Jefferson Airplane flying high in the late 60s – both a creative and commercial triumph for the band – balancing the tripped out adventurousness of their earlier work, with a more focused approach that brought them to bigger and bigger audiences! Front loaded with moodier, acoustic-based songs that build into heavier rock as the record plays on – with some really great use of sound effects for added drama on here and there! Titles include "Lather", "In Time", "Star Track", "Chushingura", "If You Feel", "Ice Cream Phoenix", "The House At Pooniel Corners" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Not just Rock N Roll, but a classic collection of doo wop, R&B, and more! The original Rock N Roll Dance Party was a key collection in the late 50s – one that helped push the best R&B artists on the Modern/Kent label to a wider audience, thanks to a more mainstream cover! Features work by Etta James, Joe Turner, Joe Houston, Teen Queens, BB King, and more! (Soul, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

The Incredible String Band are paired down to the core duo of Mike Heron & Robin Williamson for their third and possibly best album – the truly incredible Hangman's Beautiful Daughter – using the studio as a most impressive adjunct member of the group at this point! This is an extremely talented pair – each playing myriad instruments – sitar, organ, guitar, hammer dulcimer, harpsichord, gimbri, whistle, pipe, oud, mandolin, mouth harps and more. Previous vocal collaborator Licorice sings on one song, and Dolly Collins and David Snell contribute flute organ, piano and harp – but the main duos incredible way of layering their magic with multitracking in the studio the real masterstroke of the effort. Titles include "Koeoaddi There", "Witch's Hat", "The Water Song", "Swift As The Wind", "Nightfall", "Waltz Of The New Moon", "Three Is A Green Crown" and more. (Folk/Country, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

The late live album from Jefferson Airplane – who were at the end of their journey, but whatever their personal differences may have been at the time, they still put on a helluva great rock and roll show! Thirty Seconds Over Winterland was recorded at that legendary San Francisco venue, and at Chicago's Auditorium Theatre, with the post-Marty Balin line-up of Grace Slick, Paul Kanter, Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukomen – plus violinist Papa John Creach, drummer John Barbata and vocalist David Freiberg from Quicksilver Messenger Service. Titles include "Have You Seen The Saucers", "Feel So Good", "Crown Of Creation", "When The Earth Moves Again", "Milk Train", "Trial By Fire" and "Twilight Double Leader". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the great ones from Ian Dury – a record that goes way beyond simple quirky rock, and explodes with some wonderful jazzy touches! The sound here is totally great – very much in the sway of Chaz Jankel's musical direction, and filled with great bits on sax, keyboards, and guitar that have a fair bit more warmth and soul than Dury's original records. There's actually less standout hits here – but that's ok, because the record has a really unified feel overall – strongly in the funky arty dancefloor mode that you might expect from some of the Ze Records camp. Titles include "Dance Of The Screamers", "Inbetweenies", "Quiet", "Sink My Boats", "Don't Ask Me", "This Is What We Find", and "Uneasy Sunny Day Hotsy Totsy". LP, Vinyl record album

An obscure bit of Christian rock from the Seattle scene at the start of the 70s – but a record that's got a lot more to offer than just that unusual pedigree! Don't think "Jesus rock", think instead of some of the more laidback, open-minded singer/songwriter material of the Bay Area scene – especially Marin County, with its elements of rootsy instrumentation and warmly collaborative spirit in the musicianship – a perfect fit for the gently spiritual messages of Wilson McKinley, which are mostly aimed at living a good life with a clear conscience. Production is lean, but in a great way – and the strength of the music's spirit comes through wonderfully on cuts that include "Crown Of Glory", "All My Life", "Tree Of Life", "One In The Spirit", and "It's Up To You". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the crowning moments of Bill Nelson and Be Bop Deluxe – a set in which it seemed that everything the group was trying for really came together – in a mode that's both tuneful and timeless, and which – a bit like Sparks or 10CC – was slightly out of time with the rest of the rock scene in the 70s! There's a few surprisingly catchy numbers – of the sort that should have made the group even bigger on the international scene – but Nelson also manages to work in lots of keyboard magic, too – in that compressed approach to his prog inclinations, which was always the appeal of the group. The set's neither glam nor punk, nor prog or classic rock – very much its own sort of thing – with titles include "Fair Exchange", "Life In The Air Age", "Ships In The Night", "Crystal Gazing", "Blazing Apostles", and "Beauty Secrets". LP, Vinyl record album

The crowning achievement of Spirit – a wonderful blend of many musical strands at once – and a set so successful for the group, you probably could have found in any college dorm room in the early 70s! The record's really a cut above for their generation – an expansive effort that hangs together with a bit of a concept, and which interweaves strands of rock, folk, and a bit of jazz – yet also a record that has a lot more polish than other efforts of its type, and which trades a bit of psychedelic indulgence for a tighter focus that really lets the best tunes sparkle wonderfully! Production is great – clear, but trippy at the same time – and Randy California's guitar work has never sounded better. Titles include "Nature's Way", "Animal Zoo", "Love Has Found A Way", "Mr Skin", "Soldier", "Street Worm", and "Space Child". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the crowning moments of genius from 10CC – a record that has the duo of Godly & Creme really hitting their stride in the studio, and taking the group into completely different territory than on their first few records! The brilliance of the mega-hit "I'm Not In Love" is very well-known – and the rest of the record follows with a similar sort of sonic intensity, one that holds strong even as the song styles shift throughout – almost with the sort of mini-masterpiece in album format that Trevor Horn would so loudly proclaim at ZTT. The record's both a key part of 70s pop, and one that's also very much apart from the pack – with titles that include "I'm Not In Love", "The Second Sitting For The Last Supper", "The Film Of My Love", "Brand New Day", "Blackmail", "Flying Junk", and the three part "Une Nuite A Paris" suite. LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal moment in leftfield music – maybe the crowning achievement of Captain Beefheart, and a landmark collaboration with Frank Zappa as well! Zappa produced, and gave the group plenty of room to stretch out on this double-length set done for his Bizarre Records imprint – which allowed the Captain the kind of freedom that Frank was getting at the time – which meant there was no need for a hit, no need to tone things down, and plenty of patience for all the record's amazing instrumental twists and turns, and Beefheart's madcap sense of humor as well! The Cap sings, and plays saxes and bass clarinet – and the record's got some really incredible guitar work from Zoot Horn Rollo and Antennae Jimmy Semens – really setting the stage for countless other guitarists in years to come. Tracks include "Dachau Blues", "Hair Pie", "Moonlight On Vermont", "Sweet Sweet Bulbs", "China Pig", "My Human Gets Me Blues", and "Dali's Car". LP, Vinyl record album

A brilliant bit of psychedelia – still as fresh today as it was many decades back – and the crowning achievement of Pink Floyd during the early Syd Barrett years! The album's got all the best elements of the group firmly in place – the penchant for long-jamming tracks that still manage to always maintain a sharp edge – mixed with some of the wittier, more playful lyrics that Barrett brought to the group – all wrapped up with a sense of depth and darkness that goes way beyond most of their contemporaries. The record's a masterpiece through and through – from its first guitar-heavy jam on "Astronomy Domine", through the strutting, vamping madness of "Bike" – all up and down other gems that include "Lucifer Sam", "The Gnome", "Take Up Thy Stethoscope & Walk", "Interstellar Overdrive", "Chapter 24", and "The Scarecrow". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the crowning achievements of The Turtles – a set that features all original material by members of the group, and stellar production by Ray Davies of The Kinks! The set's the only full length that Davies ever handled – and it's obvious the group really rose to the occasion for the honor – hitting territory that's nicely sophisticated, yet which still has the sharpness of their earlier material too – a bit like the territory that Ray was hitting at the time with his own music. The songs are both a lot more personal, and have some deeper currents too – as The Turtles, like so many other west coast pop acts, were really maturing at the end of the 60s. Titles include "She Always Leaves Me Laughing", "Somewhere Friday Night", "Dance This Dance", "You Don't Have To Walk In The Rain", "Bachelor Mother", "Love In The City", and "House On The Hill". LP, Vinyl record album

Quite possibly the crowning masterpiece by The Clash – and a record that certainly pushed them out of the punk rock ghetto and into the collections of countless mainstream folks over the years! This is the set that really pushed the group over the top – the one that harnessed all the best energy of the previous two records and gave it a strong new focus – one that draws on roots as deep as the late 50s Elvis reference of the cover art, but which also bubbled over with newly approaching 80s musical ideas and politics! Yet the message never gets in the way of the guitar-heavy tuneful appeal of the songs – ringing out for decades on classics like "Train In Vain", "London Calling", "Spanish Bombs", "Lost In The Supermarket", "Guns Of Brixton", "Clampdown", and "Rudy Can't Fail". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the coolest concepts for a record in the 60s – and a set that's the first, and maybe crowning achievement of Vanilla Fudge! The set's mighty trippy – and often offers up very weird, fuzzy remakes of songs that were more mainstream hits for other artists in the 60s – tunes by The Beatles, Zombies, Impressions, and others – taken into really weird new territory by the group's jamming fuzz guitar, stark rhythms, and dark sensibilities. Genius Shadow Morton produced and directed the whole thing – which is one of his crowning achievements, and a great commentary on some of the more mainstream pop he was producing at the time. Titles include "Illusions Of My Childhood", "Eleanor Rigby", "Ticket To Ride", "Bang Bang", "She's Not There", "Take Me For A Little While", and "You Keep Me Hanging On". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the crowning classics from the early years of Deep Purple – and a set that will forever be remembered for giving the world the classic rock anthem "Smoke On The Water"! Yet the record as a whole is even better – and is filled with some long-burning, hard-wailing tracks that easily put Deep Purple in the company of the heaviest groups of their generation – thanks to some killer contributions from Ritchie Blackmore's guitar! The whole thing packs a hell of a punch when taken in a full dose – from the start of "Highway Star", to the last notes of "Space Truckin" – and all the great in-between sounds from "Pictures Of Home", "Maybe I'm A Leo", "Never Before", "Lazy", and "Smoke On The Water". LP, Vinyl record album

The crowning achievement of ELO at their best – a double-length set in which the genius of Jeff Lynne gets extra space to fully flower – and his mighty talents don't let up for a minute! The record's given us some classics over the years – standout tracks like "Mr Blue Sky", "Turn To Stone", and "Sweet Talkin Woman" – but the whole thing works perfectly together – as a sublime sonic treat that has all the Lynne studio genius coming into full focus, moving between different textures of electricity and light, through a set of songs that sound infinitely different than the group just a few years before. Other tracks include "It's Over", "Night In The City", "Starlight", "Jungle", "Believe Me Now", "Steppin Out", "Sweet Is The Night", "Standing In The Rain", "Summer & Lightning", "Wild West Hero", "The Whale", and "Birmingham Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the crowning early moments from the young Grateful Dead – a key Warner studio album that really has the group moving from psychedelic to more roots-oriented modes – maybe a Marin vibe versus a Haight sort of happening – with loads of great guitar and pedal from Jerry Garcia, plus lots more from the rest of the crew too. Robert Hunter wrote the tunes, Mickey Hart added in lots of percussion next to the drums - and titles include the very groovy "Truckin", plus "Box Of Rain", "Candyman", "Operator", "Sugar Magnolia", "Friend Of The Devil", "Ripple", "Brokedown Palace", "Attics Of My Life", and "Till The Morning Comes". LP, Vinyl record album

The crowning achievement of a young Elton John – and the record that took an already-great run of earlier records, and pushed it even further with a new depth of songwriting and imagination! The double-length set isn't exactly a concept album – at least not one with a unified narrative – but it works beautifully as a set of little pictures of the world seen through the eyes of Elton and Bernie Taupin – both at the height of their powers, and able to balance catchy commercial tunes with some grittier undercurrents. The set's filled with classics – and titles include "Candle In The Wind", "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding", "Bennie & The Jets", "Social Disease", "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting", "Harmony", "Jamaica Jerk-Off", and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the weirdest, wildest pop albums of the 60s – maybe the crowning achievement of both Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood – two artists who'd worked together before, but never with an intensity this great! The record is overflowing with all the great touches you'd expect from Lee – that sense of spacious production, all-adult performance, and deep-tinged vocals that are a perfect counterpoint for the lighter style of Nancy – almost as if he's continuing to urge her to adulthood over the course of the set – which he certainly does through the sensuality of the performance! The album features the insanely wonderful "Some Velvet Morning" – a pop duet unlike anything you've ever heard – plus Hazlewood tunes "Summer Wine", "Sand", "Lady Bird", "I've Been Down So Long", and "Sundown Sundown" – but even the remakes are stunning, and include "Storybook Children", "Jackson", and "You've Lost That Lovin Feeling". (Vocalists, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A brilliant bit of psychedelia – still as fresh today as it was many decades back – and the crowning achievement of Pink Floyd during the early Syd Barrett years! The album's got all the best elements of the group firmly in place – the penchant for long-jamming tracks that still manage to always maintain a sharp edge – mixed with some of the wittier, more playful lyrics that Barrett brought to the group – all wrapped up with a sense of depth and darkness that goes way beyond most of their contemporaries. The record's a masterpiece through and through – from its first guitar-heavy jam on "Astronomy Domine", through the strutting, vamping madness of "Bike" – all up and down other gems that include "Lucifer Sam", "The Gnome", "Take Up Thy Stethoscope & Walk", "Interstellar Overdrive", "Chapter 24", and "The Scarecrow". LP, Vinyl record album