ben miler
Horslips: The Books of Invasions – A Celtic Symphony (1976)
Ireland is well known for artists such as U2, Thin Lizzy, Boomtown Rats, Clannad, Enya, and The Cranberries. One Irish band often ignored is Horslips. They were one of the pioneers of Celtic rock by combining rock with the Celtic music of their homeland, and gave us some rather successful results in the process. They […] Continue reading
Mother Earth News magazine, January 1970
Many of you already know The Mother Earth News. You probably see it sold at your local supermarket. Heck, you probably have a few issues lying about in your home. If you’ve given a chance to read the magazine, you’ll notice the magazine is all about living in the country, how to survive, grow your […] Continue reading
Eloy: Power and the Passion (1975)
Power and the Passion, Eloy’s fourth album, was the album where the band wanted to move away from the guitar and Hammond organ format and to a more spacy, synthesizer dominated sound. It was also their first concept album, this album was about a teenaged boy named Jamie who accidentally swallowed some time eroding drugs […] Continue reading
Arthur Brown/Kingdom Come: Galactic Zoo Dossier (1971)
I’m sure a few of you know who Arthur Brown is. He had a hit in 1968 with “Fire”. While he might be thought of as a one-hit wonder, all the albums he’s done up to 1973 are well worth having. 1971’s Galactic Zoo Dossier is that prime example. By this time, The Crazy World […] Continue reading
Focus: Focus 3 (1972)
Focus followed their wonderful Moving Waves with Focus 3, this time being a double album. The band at this point featured guitarist Jan Akkerman, organist/flutist Thijs van Leer, and drummer Pierre van der Linden with new bassist Bert Ruiter (later a member of Earth & Fire). Although this album still has some fine material, it […] Continue reading
Bo Hansson: Attic Thoughts (1975)
While Lord of the Rings remains Bo Hansson’s best known, not to mention best selling (sold quite well in Europe and Australia), I really believe that Attic Thoughts (known in Sweden as Mellanväsen), which is his third solo album, to be by far his best album. After the somewhat lacklustre (but still worth having) Magician’s […] Continue reading
King Crimson: In the Court of the Crimson King (1969)
King Crimson might not have the most consistent album output, mainly because the band went through so many different lineup changes (with only guitarist Robert Fripp being the only member through it all) and different phases (fans of one phase of Crimson might not be the fan of another phase of the band). 1969’s In […] Continue reading
Sensations’ Fix: Fragments of Light (1974)
If you want to look for more great Italian prog and it’s something different from the usual PFM, Banco, Le Orme influenced stuff, then let me suggest you Sensations’ Fix. Fragments of Light is their very first album and is very unlike most Italian bands. For one thing, instead of borrowing heavily from classical, or […] Continue reading
Frank Zappa: Lumpy Gravy (1967)
After a couple of Mothers of Invention albums (Freak Out, Absolutely Free), Zappa decided to do a project outside the Mothers, and he decided to do what is perhaps his most ambitious project up until that point. And Lumpy Gravy, released in December 1967 (I’ve also seen varying sources say this album was released in […] Continue reading
Paul Horn: Inside the Taj Mahal (1968)
Paul Horn spent the late 1950s to mid 1960s playing conventional jazz. The kind of jazz he played is what you expect in that kind of music way before “smooth jazz” and Kenny G. ever came around and made it crappy. But by the end of 1966, he flew to India to study meditation with […] Continue reading