Monthly Archives: February 2017
Ash Ra Tempel: Schwingungen (1972)
For an album that’s as amazing as Ash Ra Tempel’s self-entitled 1971 debut, the band knew right away they would need to follow that up with another excellent albums and they delivered. Guitarist Manuel Göttsching and bassist Hartmut Enke were still there. Klaus Schulze had already left the band, to pursue his ever famous solo […] Continue reading
Ash Ra Tempel & Timothy Leary: Seven Up (1973)
Seven Up, Ash Ra Tempel’s third album is often very misunderstood by fans of their music. It’s a real odd one to say the least, and if you’re familiar with such albums as their 1971 debut, Join Inn (1973), or Inventions For Electric Guitar (1975, actually a Manuel Göttsching solo album) this one is quite […] Continue reading
Spring: Spring (1971)
Spring, from Leicestershire (same area of England that brought us bands like Family and Pesky Gee/Black Widow) was one of many British prog rock bands that was not very well known, but their one and only album is a wonderful example of early progressive rock. And if you’re a Mellotron fan, then you gotta own […] Continue reading
Flasket Brinner: Fläsket Brinner (1971)
Here’s a totally unknown, killer Swedish band that few have ever heard of: Fläsket Brinner. They had released two albums, this self-entitled offering on Silence Records, and a second album simply entitled Fläsket in 1972 on Polydor. But the review is for their debut. What’s unusual of this album is it’s recorded live, which is […] Continue reading
Enigma: MCMXC A.D. (1990)
Now here’s an odd album. Odd, only because it’s a dance album I actually like. I generally don’t go for dance music, but Enigma was that rare example of making dance music actually interesting! Actually Enigma was less a band and more the brainchild of Romanian-born Michael Cretu. He had already released a few albums […] Continue reading
Fleetwood Mac: Then Play On (1969)
Fleetwood Mac is one of those bands that received so much hype and they had so many songs overplayed on the radio it’s not even funny. But of course, this was the post-1975 Fleetwood Mac with Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. To be frank, I’m not really much a fan of that era of Fleetwood […] Continue reading
Family: Music in a Doll’s House (1968)
Music in a Doll’s House is the debut album from this eclectic British rock band, Family, and is by far their most psychedelic. It’s also one of my all-time favorite psychedelic albums ever. This band never made it in America (they were quite a bit more popular in their native England) which is a real […] Continue reading
Acidente: Quebre Este Disco (1990)
Apparently Brazil was a real hotbead of progressive rock. O Terço, Bacamarte, Sagrado Coração da Terra, III Milenio, and latter-day Os Mutantes (most people are familiar with them as a psychedelic pop band, but they went prog after 1972 or thereabout) are a few examples. Acidente was another. Apparently there were two different versions of […] Continue reading
Goblin: Roller (1976)
If you’re a fan of horror movies and seen films such as Dawn of the Dead (aka Zombi) or Suspiria, chanches are you’ve heard some music from Goblin, one of the top Italian prog bands. While bands like PFM, Banco, Le Orme, Il Balletto di Bronzo, Museo Rosenbach, and the likes are mostly known to […] Continue reading
Ikarus: Ikarus (1971)
Germany is even a bigger hotbed of prog rock than one might imagine. Sure everyone knows bands like Can, Ash Ra Tempel, Tangerine Dream, Amon Düül II, Faust, Neu, Kraftwerk, and similar bands (bands that might not always be considered prog, but are of interest to prog fans). But the countries was also full of […] Continue reading