Epitaph-Epitaph (1971)

During the first part of the 1970s, many German bands were influenced by British hard rock. Groups like Led Zeppelin, Groundhogs, Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep, Nazareth, and Deep Purple faced serious competition, primarily in Germany, from their German contemporaries such as Frumpy, Epsilon, Armageddon, and Anyone's Daughter, among many others. As a general rule, German bands used English, and some even had their own British vocalists. Epitaph was one such band, featuring singer and guitarist Cliff Jackson. Founded in Dortmund in the late 1960s, Epitaph, in addition to Jackson, consisted of bassist Bern Kolbe and drummer Jim McGillivray. In 1971, this power trio began recording material for their debut album in Essex, England, but for unknown reasons, they finished the album at Windrose Studios in Hamburg, where guitarist Klaus Walz joined for the final recording. Finally released under the Polydor label near the end of 1971, this self-titled debut album featured five tracks with a heavy prog sound similar to British bands, particularly Uriah Heep. It included superb pieces such as the hard rock tracks "Moving To The Country" and "London Town Girl", progressive heavy rock tracks like "Hopelessy" and "Little Maggie", and psychedelic rock exercises such as the expansive "Early Morning". In 1972, Epitaph recorded their second LP, "Stop, Look And Listen", in Berlin, with a style very similar to their first album. With these two promising works, the band had a bright future ahead, leading the American company Billingsgate to sign them and invest considerable time and money in recording their third album, "Outside The Law" (1974). On this new record, the sound was much cleaner, abandoning the progressive style for a harder, more direct hard rock sound. After an extensive and expensive tour across the United States promoting their latest album, Billingsgate Records went bankrupt, and the band was forced to disband in 1975, primarily to avoid assuming the debts of their record company. By 1976, the band had reappeared, recording a series of albums focused on hard rock and heavy metal and touring extensively in Europe with considerable credibility and moderate success, which has kept them among the most respected German hard rock bands of the early 1970s.

Farm-Farm (1971)

Farm were a Southern blues rock band from the late 1960s. Hailing from the U.S. state of Illinois, their discography consisted of only one album, which, to make matters worse, had a very limited run of just 500 copies. The lineup included guitarist Del Helbert, drummer Mike Young, bassist Jim Elwyn, and singer/guitarist Gary Gordon, who, with the help of percussionist Steve Evanchik, recorded a demo at Golden Voice Studios in South Perkin. This demo eventually became a self-titled album released in 1971. On this record, Farm showcased their influences from Southern rock, acid rock, blues, and boogie rock. Their repertoire was based on original songs and covers, including the instrumental blues track with prominent guitar parts, "Jungle Song", the blues rock song "Cottonfield Woman", the boogie rock song "Let The Boy Boogie", and their version of The Allman Brothers' "Stateboro Blues". In short, a great forgotten and obscure album, with great sharp guitar sounds, very solid rhythms, skillful interludes, and a predominant organ sound that layers the developments of the five pieces of this superb work of blues from the southern states of America.

Player-Player (1977)

Player was an exquisite soft rock band that blended the vocal harmonies of bands like America with the musical excellence of Steely Dan, in a style close to melodic rock. Player was founded in Los Angeles in 1976 by bassist Ronn Moss, who already had extensive experience in the city's music scene. The rest of the band consisted of British guitarist Peter Beckett, keyboardist and guitarist J.C. Crowley, and drummer John Friesen. For a time, they performed concerts as the opening act for Gino Vannelli, gaining a strong reputation on the California rock circuit. Even then, they were performing what would later become their big hit, "Baby Come Back". In addition to their concerts, the band dedicated themselves to composing songs intended for recording an LP, featuring a smooth and elegant rock sound with a strong emphasis on melodic vocals, guitars with a clear rock accent, and passages of synthesizers and keyboards. For this last endeavor, they enlisted the help of keyboardist Wayne Cook, who joined the band, though not officially. With enough material composed, they began searching for a record label to produce an album. Ultimately, RSO financed the release of their first album, which hit the market on September 1, 1977. Almost simultaneously with its release, and thanks to the song "Baby Come Back", the band achieved resounding success, reaching number one on the Billboard charts and remaining there for an astounding 32 consecutive weeks. But this debut album wasn't solely focused on the excellence of "Baby Come Back". The rest is an irresistible collection of unpretentious melodies, elegant rock with high-level pop touches, as reflected in the charming "Come On Out", "Goodbye (That's All I Ever Heard)", "Every Which Way", and "Love Is Where You Find It", the captivating rock of "Cancellation", the funky "Movin' Up", and the sublime ballad "Tryin' To Write A Hit Song", all of which together form one of the best debut albums in recent memory. A year later, Player released their second album, "Danger Zone", with some of the same characteristics as their debut, although featuring a more aggressive sound. While it didn't achieve the same level of success, it still earned a gold record for sales and spawned several impactful singles such as "Prisoner Of Your Love" and "Silver Lining".