Van's debut album for Warner Brothers and a pretty radical departure from anything he'd done before – breaking all kinds of new ground for his own most creative work and helping pave the way for all kinds of hauntingly poetic rock, folk rock, and singer-songwriter records to come! It doesn't take more than a few seconds of opening title track, with Morrison's rawly passionate voice and spiritually yearning lyrics, to know this is a pretty remarkable creative leap from pop leaning sound of "Brown Eyed Girl" and other preceding efforts – , and it gets even more far out from there both lyrically and instrumentally! It's almost folk jazz, arrangements wise, with flute and largely acoustic instrumentation, a really spontaneous feel to the sessions, and always hypnotic, seemingly stream of consciousness vocals by Van. As loose and spacious as the sound is, the emotional resonance is pretty heavy, and sequenced as a cycle: part one In The Beginning on side 1 and part two Afterwards on side 2. A stunner! Titles include "Astral Weeks", "Beside You", "Cyprus Avenue", "Sweet Thing", "Slim Slow Slider", and "Madame George". LP, Vinyl record album

A true classic by Jimi with the original Experience lineup – the third of three straight up masterpiece LPs to come out in just over a year's time by the group! You could call the leftfield astral effects in the mix experimental if you had to – innovations in the studio with echo, that hallucinatory backwards sound effect and other stranger bits – but the passionate, naturally expressive playing and singing by Jimi makes it all fell just right, and the Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell still don't get enough credit for being at the heart of such greatness. A massive 2LP effort that includes "Voodoo Chile", "Crosstown Traffic", "Electric Ladyland", "Little Miss Strange", "Moon Turn The Tides", "Still Raining Still Dreaming" and "All Along The Watchtower". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark bit of avant prog psych from the American underground of the late 60s – the astral mindblower that is God Bless The Red Krayola & All Who Sail It! This second album is the group's early masterpiece – a brilliant, jarring psychedelic work of genius! It's got the strangeness of the Parable LP, but Mayo & the boys have a way with strange melody that escaped the earlier album. It's often buried under the astral wierdness and abrasive tendancies, but it nevertheless casts a spooky glow throughout! Tracks inclcude "Ravi Shankar: Parachutist", "Leejol", "Night Song", "Green Of My Pants", "The Jewels Of The Madonna", "Tina's Gone To Have A Baby", "Say Hello To Jamie Jones", and "Coconut Hotel". 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 true classic by Jimi with the original Experience lineup – the third of three straight up masterpiece LPs to come out in just over a year's time by the group! You could call the leftfield astral effects in the mix experimental if you had to – innovations in the studio with echo, that hallucinatory backwards sound effect and other stranger bits – but the passionate, naturally expressive playing and singing by Jimi makes it all feel just right, and that Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell still don't get enough credit for being at the heart of such greatness. A massive 2LP effort that includes "Voodoo Chile", "Crosstown Traffic", "Electric Ladyland", "Little Miss Strange", "Moon Turn The Tides", "Still Raining Still Dreaming" and "All Along The Watchtower". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

The classic debut of Air – one of the fresher avant pop albums of the late 90s to say the least, and one of the best since then, too! Perhaps the greatest achievement here is how they deftly layer such broad influences of the preceding few decades – from soaring string film schools, to nascent electronic pop, to fusiony jazz keyboards and much in between and beyond – into a wholly original vibe all Air's own that's as breezy today as it was at the end of the 90s. Includes "La Femme D'Argent", the standout classic "Sexy Boy", "All I Need", "Kelly Watch The Stars", "Talisman". "Remember", "You Make It Easy", "Ce Matin La", "New Star In The Sky" and "Le Voyage De Penelope". LP, Vinyl record album

A different sound than the 60s, sure – but you can't beat Donovan, no matter what the setting. Mickie Most produced, and all songs are Donovan originals – including "Maya's Dance", "Local Boy Chops Wood", "Astral Angel", "Dare To Be Different", and "Sing My Song. LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "America", "Sweet Dreams", "Time & A Word", "Looking Around", "Then", "Survival", and "Astral Traveller". LP, Vinyl record album

Classic space rock from Hawkwind – a gem from the early years of the legendary group – with long cuts in a proggier, stranger realm than some the more hard rocking records to come! In Search Of Space really sets a mood, with the trippy guitars and overall astral strangeness, and the vocals at this point are indebted to early Pink Floyd – and that is not a complaint! Great stuff! "Master Of The Universe", "Adjust Me", "Children Of The Sun", "You Shouldn't Do That", and "You Know You're Only Dreaming". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album