Another lost gem for lovers of Japanese psych and hard rock, this time from the inspirational ‘70s prog outfit, Strawberry Path. From its extremely cool front cover to the last track, this is an album that will appeal to garage fans, psych heads, mondo music lovers and acid freaks alike, merging as it does a variety of Western influences, ranging from Jimi Hendrix (check out Shigeru Narumo’s hard psych guitar) to Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. Originally relased in 1971, Strawberry Path were the forerunners of Japanese Flied Egg, one of the most influential Japanese prog bands to emerge in the ‘70s.

Alice Cooper wasted little time following up the breakthrough success of Love It to Death with another album released the same year, Killer. Again, producer Bob Ezrin was on board and helps the group solidify their heavy rock (yet wide-ranging) style even further. The band's stage show dealt with the macabre, and such disturbing tracks as "Dead Babies" and the title track fit in perfectly. Other songs were even more exceptional, such as the perennial barnstorming concert standard "Under My Wheels," the melodic yet gritty "Be My Lover," and the tribute to their fallen friend Jim Morrison, "Desperado."

Not to be confused with the platinum-selling glam metal miscreants active in the late 1980s, the original Skid Row blazed a much overlooked trail some 20 years prior, as one of Ireland's earliest contributors to the hard rock field. Skid Row began to coalesce in Dublin, Ireland in October 1967, around vocalist Philip Lynott, bassist Brendan "Brush" Shiels, drummer Noel Bridgeman, and guitarist Bernard Cheevers, who would be replaced the following January by a 16-year-old prodigy hailing from Belfast, north of the border, named Gary Moore. The quartet threw itself into playing pubs and working men's clubs so as to develop their chops and repertoire, eventually recording a 1969 single for Irish label Songs Records entitled "New Places, Old Faces."

Tonton Macoute were a short-lived British Jazz-Rock band, previously known as Windmill. Tonton Macoute were bizarrely named after the paramilitary death squad created by "Papa Doc" Duvalier in Haiti in 1959. Their one and only self-titled album released in 1971 contained seven tracks, and featured an album cover that was just as bizarre as their name. This stunningly-powerful one-off album represents a timeless Jazz-Rock masterpiece that sounds just as good today as it ever did.

One of the seminal documents of the progressive rock era, a record that made its way into the collections of millions of high-school kids who never heard of Modest Mussorgsky and knew nothing of Russia's Nationalist "Five." It does some violence to Mussorgsky, but Pictures at an Exhibition is also the most energetic and well-realized live release in Emerson, Lake & Palmer's catalog, and it makes a fairly compelling case for adapting classical pieces in this way. At the time, it introduced "classical rock" to millions of listeners, including the classical community, most of whose members regarded this record as something akin to an armed assault. The early-'70s live sound is a little crude by today's standards, but the tightness of the playing (Carl Palmer is especially good) makes up for any sonic inadequacies. Keith Emerson is the dominant musical personality here, but Greg Lake and Palmer get the spotlight enough to prevent it from being a pure keyboard showcase.

Formed in 1968 in Warwick, England, the Edgar Broughton Band were part of the late 60s British underground blues boom. Led by the Broughton brothers, vocalist/guitarist Edgar Broughton and drummer Steve Broughton, and fleshed out by bassist Arthur Grant and guitarist Victor Unitt (who also briefly served with The Pretty Things), they were contemporaries of Groundhogs, Hawkwind, and The Pink Fairies, but were unique within the movement due to their radical political consciousness. In May 1971 they released possibly their finest work: their eponymous third album, which contained the classic "Evening Over Rooftops" (with strings by David Bedford which Edgar Broughton called "stunning"). Mike Oldfield also featured on "Thinking Of You".

Canadian brass rock band Lighthouse were formed in Toronto 1969. Unusually, the band leader Ronn "Skip" Prokop was a drummer, he has played previously with artists such as Janis Joplin, Carlos Santana and Al Kooper before forming his first band The Paupers. Of these, the Kooper connection is probably the most significant, as the music of Lighthouse is based around a solid brass section and big arrangements, similar to those of Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago.
Prokop's ambitions were made clear from the outset when the first line up of Lighthouse had no less than 11 members. The were quickly picked up by RCA Victor, who release the bands self titled debut in 1969. Further albums followed quickly, but the punningly titled "Peacing it all together", their third release, would see the end of their relationship with RCA…

This is one of several albums this artist made in the early '70s that stand as a masterpiece of the acoustic country blues genre. Johnny Shines had begun recording in the mid-'60s, the albums done with electric guitar and full-combo backup, one of them reportedly cut after he hadn't picked up an instrument in years. It was as if he reinvented himself in the following decade, playing pristine and flawless acoustic slide guitar pieces complete with shuffling, stuttering, and stimulatingly complicated tempos. The message was that he had been a young sidekick to Robert Johnson and had absorbed everything, although no deal had been made with the Devil. Shines was a steady, dependable, religious, and forthright chap who lived in Tuscaloosa, AL, and held down a steady job as a construction foreman…

Mr. Fox always stood out from their '70s British folk-rock contemporaries. They tended to disregard electric guitar for other instruments, and weave complex arrangements that highlighted the music rather than any technical virtuosity. Fronted by Bob and Carole Pegg, there was often a darkness about their own material that's especially evident on this reissue of Mr. Fox (1970) and The Gipsy (1971). Songs like "Mr. Fox" and "The Hanged Man" seemed to linger on the shadows, and the standard of songwriting was consistently good throughout (with a couple of exceptions, "Elvira Madigan," which is far from essential, and the long, overly tedious "The Gipsy"). But they're outweighed by the delights, which even extend to a pair of traditional arrangements, "The House Carpenter" (performed with suitable portent) and "All the Good Things," which saw them taking a brief detour into Americana…

Dutch band Mr. Albert Show, apparently named after a roadie, was formed in 1969 by Bertus Borgers (saxophone, flute, vocals), Roeland Boogaart (drums), Tom Fautubun (bass), Eric Lintermans (guitars) and Bonki Bongaerts (organ). Strengthened by the vocal talents of Floortje Klomp they make their debut with the single "Wild Sensation" in 1970, followed by their full length debut album "Mr. Albert Show" later the same year. The following their sophomore effort "Warm Motor". The album showed a refined and perfect played music according to the group's pretensions. The 6 titles combined clear structured and epic compositions in typical The Mr. Albert Show vein. The included bonus tracks were non-album 7" tracks and outtakes.

Five of the Isley Brothers' albums released during the late '60s and early '70s are featured in this compact box set, consisting of standard jewel cases inside a simple cardboard sleeve: The Brothers: Isley (1969), Get Into Something (1970), Givin' It Back (1971), Brother, Brother, Brother (1972), and 3 + 3 (1973). The albums, which range from decent to excellent, contain several of the group's Top Ten R&B singles, such as "I Turned You On," "Love the One You're With," "Pop That Thang," and "What It Comes Down To." In 2008, when it was released, it sold for roughly the same amount as two full-price discs.