Showing posts with label Prog Rock. Show all posts

Friday, October 09, 2026

Procol Harum

A Whiter Shade of Pale

(1967)

Procol Harum - A Whiter Shade Of Pale (1967)

In memoriam of my brother

320

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Monday, September 28, 2026

Atomic Rooster - Friday The 13th - The BBC Sessions 1970-1981 320 😎

* Enjoy, Reb 😎 Link 👇 *

Thursday, September 10, 2026

1967 - Love - Forever Changes - 50th Anniversary Edition (2018)

1967 - Love - Forever Changes
- 50th Anniversary Edition (2018) @320

The record represents one of the best blends of folk and rock up to that point and is also notable for its brilliant use of strings and sparing but extremely effective south-of-the-border horn arrangements. Moreover, the songs—nine by Lee plus two by guitarist Bryan MacLean, including the classic “Alone Again Or”—feature complex, absorbing melodies and intriguing lyrics that sound as engaging after a hundred listens as they do the first time around.

The participation of studio pros from L.A.’s so-called Wrecking Crew reportedly inspired Arthur Lee’s cohorts to do their best work.

Lee’s verses could be cryptic, to put it mildly. He did throw in occasional lines that made sense and reflected the times, such as “The news today will be the movies for tomorrow” and “They’re locking them up today, they’re throwing away the key / I wonder who it’ll be tomorrow, you or me?” More often, though, Lee’s impressionistic lyrics sound like the result of an LSD trip: “At my house, I’ve got no shackles / You can come and look if you want to / In the halls you’ll see the mantles / Where the light shines dim all around you / And the streets are paved with gold / And if someone asks you, you can call my name.” No, I don’t know what he’s driving at here, but the vocal and guitar-based music is delivered with such urgency that these lines have become imprinted in my brain; I didn’t have to look them up to write them down.

Bruce Botnick, who produced the album with Lee, apparently deserves much credit for its success. Botnick, who engineered Love’s first two albums and also worked with Buffalo Springfield, brought in session musicians from L.A.’s famous so-called Wrecking Crew. (He also tried to bring in Neil Young, who apparently wound up playing little or no role.) Forever Changes’ “And More Again” and “The Daily Planet” feature the Crew’s Carol Kaye on bass guitar, Don Randi on keyboards, Billy Strange on electric rhythm guitar, and Hal Blaine on drums. Randi also adds piano on “Old Man” and “Bummer in the Summer” and plays harpsichord on “The Red Telephone.” The participation of these pros reportedly inspired Arthur Lee’s cohorts to do their best work on the remaining tracks.

The handsomely packaged Forever Changes: 50th Anniversary Edition (a release limited to 15,000 numbered copies) does justice to this classic recording. The package devotes two of its four CDs to excellent remasters of the original stereo and mono albums. (I often find mono mixes superfluous, but given the importance of the music and the extent of the differences between the two mixes here, I appreciate having both.) A third disc offers alternate stereo mixes of the original LP and “Wonder People (I Do Wonder),” an outtake from the session, while a fourth CD collects 14 related recordings, among them the single versions of “Alone Again Or” and “A House Is Not a Motel”; a cover of Sam the Sham’s “Wooly Bully” from the sessions; a demo called “Hummingbirds” that evolved into “The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This”; and backing tracks for “A House Is Not a Motel,” “Live and Let Live,” and “Wonder People (I Do Wonder).”

For longtime fans, this should add up to a perfect package. For newbies, it will be a revelation. (byjeffburger)

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Various Artists

The Many Faces Of Genesis

[3cds]

(2015)

320

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Saturday, September 05, 2026

1969 - King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King [50th Anniversary] (2019)

1969 - King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King

[50th Anniversary] (2019) @320

A towering achievement of popular music which refuses to be scaled fifty years on but lends itself to observation from various angles.

It’s rather rare for a rock ensemble with a distinguished, distinct discography to have their first studio effort stand out half a century later and not be obscured by subsequent entries, let alone their peers’ oeuvre, but KING CRIMSON have never been less than unique – or, more precisely, this group have existed as a single entity in a class of their own ever since their debut signaled the beginning of a very peculiar path in modern culture’s convoluted vista. Once out in the open, “In The Court Of The Crimson King” crossed the boundaries of simple entry in a music catalogue and became a gateway into the frightening, if mesmeric, unknown for a few generations of common listeners and fellow performers alike.

Back in the day, in the late ’60 when genre borders got blurred to be mapped anew soon enough, there were other bands – such as COLOSSEUM and BLODWYN PIG – who combined wailing saxophone with stinging guitar; only those usually aligned themselves with blues or jazz. Yet whence KING CRIMSON came no pre-existing style could be applied to define this demonic sonic assault that hit hard on both melody and lyrical levels while being possessed with a lot of nuances and detail. They still stun in the original recording of “ITCOTCK” as assigned to one of the CDs here, on the arresting 50th Anniversary reissue, brought to the fore on Steven Wilson‘s remix on another disc, and exposed on the third one.

Firmly embedded in its time, the album may seem aloof and, to an extent, alien, but that’s how its subtitle – “An Observation By King Crimson” logically plays out: the ensemble comment on the period’s turmoil through tuneful tumult from both internal and external point of view, which contributed to its place in eternity. Whereas other art-rockers’ debuts are often perceived as raw experiments, KC’s initial LP emerged fully formed – outside of it, the Judy Dyble-delivered version of “I Talk To The Wind” just didn’t registered with progressively-minded listeners – as a pellucid pinnacle of what would follow in its wake. There would be many more offerings further on down the line, yet none – including such full-blooded flights of fantasy as “Red” that saw the tenets first demonstrated here explored and evolved – surpassed the shock and wonder of this pseudo-conceptual opus.

It’s amazingly balanced. For every fierce instant – with the record’s abject horror expressed not only by Barry Godber’s artwork and the fury of “21st Century Schizoid Man” but also via the folk-avant-garde of “Moonchild” and fragments of the titular epic – there’s a moment of serenity, even though the flute-flaunting “Wind” has worry married to bliss, as Mellotron passages enforce the pieces’ frailness. The album’s brittle, albeit non-fragile, sound that’s crystallized most impressively on “Epitaph” – especially when the words are wiped, revealing Bach’s “Air on the G String” as one of the ballad’s sources – might not have been consciously reliant on the devil’s tritone, yet the often funereal flow is undoubtedly deliberate and the lament deceptive, creating a contrast to move the mood. And this edition should help embrace every twist which lay below the old LP’s surface.

Ian McDonald‘s reeds rage on the 1969 instrumental run through “Schizoid” whose fervent groove is propelled by Greg Lake‘s bass as much as it’s colored by Robert Fripp’s meandering rifferama, and 2019’s rejigging and enhancement of the entire album’s voiceless interface are nigh on revelatory, the robust transparency behind “Wind” and the heaviness in the “The Return Of The Fire Witch” section of the title suite made all the more sensual. On “Schizoid” with its crafty screech, Lake’s artificially stifled vocals reflect the atmosphere of the record’s era – perhaps, more relevant today than back then – most perfectly, as Michael Giles’s drums stoke the ire without ever losing their rhythmic poise, up to the cymbals’ rustle which usher in the title track’s piano-splashed finale. Fresh mixes render the familiar landscape multidimensional – and that’s in stereo, let alone the surround option on Blu-ray – but the new, wider angle somewhat dilutes the erstwhile impact, as the sinister, claustrophobic call-and-response of six strings and brass on “Schizoid” traded off for cinematic panorama, and the cushioning of “Wind” is softly shattered once the faux-orchestral gusts of “Epitaph” paint the doom-and-gloom. Still, “Moonchild” finds its formerly barely-there, if creepy, presence fleshed out, and “ITCOTCK” has its motley front stricken with vulnerability.

And then there’s a so-called “Alternate Album” which highlights different aspects of all the five numbers, including the unnecessary studio chat from 50 years ago and Jakko Jaksyk and Mel Collins recent overdubs that hardly add anything special to the crazy swirl, given how modern the record feels five decades after it was committed to tape. Fripp’s fluid electric lines illuminate yet another version of “Wind” whereas his acoustic lace, in turns loose and vigorous, works miracles in the duo take on this ballad, with McDonald’s ivories providing tangibly exquisite texture, but it’s Lake’s isolated singing on “Epitaph” that serves up the eeriest, emotional experience, an unseen essence of the early visit to “The Court”…

Stark and startling here, strikingly opulent there, and marvellous everywhere, this temporal milestone remains a signpost on the way to eternity, with not a trace of moss gathering on its groove-riven facets – because its aural anguish and pleasure are indefinitely real. (Let It Rock)

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2024 - VA - Reimagining In The Court Of The Crimson King

2024 - VA - Reimagining In The Court Of The Crimson King
@ 320

Rock music royalty gather together to recreate one of the most important and influential albums in history, King Crimson’s 1969 masterpiece In The Court Of The Crimson King.

Features performances by King Crimson members Mel Collins and Jakko M. Jakszyk as well as Todd Rundgren, Megadeth’s Chris Poland, Deep Purple’s Ian Paice, Rainbow’s Joe Lynn Turner, Dream Theater’s James LaBrie, Cactus’s Carmine Appice and more!

From the first note of “21st Century Schizoid Man” to the epic conclusion of “The Court Of The Crimson King,” you’ll be transfixed by how each song is interpreted and celebrated by this incredible group of musicians! (Rough Trade)

1. 21ST CENTURY SCHIZOID MAN FEAT. TODD RUNDGREN, ARTHUR BROWN, MEL COLLINS, CHRIS POLAND & IAN PAICE

2. I TALK TO THE WIND FEAT. MEL COLLINS, DJANGO JAKSZYK & JAKKO M JAKSZYK

3. EPITAPH FEAT. ALAN DAVEY, PAUL RUDOLPH, NIK TURNER, ADAM HAMILTON & DANNY FAULKNER

4. MOONCHILD FEAT. JOE LYNN TURNER, MARTY FRIEDMAN, JAH WOBBLE & CHESTER THOMPSON

5. THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING FEAT. JAMES LABRIE, CARMINE APPICE & STEVE HILLAGE

6. 21ST CENTURY SCHIZOID MAN FEAT. ARTHUR BROWN, BRIAN AUGER, CHRIS POLAND & IAN PAICE

7. 21ST CENTURY SCHIZOID MAN (INSTRUMENTAL VERSION)

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Saturday, August 29, 2026

1973 - Genesis - Live at Shepperton Studios

1973 - Genesis - Live at Shepperton Studios @320

Watcher Of The Skies

Dancing With The Moonlit Knight

I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)

The Musical Box

Supper's Ready

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Sunday, July 05, 2026

Peter Hammill - 1975 - Nadir's Big Chance

Peter Hammill - 1975 - Nadir's Big Chance @320

Representing a stylistic left turn for Peter Hammill, this raucous, messy, rock platter was often cited as an influence by the first wave of punks in England (the second album was often cited for being David Bowie's influence for Diamond Dogs). While essentially proving himself incapable of writing three-minute, three-chord rock & roll numbers, Hammill (taking on the guise of Rikki Nadir, i.e. dumb garage rocker) lays into his guitar with a vengeance, screaming out lyrics that are often unintelligible (the album did not come with a lyric sheet; this was the first Hammill album ever to make the listener depend upon the recording), while Guy Evans, Nic Potter, David Jackson, and Hugh Banton thrash along behind him. Among the treats are the title cut, "Birthday Special," the dolorous "Pompeii," and a remake of the early Van der Graaf Generator single "People You Were Going To." Hammill would never let himself be this wild and hairy again. (AllMusic)

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