This concert captures Gentle Giant at the top of their form and the peak of their fame in the United States, coming off of a Top 50 U.S. chart placement the previous year for The Power and the Glory…

The Planets, composed between 1914 and 1916, is a suite of seven movements. Holst's starting point for the music was the astrological character of each planet, though his interest in astrology went no deeper than its musical suggestiveness…

Agorà came to life in 1974 in the province of Ancona, from the ashes of a band called Oz Master Magnus Ltd. The name of the band refers to a central public space in ancient Greek city-states and the literal meaning of the word is gathering place or assembly. The first line up featured Roberto Bacchiocchi (keyboards, vocals), Ovidio Urbani (sax), Renato Gasparini (guitar, vocals), Paolo Colafrancesco (bass, vocals) and Mauro Mencaroni (drums, vocals), all in love with jazz rock and influenced by bands such as Weather Report and Perigeo. Thanks to a good live activity and to a manager who spotted them, in 1975 they had the chance to play live at the Montreux Jazz Festival and signed a deal with Atlantic Records…

Earth, Wind & Fire has delivered more than its share of excellent albums, but if a person could own only one EWF release, the logical choice would be That's the Way of the World, which was the band's best album as well as its best-selling…

Ahmoo is an interesting episode in the history of Finnish jazz and prog rock because it puts the violin in the spotlight in a prog rock setting. The album cover refers to the violin’s essential role on Ahmoo: created by Paulyn De Fresnes, it is a surreal conjoining of the female form and the violin. Jupu Group’s career in the mid-seventies was short. The group was led by Juhani “Jupu” Poutanen, who had studied classical violin. In addition to Poutanen the group consisted of Jukka Linkola, Upi Sorvali, Ilkka Hanski and Janne Louhivuori. At the time Ahmoo was released Jukka Linkola was already in the process of cementing his position as an important and talented pianist, conductor, composer and arranger…

Following Eric Clapton's recovery from heroin addition in 1974 and subsequent comeback (announced by 461 Ocean Boulevard), the guitar legend retained his fine band and toured extensively, and this live album is a souvenir of that period. Despite having such pop-oriented hits as "I Shot the Sheriff," E.C. Was Here makes it clear that Clapton was and always would be a blues man…

Recorded at Nottingham University on November 25th 1975 for a long defunct radio station and quite a rarity, the Shamal era Gong band before Steve and Miquette's departure. In fact not counting the '77 reunion this was their penultimate Gong gig (the last was in London in December'75). This good quality recording is also notable for being one the late Jorge Pinchevsky's earliest gigs with Gong - it might even be his first, no-one can actually remember. Jorge was violinist in Clearlight, the support band on a 13 date UK tour and he occasionally sat in with Gong - he didn't officially join the band until the Shamal recording sessions, in Jan '76.

After building a solid core audience through relentless touring and a string of hard-rocking albums, Foghat finally hit the big time in 1975 with Fool for the City. It still stands out as the best album in the group's catalog because it matched their road-tested abilities as hard rockers to a consistent set of tunes that were both well-crafted and ambitious. The tone for the album is set by its title track: This hard-rocking gem not only pairs riff-driven verses with an effective shout-along chorus, but also throws in a few surprising moments where the guitars are taken out of the mix completely and Nick Jameson's bass is allowed to take the lead in a funky breakdown…

Two albums from the end of Percy Faith's recording career are paired together on this release. The first, Chinatown Featuring the Entertainer, from 1974, contains Faith's arrangements of popular film themes. The cumbersome title comes from a sudden last-minute revision that replaced one track on the album with "Theme From Chinatown." The original track, "Bend Me, Shape Me," is included here as a bonus track. Summer Place, from 1975, was Faith's last album, released a few months before his passing.

Free Hand is perhaps Gentle Giant's most realized effort. After the excellent In a Glass House, the group further developed its Renaissance-medieval approach, producing one of the most creative and complex recordings in progressive rock history…

Boxer were a rock band formed by keyboardist Mike Patto and guitarist Ollie Halsall in 1975. They signed to Virgin and three albums followed, Below the Belt (1975), Absolutely (1977) and Bloodletting (1979), which also featured Bobby Tench and Boz Burrell. The band dissolved after Absolutely when Patto became ill…

CD-reissue of the amazing '75 debut LP by this well-known group that blended progressive, symphonic and flamenco roots. The album also features the hit 'Abre La Puerta'. This ethnic music comes from Andalusia where the poor gypsies sublimated their misery into music, often with very emotional results. The songs on 'El Patio' deliver a unique tension between the flamenco elements and the electric guitar and keyboards. This CD-version includes four previously unissued live cuts.

.When Ritchie Blackmore departed Deep Purple in the mid-'70s and formed Rainbow (which featured Ronnie James Dio), his replacement was Tommy Bolin. To be sure, Blackmore was a darn tough act to follow, but Bolin proved himself to be a fine guitarist in his own right on Come Taste the Band, his first album with Deep Purple. But unfortunately, Bolin didn't have exceptional material to work with – decent and likable, but hardly exceptional..

In Jade Warrior's second album for Island Records, atmosphere takes center stage over melody, and jam sessions supplant structure. The record consists of a single composition. Parts one and two were needed because it was released in pre-CD days and the song took up both sides of the LP, identifying the entire album under a single title – an unwise strategy. "Waves" has no recurring theme; it opens with a Brian Eno-influenced ambient passage and meanders from there…