The third album from Queen, and maybe the record that finally had the rest of the world paying attention to their sound – as the set elevates the quartet past any sort of proggish roots, and unleashes the pop power that would come to dominate their music in the 70s! Make no mistake, the instrumentation is still impeccable – yet it's also fused perfectly with an overall sense of production that unifies the whole thing, and which really begins that sense of track to track progression that made their classics so great. The breakout cut on the set is the landmark hit "Killer Queen" – served up alongside other tracks that include "Now I'm Here", "In The Lap Of Gods", "Tenement Funster/Flick Of The Wrist/Lily Of The Valley", "Misfire", "Dear Friends", "Stone Cold Crazy", "She Makes Me", and the reworked version of "Brighton Rock". LP, Vinyl record album

A stone smoker from Rare Earth – recorded a a time when they were able to easily handle a groove made up of equal parts funk, rock, and soul! The vibe here is almost like War at times – not for the LA touches in the mix, but for the heady and heavy way these guys roll forward – pulling together all the best elements of the underground at the time, and bringing them into their own smoky groove. Instrumentation is wonderful – and some of the cuts have a really great jamming sort of feel – especially the 11 minute reading of "(I Know) I'm Losing You" – originally done by the Temptations, and produced by Norman Whitfield for the album! Other titles include "Long Time Leavin", "Satisfaction Guaranteed", "Nice Place To Visit", "No 1 Man", and a sweet version of "Eleanor Rigby". LP, Vinyl record album

A record that gave Rare Earth one of their biggest hits ever – their hard-burning "I Just Want To Celebrate" – a killer classic that played big on both sides of the fence, and which definitely established the group as a soulful force that kept on going! At some level, the set almost seems to have them bringing in as much influence from the cultural crossroads of the Bay Area scene as the Detroit influences of their earlier work – maybe in part because the congas are really up in the mix on many tracks, which creates some slight Latin currents along with the Family Stone sort of energy that has the group rising up together on most of the cuts! Titles include "I Just Want To Celebrate", "If I Die", "The Seed", "Road", "Any Man Can Be A Fool", "Someone To Love", and very cool reworking of "What'd I Say". LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary greatest hits collection from the Rolling Stones – one that was so popular back in the day, it was maybe the one Rolling Stones album that everyone had in their collection! The package was a great way for folks to go back and catch up after digging in deep on Exile On Main Street and Let It Bleed – and the set has work from the earliest years of The Stones all the way up to those classics – a killer set list that includes "Get Off Of My Cloud", "Gimme Shelter", "Brown Sugar", "Wild Horses", "Honky Tonk Women", "Sympathy For The Devil", "Satisfaction", "Ruby Tuesday", "Play With Fire", "Paint It Black", "Jumpin Jack Flash", "Street Fighting Man", "Midnight Rambler (live)", "You Can't Always Get What You Want", "Time Is On My Side", "Heart Of Stone", "19th Nervous Breakdown", "Let's Spend The Night Together", and "Mother's Little Helper". LP, Vinyl record album

Features the stone club classic "Georgy Porgy" – plus "Child's Anthem", "I'll Supply The Love", "Rockmaker", "Hold The Line", and "Angela". LP, Vinyl record album

A stone classic – with "Southern Man", "Crippled Creek Ferry", "I Believe In You", "After The Goldrush", and "Only Love Can Break Your Heart". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes performances by Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter, Sly & The Family Stone, Ten Years After, Miles Davis, Mountain, Kris Kristofferson, Mountain, Allman Brothers, Poco, Procol Harum, Chambers Brothers, Cactus, Leonard Cohen, and David Bromberg. LP, Vinyl record album

The title might be a tipoff here – as Roy Buchanan really soars into space on an album that finds an even more majestic setting for his mighty powers on guitar – especially given that a fair bit of the album's instrumental! Roy works with a core quartet that includes Ray Gomez on second guitar, Willie Weeks on bass, and Andrew Newmark on drums – a group who are almost a fusion combo at times, and who maybe help Buchanan find one of his more compelling settings of the 70s – free from some of the song structures that vocals would provide, and sounding fantastic throughout. The set does have a great vocal workout of the Neil Young tune "Down By The River" – with lead vocals by Gary St Clair – and other titles include "You're Not Alone", "The Opening/Miles From Earth", "Fly Night Bird", "Turn To Stone", and "Supernova". LP, Vinyl record album

Loads of classics – including "Blowin In The Wind", "It Ain't Me Babe", "Like A Rolling Stone", "Rainy Day Women #12 & #35", "Positively 4th Street", "Just Like A Woman", "Mr Tambourine Man", and "I Want You". LP, Vinyl record album

Not experienced? Well, this album will help push you over the top – as it's done for decades of listeners from the heyday of young Jimi Hendrix all the way up to the present! The set's a classic through and through – a blueprint not just for the genius of Hendrix, but for generations of guitar heroes to come – as you might expect with a lineup that includes "Hey Joe", "Manic Depression", "The Wind Cries Mary", "Fire", "Third Stone From The Sun", "Are You Experienced", and "Purple Haze". LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the most hard-hitting work ever recorded by Humble Pie – and that's saying a lot, given the power of the group on other albums! The performance is very unbridled – really open-ended, at a level that showcases not just the mindbending early guitar talents of Peter Frampton (something you'd never guess if you only knew his hits), but also the raw power that Steve Marriott could unleash in the group – quite a change from his work with the Small Faces. The tunes include a number of non-Humble Pie tracks, given a raw bluesy workout on extended versions – and titles include "Four Day Creep", "Stone Cold Fever", "I'm Ready", "Rollin Stone", and "I Walk On Gilded Splinters". LP, Vinyl record album

A funky tribute to all the "Super Groupies" who were helping out the 70s music scene – maybe the closest thing that Junie Morrison every came to a concept album – and a set that's got all the same wonderful complexity of his other solo albums on Westbound! As with those records, there's a pre-Prince approach to funk that draws heavily from Ohio Players and P-Funk elements – but which really gets a sharper, more sinister focus with Junie in the lead – at a level of soulful stardom that could have made him another Bootsy Collins, if folks were ever smart enough to figure out what he was doing at the time! Titles include the funky classic "Suzie Thundertussy" – plus "Super Groupie", "Surrender", "Junie III", "What Am I Gonna Do", "Stone Face Joe", "Suzie", and "If You Love Him". (Soul, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

One of the many chapters of Jimi's career before his famous Experience recordings – a set of hard rocking soul tracks with singer Curtis Knight, recorded in a really lively sort of party feel! The quality of the set almost makes us think this one was a live session – especially on the really great 10 minute track "Get That Feeling" – a stone jamming number that features some mean funky guitar from Jimi, and some screaming vocals from Curtis! Other titles include "How Would You Feel", "Simon Says", "Hush Now", "Welcome Home", and "Strange Things". (Soul, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

Great solo work from this former member of The Byrds – with titles that include "Lost My Drivin Wheel", "Draggin", "Time Cube", "My New Woman", "Stone", "Bag Full Of Money", and "The Water Is Wide". LP, Vinyl record album

Pure crossover genius from Buddy Miles – a great mix of funky soul and rockish touches – and the kind of record that easily put Buddy in the same camp as Sly Stone or The Isley Brothers with mainstream audiences of the time! Tracks here are a bit longer and more jamming than work by either of those two artists – with the kind of heavy guitar and horns that played heavily to the Fillmore crowd – but the overall sound of the record is a fair bit more soulful and even funkier than some other Miles' efforts from the earlier years too, with plenty of his tight drums in the mix! Titles include a great 12 minute reading of the title track "We Got To Live Together" – plus "Take It Off Him & Put It On Me", "Runaway Child", "Walking Down The Highway", and "Easy Greasy". (Soul, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

The compilation that capped off a younger John Prine's early years at Atlantic Records – and if it might have come off as a bit prematurely titled at at time given the treasure trove of "best of" level material Prine would record for decades to come, there's no question after all these years ther is plenty of genuinely prime Prine songs here! John's Atlantic albums still stand as some of the finest folk rock ever put out by the label, hislyrics and vocals that distinctive mix of wit and grit, Arif Mardin's production smart enough to keep things spare and intimate when necessary, and to bring in some lusher touches at times. Includes "Sam Stone", "Saddle In The Rain", "Pease Don't Bury Me", "Grandpa Was A Carpenter", "Donald & Lydia", "Illegal Smile", "Sweet Revenge", "Souvenirs", "Come Back To Us Barbara Lewis Hare Krishna Beauregard" and "Hello In There". (Folk/Country, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "She Said Yeah", "Mercy Mercy", "Talkin Bout You", "Cry To Me", "Oh Baby", "I'm Free", "Heart Of Stone", "The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man", "Gotta Get Away", "Good Times", and "That's How Strong My Love Is". LP, Vinyl record album

The excellent solo debut from lumbering rock guitar virtuoso Joe Walsh – buzzing, melodic and extremely tuneful early 70s rock that's refreshingly free of the processed cheese that characterized much of his later material, both solo and as an Eagle – and possibly the best work he's ever done! Barnstorm has some of the whispery rural rock sounds, fat and nearly funk keyboard grooves, and crunching chords that make Joe (in)famous – but what really stretches this record out and pushes it to a lofty pillar are the post psychedelic touches. Bits of flute, echoey guitar and keys, and trippy lyricism elevate the tracks on the first half of the album into terrain we forgot Joe ever treaded. It really makes the heavier, funky rock & roll bits that much more rewarding. It's almost like a blue collar Astral Weeks in spots! Tracks include "Here We Go", "Midnight Mover", "One And One", "Giant Bohemoth", "Mother Says", "Home", "I'll Tell The World", "Turn To Stone" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A cool Capitol collection – with work by The Stone Poneys, The Standells, Peter & Gordon, Davie Allan & The Arrows, The Sounds Of Our Times, and The Human Beinz! LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal album from the end of the 60s – the triple-length soundtrack to the legendary Woodstock Festival in 1969 – pulled from all the many hours of material recorded for the film of the event! The set list reads not just like a "who's who" of hipness at the time – but also expands to show just how wide the range of sounds was in the underground – strands that move past the obvious rock material that you might expect, and which have the record standing as a great memory to the time – with maybe more diversity than some of the more monolithic memories! Features work by Canned Heat, Arlo Guthrie, Jimi Hendrix, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Richie Havens, Santana, Ten Years After, The Who, Country Joe & The Fish, Sly & The Family Stone, Joan Baez, Butterfield Blues Band, Joe Cocker, Jefferson Airplane, John B Sebastian – and yes, Sha Na Na. LP, Vinyl record album

The third album by Black Sabbath – the album that put the heavy in metal – one of the most influential rock albums of all time and a record that finds Sabbath at absolute peak perfection! This is the one that set the Sabbath style in stone, honing in the the heavy riffs, thundering drums and eerie mood perfectly. Includes the ultra classics "Sweet Leaf" and "Children Of The Grave", plus "After Forever", "Lord Of This World", "Solitude", "Into The Void" and the instrumentals "Embryo" and "Orchid". LP, Vinyl record album

A really fantastic bit of heavy psych – fuzzy and pretty darn catchy at the same time! Titles include the long "Just Let Go" – plus "Knocked Out", "Goodbye Girl", "Out Where The Light Fish Live", "Don't Tell Me", and "Stone Fox". 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

A stone classic from Richie Havens – and we don't just mean that because of the title and cover! The record's got Richie really taking his music to the next level – moving past straighter folk lines, and hitting a more sophisticated sound that's not too far from territory Terry Callier was exploring at Cadet at the time! There's strings mixed in with the acoustic guitar and percussion on most numbers – used a bit less majestically than Callier's work with Charles Stepney, but still in ways that push Havens' music nicely past straighter folk modes. Richie's vocals are still beautifully warm and raspy – filled with life and honest energy – and although most tracks on the record are originals, the album also features a nice cover of "I Started A Joke". Other tracks include "Minstrel From Gaul", "Open Our Eyes", "Ring Around The Moon", "It's All Over Now Baby Blue", "Prayer", and "There's A Hole In The Future". (Soul, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A heavy, timeless blast from the mighty Motorhead – when they were at the absolute top of their game! Bomber came out a scant few months after their Overkill LP, and the idea was clearly to strike again while tihe iron was hot, and sure enough, it's blistering stuff. Beginning-to-end, just as strong as Ace Of Spades or Overkill, and honestly, we might revisit this one even more than those, as it's just a tad underappreciated. The band's most classic line-up of Lemmy, Eddie Clarke and Philthy Animal Taylor firing on all cylinders. Includes "Don't Men Tell No Tales", "Lawman", "Sweet Revenge", "Sharpshooter", "Stone Dead Forever", "All The Aces", "Talking Head", ""Step Down", "Poison" and "Bomber". LP, Vinyl record album