mixed with a Mitch Ryder, R&B-inspired vocal style that actually comes across pretty darn well. Added to this is the group's flat-out ability to jam – showcased best in the side-long title cut "Get Ready" – a massive jammer which runs for nearly 22 minutes, and takes up all of side two! Other tracks include "Train To Nowhere", "Magic Key", "Tobacco Road", and "In Bed".