... LP, Vinyl record album

Featuring Small Faces, PP Arnold, John Mayall, Chris Farlowe, The Nice, and more! LP, Vinyl record album

The second, and possibly the most ambitious album the Brit psych-art soul unit led by Keith Emerson's showy, dense work on Hammond organ and keyboards. The group always had a theatrical approach, which really shows on the groups nuevo classical, psychological comedy song cycle! LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal statement from the legendary Small Faces – a record that has them regrouping a bit, and finding a way to pack an incredible punch! The album's amazing right from the very first note – a perfect bridge between the ongoing mod energy of the London scene, and the psychedelic sounds in years to come – served up with a tight, compact, focused approach that still blows away most of the many groups it helped inspire! The group would dive into a heady psychedelic groove about a year later with incredible success on Ogden's Nut Gone Flake – but here, they're still riding on the walloping soul and R&B influences on this record – driving and tuneful, with some hints at the strange sounds to come in the freewheeling organ and occasional odd instrumentation. Released as Small Faces in the UK with an alternate title, cover and tracklist, but this version shares a number of the greatest tracks and includes a few others that are just as essential – titles include "Itchycoo Park", "Talk To You", "My May Of Giving", "I'm Only Dreaming", "Get Yourself Together", "Green Circles", "(Tell Me) Have You Seen Me", and "Here Come The Nice". LP, Vinyl record album

Classic work from the UK scene of the late 60s – titles by Jo Ann Kelly, John Mayall, TS McPhee, Eric Clapton, Savoy Brown, Dharma Blues Band, and Jeremy Spencer! LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

With Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, John Mayall, Savoy Brown, TS McPhee, Jeremy Spencer, and Dharma Blues Band. LP, Vinyl record album

With Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Cyril Davies, Jeff Beck, Santa Barbera Machine Head, and Stuff Smith. LP, Vinyl record album

Features work from Eric Clapton, John Mayall, Savoy Brown, Jimmy Page, Jeremy Spencer, Dharma Blues Band, TS McPhee, Jeff Beck, Nicky Hopkins, and more! LP, Vinyl record album

With Fleetwood Mac, Small Faces, Nice, Humble Pie, Eric Clapton & Jimmy Page, & more. LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe the best album ever from this seminal British jazz rock combo – a record that really has the group stretching out in the expanded space of a concert setting! Colosseum were already one of the best groups to mix jazzy currents and heavy rock modes – but they really set a fire with this brilliant live album – which really gave the group plenty of room to show off their instrumental chops! Immediate Records star Chris Farlowe is on vocals – but the real charm of their sound comes from the tenor and soprano sax work of Dick Heckstall Smith, the Hammond and vibes of Dave Greenslade, and the heavy drums of Jon Hiseman – who really keeps things in the pockage, and provided more than a few funky passages on the album. Titles include "Lost Angeles", "Rope Ladder to The Moon", "Walking In The Park", and a version of Michael Gibbs' "Tanglewood 63". LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal set from 70s Pink Floyd – a set that took all the energy of Dark Side Of The Moon, and refined it into an even more complex sonic setting! The songs here move out spaciously – still very unified as an overall album, but often with all of these longer-form musical ideas, and mature textural elements that really show the progression the group had made in just a few short years – almost as if they were revisiting the open-ended feel of their immediate records after the departure of Syd Barrett – but with a massive amount of new information about the possibilities of the recording studio, and their own skills as musicians. The whole thing's wonderful – always taken better as a whole than in just small slices – and titles include "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", "Welcome To The Machine", "Have A Cigar", and "Wish You Were Here". LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal set from 70s Pink Floyd – a set that took all the energy of Dark Side Of The Moon, and refined it into an even more complex sonic setting! The songs here move out spaciously – still very unified as an overall album, but often with all of these longer-form musical ideas, and mature textural elements that really show the progression the group had made in just a few short years – almost as if they were revisiting the open-ended feel of their immediate records after the departure of Syd Barrett – but with a massive amount of new information about the possibilities of the recording studio, and their own skills as musicians. The whole thing's wonderful – always taken better as a whole than in just small slices – and titles include "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", "Welcome To The Machine", "Have A Cigar", and "Wish You Were Here". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark album from John Prine – his Atlantic debut, done at a time when he was emerging from the second generation of the Chicago folk scene – with a style that set the tone for countless singer/songwriters in years to come! The record has immediate appeal to ears tuned towards hip country, folk, and the more personal side of rock at the time – as Prine sings his material with a wry wit that's simultaneously heartbreaking, with support from the great Reggie Young on guitar and Bobby Emmons on organ – plus work on two tracks from scenemate and soon-to-be-star Steve Goodman on guitar. Titles include the seminal "Hello In There" – a tune that's hard to believe was written by a 24 year old – plus "Six O'Clock News", "Sam Stone", "Donald & Lydia", "Illegal Smile", "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore", and "Far From Me". (Folk/Country, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

New Order take a slightly sweeter turn for this mid 80s set – but still never lose the charm that won us from their first few records! There's a warmth here we might not have expected in the immediate post-Joy Division years – and a catchy tunefulness on some of the biggest crossover numbers on the set – yet, given the commercial dreck of the time, New Order are still way ahead of the pack – and from the perspective of these many years later, we're even more impressed at the way they manage to balance nascent pop sensibilities with some of the darker leanings of their roots. More than enough edgey guitar and moody basslines to please fans of the first two albums – on titles that include "Sunrise", "Elegia", "Love Vigilantes", "The Perfect Kiss", "Sub Culture", "Face Up", and "Sooner Than You Think". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most sweetly jazzy albums ever recorded by Kevin Ayers – a set that almost has him moving in the more progressive direction taken by Soft Machine after his departure! As on other solo Ayers albums, David Bedford had a strong hand in the arrangements – but his approach here is more focused, and often more sophisticated than before – less in the playful collaborative style of Ayers immediate post-Soft Machine years, and more in an ambitious style that pushes the elements together with a beautifully honed sound. Players on the album include Mike Oldfield on guitar, Didier Malherbe on sax and flute, Gerry Fields on electric viola, and Bedford on keyboards – and titles include "Oh My", "Margaret", "Song From The Bottom Of A Well", "Lullaby", "Champagne Cowboy Blues", "Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes", and "There Is Loving/Among Us/There Is Loving". LP, Vinyl record album

A pretty rough and rugged set of rock tracks – performed by a trio who were all prisoners at London's legendary Borstal! The title makes you think this might be some sort of Clash-type record, but the date belies the difference – and the overall approach is kind of in the Rolling Stones/Immediate Records mode of the late 60s – soulful at times, and with some added arrangements that include strings and larger orchestrations behind the core rock sound. Titles include "Long Long While", "Borstal", "See You Later", "You Made Me What I Am", "Life Is What You Make It", and "Take What We Want". LP, Vinyl record album

The biggest record that Al Stewart ever cut – as you no doubt know from the oft-played title track – but a set that also stands as a great testament to all the many years he'd been crafting fine music before fully getting the recognition he deserved! Stewart's got a way with words that's like few of his contemporaries – maybe a bit like Donovan, with whom he shares a similar vocal approach – and also a clear early love of Bob Dylan, yet an immediate evolution past that influence – so that the whole thing is very much in a world of Al's own, with some slight 70s mainstream production, but not enough to soften the music into more mainstream AOR – despite the fame of the hit. Titles include, of course, "Year Of The Cat", plus "One Stage Before", "Flying Sorcery", "Broadway Hotel", "Lord Grenville", "If It Doesn't Come Naturally Leave It", and "Midas Shadow". LP, Vinyl record album

Rod Argent's project immediately after the breakup of the Zombies! There's plenty of Zombie-like ideas here – particularly those floating around the Odyssey and Oracle album, but they're also done without the dreamy pop style of Colin Blunstone's vocals, which makes for a much harder sound overall. Added into that the guitar of Russ Ballard, which really kicks into the tunes nicely, and you've got some great rock and roll work – written with a pop sensibility, but played with a razor-sharp edge that's pretty hard hitting. Titles include "Like Honey", "Liar", "Schoolgirl", "Bring You Joy", "Stepping Stone", and more. LP, Vinyl record album

The second album by Argent – Rod Argent's project immediately after the breakup of the Zombies! There's plenty of Zombie-like ideas here – particularly those floating around the Odyssey and Oracle album, but they're also done without the dreamy pop style of Colin Blunstone's vocals, which makes for a much harder sound overall. Added into that the guitar of Russ Ballard, which really kicks into the tunes nicely, and you've got some great rock and roll work – written with a pop sensibility, but played with a razor-sharp edge that's pretty hard hitting. Titles include "Lothlorien", "Rejoice", "Pleasure", "Sweet Mary", "Where Are We Going Wrong", "Rejoice", "Cast Your Spell Uranus", and "Celebration". LP, Vinyl record album

A sometimes-overlooked classic from the Rolling Stones – but that's maybe just because it's sometimes obscured in the shadow of Exile On Main Street, the record that immediately preceded it! And while it might be a stretch to some, we like to think of Goat's head as kind of a capper to that double-length set – as the Stones are still working out a fair bit of similar ideas, with an opening ear to some global currents, and with great help from some of their key collaborators too. The set's worth it alone for the classic gut-wrencher "Angie" – and other tracks include "Star Star", "Hide Your Love", "Winter", "Can You Hear The Music", "100 Years Ago", and "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)". LP, Vinyl record album

Pretty great later work from Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks – not the immediately-retro style of their earlier albums, but instead this wonderful blend of so many different jazz and acoustic elements – set forward with a style that's wonderfully groovy overall! There's a hip, scatting vibe to the music that almost puts Hicks in the same 70s territory as Ben Sidran – although maybe a few notches earlier in terms of his inspirations – yet coming across with a breezy warmth that's really beautiful, almost like the shift that Maria Muldaur had made from her trad styles of the 60s to the groove of "Midnight At The Oasis". Fender Rhodes warms the record up at all the right moments – and titles include "Boogaloo Jones", "Cruzin", "Garden In The Rain", "Dizzy Dogs", "Vinnie's Lookin Good", "Lovers For Life", and "Collared Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

A dark classic that broke out of the underground and forever transformed the world of dance music! "Blue Monday" has this infectious bass/keyboard riff that you'll recognize immediately – and which you've heard emulated a million times in electro house tracks from later on in the 80s. "The Beach" is more of the same – kind of a dub version of the hit. (Rock, Rock) 12-inch, Vinyl record

A sometimes-overlooked classic from the Rolling Stones – but that's maybe just because it's sometimes obscured in the shadow of Exile On Main Street, the record that immediately preceded it! And while it might be a stretch to some, we like to think of Goat's head as kind of a capper to that double-length set – as the Stones are still working out a fair bit of similar ideas, with an opening ear to some global currents, and with great help from some of their key collaborators too. The set's worth it alone for the classic gut-wrencher "Angie" – and other tracks include "Star Star", "Hide Your Love", "Winter", "Can You Hear The Music", "100 Years Ago", and "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)". LP, Vinyl record album

Damn anthemic rock from Thin Lizzy – one of the few 70s groups who seemed to get better as they got older! The album's a stone killer – ripping away with tremendous power on guitar and vocals, but hitting an extremely tuneful approach that opens up each new song with some really magical delights. The kind of record that you can put on and rock out to immediately – something that's a rare breed today! Titles include "Sugar Blues", "Chinatown", "We Will Be Strong", "Killer On The Loose", "Didn't I", and "Hey You". LP, Vinyl record album