Captain Beyond is a one-of-a-kind progressive album with rock, heavy metal, and jazz influences with a "space rock" lyrical bend. Formed by former members of Deep Purple (Rod Evans, vocals), Iron Butterfly (Rhino, lead guitar, and Lee Dorman, bass), and Johnny Winter (Bobby Caldwell, drums) Captain Beyond is an album that flows from riff to riff, drumbeat to drumbeat, often with various time signatures within the same song. Taking a tip from the Moody Blues, songs flow directly into each other without benefit of any lag time between selections. Taken as a whole, the album is kind of a rush, as quick, riff-laden guitar lines predominate for a few songs before slowing down temporarily into a lull until the next takeoff.

Woodstock and Glastonbury Fayre icon Melanie had been working with Easy Action on the deluxe vinyl and CD rerelease of one of the most legendary albums in her long catalogue prior to her very sad passing. In 1972, Melanie and her producer and husband Peter Schekeryk began work on what she intended to be her most ambitious album yet. Stoneground Words was to be a double album - the first such statement from any female rock artist. It would also be the first worldwide release on Neighborhood Records, the label she and Schekeryk established in 1971 - another first, as she entered territory into which only the Beatles, the Stones and the Moody Blues had previously stepped. Even more crucially, however, it was her personal response to the enormous success, earlier in the year, of the hit “Brand New Key” - “the bicycle song,” as so many people recall it. Stoneground Words returned to the drawing board. Ten songs were selected; the remainder were placed to one side; and the album was released to generally positive reviews which included Melody Maker’s assertion that it was “the most sophisticated she's made. The naiveté of [the past has] been replaced by deeper, more comprehensive methods of expression.” She is the first to admit that the new edition of Stoneground Words is not a true facsimile of the original. The paperwork for all three projects, after all, disappeared long ago, as did the tapes (“who knows where?”).

By the time the Rolling Stones began calling themselves the World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band in the late '60s, they had already staked out an impressive claim on the title. As the self-consciously dangerous alternative to the bouncy Merseybeat of the Beatles in the British Invasion, the Stones had pioneered the gritty, hard-driving blues-based rock & roll that came to define hard rock. With his preening machismo and latent maliciousness, Mick Jagger became the prototypical rock frontman, tempering his macho showmanship with a detached, campy irony while Keith Richards and Brian Jones wrote the blueprint for sinewy, interlocking rhythm guitars. Backed by the strong yet subtly swinging rhythm section of bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts, the Stones became the breakout band of the British blues scene, eclipsing such contemporaries as the Animals and Them.

A 3-CD / 1 LP / 1 Blu-ray super deluxe edition of one of defining rock albums of the 20th century, Deep Purple's Machine Head. The original album, remastered, is a comprehensive version introducing new mixes and previously unreleased live recordings, including a new mix of the original album on smokey purple vinyl. The 3-CDs feature new stereo by Dweezil Zappa, the 1974 quadraphonic mix, and a newly remastered version of the original album. The Super Deluxe Edition also contains two captivating live performances. The first, recorded on March 9, 1972, at the Paris Theatre in London, captures the group’s unrivaled stage presence during the “Machine Head Tour.” The second, previously unreleased, was recorded in April 1971 at the Montreux Casino in Switzerland. The band planned to record Machine Head there that December, but the venue burned down right before the sessions began, an event immortalized in “Smoke On The Water.” This extraordinary set includes new liner notes by Rolling Stone's Kory Grow, enhanced by contributions from generations of bands influenced by Deep Purple.

The new Dolby Atmos and 2024 mixes provide fresh and immersive perspectives on this classic album and were made by Zappa using the original tapes. In the liner notes, Zappa says: “It’s one of those records where I think, ‘How did they come up with this?’ It’s got classical influences in the guitar and the keyboard, but then it’s got the blues and there’s little bits of funkiness. And you have this singer who has the most killer voice. All these things come together in a way where it doesn’t sound like commercial music, yet people got really excited about it. It’s a fascinating recipe.”

Eulenspygel 2 (1971). This album released in 1971 and called "2" because the same band had already released an album under the name Royal Servants. When they decided to write the lyrics in German instead of English they thought they better change their band name to a German one as well. Eulenspygel carried that certain underground German 70's vibe with homemade organ grinds, heavy bass and guitar overlays with heavier vocals. With careful mix of jazz, fusion, prog and rock this album were pretty cleverly arranged and mixed with great imagination, color and tempo shifts…

Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (1968). Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits! concentrates on the Chairman of the Board's pop hits from the mid- and late '60s, several of which were single-only releases or only available on movie soundtracks. Appropriately, it begins with his biggest solo hit of the '60s, "Strangers in the Night," and then vacillates between adult contemporary pop songs and ballads. Much of the production sounds dated, with its guitars, reverb, and arrangements bearing all the hallmarks of '60s pop. While some of the songs rank among Sinatra's finest moments, particularly "Summer Wind" and "It Was a Very Good Year," most of these songs are guilty pleasures. They might not have the emotional resonance of his finest ballad and swing albums, but fluff like the Nancy Sinatra duet "Somethin' Stupid," the fuzz guitar-tinged "The World We Knew (Over and Over)" and the bluesy "This Town" are enjoyable as pop singles…

Having acquired a small cult following with its first album, Budgie offered a second dose of abrasive, forceful heavy metal that, like its predecessor, drew on influences ranging from Cream to Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Budgie was a band that loved contrasts – the folk-ish qualities of "Make Me Happy" and the Beatlesque "Rolling Home Again" make hard-driving classics like "Hot as a Docker's Armpit," "Drugstore Woman," and "Rocking Man" seem all the more intense. For all its strengths, Squawk didn't turn Budgie into the well-known outfit it should have been. Budgie's followers were a devoted bunch, but unfortunately, there weren't nearly enough of them.

#1 Record is the debut album by the American rock band Big Star. It was released on April 24, 1972, by Memphis-based Ardent Records.Many critics praised the album's vocal harmonies and songcraft but #1 Record suffered from poor distribution and sold fewer than 10,000 copies upon its initial release. However, #1 Record gained wider attention in the late 1970s in the UK when EMI reissued it with Radio City as a double LP package due to increasing demand. The same combination was used when the album was released on CD in 1992. It is now widely-regarded as a seminal work in pop rock and power pop. In 2020 it was ranked number 474 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Rolling Stone also ranked the song "Thirteen" as number 406 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was voted number 188 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000)

Dr. John's Gumbo bridged the gap between post-hippie rock and early rock & roll, blues, and R&B, offering a selection of classic New Orleans R&B, including "Tipitina" and "Junko Partner," updated with a gritty, funky beat. There aren't as many psychedelic flourishes as there were on his first two albums, but the ones that are present enhance his sweeping vision of American roots music. And that sly fusion of styles makes Dr. John's Gumbo one of Dr. John's finest albums.

Like the artist himself, the music on this brilliant album defies all categories, embracing Terry Callier's wide range of influences and experiences. Callier's musical kaleidoscope is filled with funk, rock, folk, jazz, and even classical influences. "Dancing Girl" opens the album with Charles Stepney's majestic orchestration. This opus is the album's pinnacle, moving with soft intensity toward soul-stirring crescendos. Songs like "What Color Is Love" and "Ho Tsing Mee (A Song of the Sun)," an elegant antiwar prayer of confusion, somehow avoid clichés or take them to another level. "You Goin' to Miss Your Candyman" was made popular by Urban Species when they sampled it on "Listen" in the early '90s, and not surprisingly, it sounds better in its original form. No matter where you turn, Callier's passionate voice captures the sweeping drama of the human condition. A lost romantic amid "concrete front yards," this album is a must-have for any music connoisseur.

Light plays Art-Rock with influences of Ekseption and Nice and integrates jazzy brass elements like Colosseum and Latin-American percussion work similar to Santana. Light were formed in the town of Gouda in the 1960s and toured through the provinces of the Netherlands in the late 60s. The band members were Adri Vergeer (piano, organ, mellotron, keyboards, vocals), Gerard Steenbergen (acoustic guitar), Joop Slootjes (bass), Hans de Bruin (saxophone, flute) and Sjaco van der Speld (drums, vocals). Eddy Barclay brought the band - then called "Light Formation" - to the attention of producer Bert Schouten. In 1972 "The Story of Moses" was published, having been recorded at Phonogram Studio in Hilversum. On the album Guus Willemse (bass), Hans Hollestelle (electric guitar) and Marian Schatteleyn and Robbie Dale (voices) appeared as guest musicians. The recording was a concept album, telling the story of the biblical figure of Moses. It was the only album ever recorded by Light.

Second volume to complete the anthology of Wicked Lady recordings, their final tracks recorded in 1972, just before the band split up and guitarist Martin Weaver left for Dark (of "Round the Edges" fame). Another batch of excessive, over-the-top doomy psychedelic hard-rock including underground classics like "I'm a Freak" and the 21 minute epic "Ship of Ghosts".

The legendary first lineup of Chick Corea's fusion band Return to Forever debuted on this classic album (titled after the group but credited to Corea), featuring Joe Farrell on soprano sax and flute, the Brazilian team of vocalist Flora Purim and drummer/percussionist Airto Moreira, and electric bass whiz Stanley Clarke. It wasn't actually released in the U.S. until 1975, which was why the group's second album, Light as a Feather, initially made the Return to Forever name. Nonetheless, Return to Forever is every bit as classic, using a similar blend of spacy electric-piano fusion and Brazilian and Latin rhythms. It's all very warm, light, and airy, like a soft breeze on a tropical beach – hardly the sort of firebrand approach to fusion that Miles Davis, Tony Williams, and the Mahavishnu Orchestra were exploring, and far less rooted in funk or rock.

Originally released by Cobblestone and later by Muse, this 1997 CD reissue from 32 Jazz features the distinctive and exploratory guitarist Pat Martino in a tribute to Wes Montgomery. Martino does not attempt to sound like Wes (although he uses octaves here and there), and only one of the six selections ("Road Song") was actually recorded by Montgomery; the tribute is more heartfelt than imitative. With the intuitive assistance of rhythm guitarist Bobby Rose, bassist Richard Davis, and drummer Billy Higgins, Martino stretches out on six selections, including a bluesy original ("The Visit"), "Footprints," and "Alone Together," always sounding like himself and pushing the boundaries of straight-ahead jazz.