The Gary Moore Band-"Grinding Stone" (1973)

Gary Moore's beginnings date back to the late sixties when he came from Belfast and at only 17 years old he joined a band called Skid Row (to be confused with the band of the same name of North American origin from the decade of the eighties).
With this band Gary Moore would record three albums and would become known by opening for leading bands such as Mountain or The Allman Brothers throughout the United States.
Already in 1973 Gary Moore decided to found his own band and under the name of The Gary Moore Band, he recorded his first album entitled "Grinding Stone", where the Irish guitarist already announced what was to come in the following years.
"Grinding Stone" is a superb album of hard rock and psychedelic blues with outstanding compositions such as the opening song "Grinding Stone", a psychedelic instrumental where Moore shows his talent with the six strings, the epic with progressive overtones "Spirit" or the Boogie Blues "Boogie My Way Back Home".
From here Gary Moore would not stop publishing records with different formations such as Colosseum, Thin Lizzy or solo and being recognized worldwide as one of the great guitars in rock history.

Steps Ahead-"Modern Times" (1984)

Steps Ahead were one of the jazz rock and fusion superbands that forged their careers in the 1980s and part of the 1990s.
Formed in 1979 Michael Brecker, Don Groinick, Mike Manieri, Eddie Gomez and Peter Erskine, released their first album in 1980 titled "Step By Step".
On their third album "Modern Times", the band incorporates the electronic advancements of the 1980s and does so elegantly and with great talent.
Led by vibraphonist Mike Manieri, they wisely combine jazz and rock influences using all sorts of new concepts applied to music, such as the synthesized sax (wisely handled by Michael Brecker), Tony Levin's Chapman Stick and different synthesizers and programmed drums.
Tracks like the hypnotic "Safari", the classic jazz fusion "Oops" or the masterful "Self Portrait" make up an indispensable jazz fusion album.

Triana-"Hijos del Agobio" (1977)

We are in 1977 and Spain is experiencing a generalized convulsion after the Franco regime, at that time the country was waiting impatiently for the new Spanish Constitution to come into force, that is why a certain impatience was generated on the side of the feelings of hope and liberation of the Spanish, In this context, Triana published his second album "Hijos del Agobio" with clear allegories towards those transcendental moments.
Musically, the Sevillian group reaffirmed the proposal they offered on their first album "El Patio" from a year earlier, symphonic progressive rock with flamenco reminiscences.
From the beginning the band never hid its intention to sound like the rising British progressive rock bands of the time (King Crimson, Genesis, Yes or Pink Floyd) but endowed it with the essence of Andalusian folk and flamenco music.
"Hijos del Agobio" contains memorable moments such as the overwhelming and hurtful song that gives the album its title, an encouraging message to the post-Franco regime, the poetic with a fandango base "Rumor", the complex "Sentimiento de Amor" and "Recuerdos de Triana" lead to the best songs on the album "Ya Esta Bien" and "Necesito", both with clear influences from the germ King Crimson.
"Hijos del Agobio" is a creepy album one of the masterpieces of Spanish rock and that marked an era in a whole country like Spain

Rush-"Hemispheres" (1978)

If with the album "2112" Rush had begun the period dedicated to conceptual and progressive albums, in the next two albums "A Farewell To Kings" and this "Hemispheres" the band repeats this formula and they even become more pretentious as they predominate by above the melodies the virtuosity of its three members.
"Hemispheres" contains one of his greatest pieces of his entire career, the suite "Cygnus X-1", twenty minutes of great epic progressive hard rock, in which the technical capacity and instrumental skills of Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee they are amazing.
Other compositions like "La Villa Strangiato", (fantastic instrumental theme), and "The Trees" become classics of the band.
"Hemispheres" remains the culmination of the band's most essential stage and their umpteenth masterpiece.

George Harrison-"All Things Must Pass" (1970)

 "All Things Must Pass" was George Harrison's first album after the dissolution of The Beatles, although it was not his first solo work since while he belonged to the fab four he had published two short-lived works "Wonderwall Music" (1968) and "Electronic Sound" (1969), both quite far from his style, basically experimental records that went quite unnoticed.
"All Things Must Pass" is not only an ambitious album (triple vinyl) but also his masterpiece as a musician, where most of the songs contained here are discards that were never public with the Liverpoool band.
Agglutinated in the same album and with the impeccable production work of Phil Spector, it is a magical album of great songs, where the masterful "My Sweet lord", "Isn´t It A Pirty" or "What Is life" stand out, but that they are only part of a sensational job where none of the pieces fit here are left over.

Miles Davis-"Kind Of Blue" (1959)

"Kind of Blue" is considered the most transcendent album in jazz history, an elegant and exquisite work by six virtuoso musicians who recorded a true masterpiece.
Recorded in 1959, in just two days, they captured the relaxed, fluid, sensual mood of the fifties, and the complexity of the subsequent decade, while being one of the most influential records.
For this recording, Miles Davis surrounded himself with the pianist Bill Evans, whose contribution was as important as that of Davis himself, the legendary saxophonists John Coltrane and "Cannonbal" Adderley, who improvised superbly and an outstanding rhythmic section composed by Paul Chambers on double bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums.
They never rehearsed the recorded tracks and just played spontaneously.
This album signifies the beginning of modal jazz, which is characterized by improvisations in which modes or scales are used instead of chords.
Since it was released, it has been gaining fame to the point of being the best-selling jazz album in history.

David Sanborn-"Voyeur" (1981)

David Sanborn is one of the most acclaimed saxophonists in history, a musician who has inspired thousands of rock, jazz, pop or blues musicians.
As a child and as part of the treatment and rehabilitation against polio and on medical advice, little David begins to play the saxophone.
His first influences were on the Chicago bluesmen and before finishing his studies he had already collaborated with Albert King or Little Milton.
After belonging to the Butterfield Blues Band with which he participated in the famous Woodstock, he would play on the Stevie Wonder album "Talking Book", thus starting a brilliant career as a session musician for many artists; The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, James Brown, Don McLean, Ian Hunter, Michael Bolton or Bruce Springsteen among many others.
In 1975 he published his first solo album "Taking Off" in which the song "Butterfat" stood out with a touch of sax with wha-wha, and that would help the major labels to notice him.
In 1979 he had his first Grammy nomination for his album "Hideway" where he had already expanded his horn section that were very well received by critics (eventually he would get six awards in total).
In 1981 would come "Voyeur" his best work and at the same time the most successful in sales, and winner of his first Grammy award.
With a style between smooth jazz and mainstream jazz with certain pop touches Sanborn was releasing albums regularly, some of them very successful like "As We Speak" (1981), "Backstreet" (1983) or "Straight to the Heart" (1984).
His career has continued to this day with many collaborations for other artists or regularly publishing works that are well received by the smooth jazz fan circuit and jazz in general.

Earth, Wind & Fire-" The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol1" (1978)

Earth Wind & Fire managed to turn any song they composed into an authentic anthem for a whole generation, whether it was funk, rock, soul, disco or R&B, as well as being one of the most successful bands of all time with close to the 100 million records sold, having been nominated seventeen times, obtaining six awards and endless other recognitions.
In 1978, with only seven albums published, the compilation "The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1" was launched, which would obtain an overwhelming success with more than 6 million copies sold, thanks to an impressive collection of big hits; "Got to Get You Into My Life", "Fantasy", "Love Music", "Getaway", "September" or "Sing a Song".
The band will continue publishing works until 2014, reaping success after success such as the best sellers albums "I Am" (1979), "Faces" (1980), "Raise!" (1981) or "The Essential" (2002).

John Campbell-"One Believer" (1991)

John Campbell was one of the most unknown bluesman to the general public, who nevertheless published several of the best and most impressive blues records of the nineties.
His first album dates back to 1975, which however, went completely unnoticed from here, Campbell would continue to play in clubs in Texas and New Orleans, and in the mid-eighties he would move to New York, joining the spirited blues scene of the city of skyscrapers.
In 1988 the guitarist Ronnie Earl produced "A Man And His Blues", with which he would gain a certain reputation, and a nomination for the W.C. Handy awards and incidentally interest in the Elektra label that publishes his next work "One Believer" in 1991.
With a style of acoustic blues fused with country and rural blues, Campbell endows his songs with sad lyrics, heartbreaks, road bars and themes from the deep america.
One Believer is full of exciting blues with a lot of punch and feelings; "Devil in My Closet", "Wild Streak", "Tiny Coffin", "World of trouble" or the superb "Voodoo Edge".
Two years later and following a continuity pattern he publishes "Howlin Mercy", which contains an exciting version of the Led Zeppelin song "When The Leaves Breaks" that gains a lot of notoriety.
He later joined Buddy Guy for several years to tour the United States, but in 1993 he died of a heart attack at the age of 41, his death prevented him from becoming a blues legend over time, just as his latest works were beginning to have great success on the international blues circuits.

George Benson-"Weekend in L.A." (1977)

With one of the most iconic covers in the world of jazz and pop, George Benson published his second live show "Weekend in L.A." in 1977, shortly after having published his sixteenth studio album "In Flight" where he was already beginning to dazzle the directions where his career was leading from here, with a jazz with pop influences, without forgetting his dabbling in funk and soul.
By the time this album was released, Benson had been releasing records for fourteen years since making his debut with "The New Boss Guitar Of George Benson" in 1964.
Influenced by guitarists like Wes Montgomery, Benson would start with instrumental records oriented to jazz, swing and even R&B where his peculiar way of playing the guitar made him famous, even winning several Grammy Awards (ten in total) throughout his career.
Outstanding works such as "Beyond the Blue Horizon", "White Rabbit" both from 1971, or the successful "Breezin" (1976), "Living´Inside Your Love" (1979), or "Give Me The Night" (1980) cataloged it as one of the best jazz instrumentalists.
"Weekend in L.A." it was recorded entirely at the West Hollywood Roxy "in Los Angeles, making it his best known and most legendary live album.
With a very varied repertoire where you can hear his eclectic style ranging from instrumental "California P.M." or "The Greatest Love Of All", until the famous "On Broadway" that appeared in the mythical movie "All That Jazz", going through more mainstream songs like "Lady Blue", cuts in the purest smooth jazz style "Windsong" or purely jazz songs "We As love".

Joel Fajerman-"L´Aventure Des Plantes" (1979)

Joel Fajerman is a classically trained French composer and keyboardist who has developed a career in composing mainly music for TV series or soundtracks.
In 1979 he composed the work "L´Aventure des Plantes", with which he became famous worldwide, and which contains one of the most popular songs in 20th century music "Flowers Love".
However, and although this theme was the catapult of this magnificent album, the rest are of a remarkable quality, with very organic music but with great and rich nuances, very much in keeping with the purpose for which it was made, a documentary about the world of the plants.

Richard Marx-"Repeat Offender" (1989)

At the end of the 80s the singer Richard Marx published his second album entitled "Repeat Offender" with which he made one of the best and most remembered melodic rock albums of that decade.
If with his debut album he had already achieved a great reputation as a great singer and a very good composer with an album that covered songs close to the AOR and beautiful ballads that would boost him to an eighth place in the Top-20, with "Repeat Offender" he would reach the top of the charts and a sales that exceeded four million albums.
For this new album, Richard Marx surrounded himself with a superb team of musicians with whom it was impossible to make a bad album, members of great melodic rock bands such as Chicago and Toto (Bill Champlin,Steve Lukather, Bobby Kimball) in addition to Michael Landau, Larry Williams, Nathan East, Tom Scott, Randy Jackson, Mike Baird or Bruce Gaitsch among many others were participants in a colossal album.
In addition to the hits from the album "Angelia" and "Right Here Waiting", an AOR halftime and a beautiful ballad, it contained other songs of great melodic rock "Too Late Say Goodbye", forceful rock "Heart On The Line", addictive themes "If You Don´t Want My Love" or melodic AOR "Children Of the Night".
Two years later with his album "Rush Street" he hardened his style, but preserving melodic rock and which was a success although to a lesser extent, and where the jazzy "Keep Coming Back", the emotional "Hazard" or the purely stood out AOR "Calling You".

Various Artists-"The Concert For Bangladesh" (1971)

"The Concert for Bangladesh", was recorded on August 1971 at Madison Square Garden in New York and published in December of that same year, many years later it was considered one of the best live shows in history, by the prestigious magazine Rolling Stone.
One of the reasons why this triple live album had this mention is due to the production of Phil Spector who transferred his famous wall of sound to the stage (much more appreciable in the remastered edition of the double cd released years later), that's why during the entire recital (except for the first part, exclusively by Ravi Shankar and his sitar) the band was made up of two drums and a percussionist, two keyboardists, six guitarists, a bassist and a seven-person choir. Among all these, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Leon Russell, Badfinger, Bob Dylan or Billy Preston. This concert was also Bob Dylan's first public appearance in five years and here he performed five of his most famous songs.
"The Concert for Bangladesh" was the result of an initiative by former Beatle George Harrison and Ravi Shankar in defense of Bengali refugees, reprisals for the armed conflict between Pakistan and India for the independence of what is now Bangladesh. It was the first benefit concert, and a model for what years later were massive events like Live Aid.
Among the songs performed stand out those of George Harrison "My Sweet Lord", Bob Dylan "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall", "Blowin´ In the Wind", Eric Clapton "Jumpin´Jack Flash / Young Blood", or "Something" with the whole band.
For his part, George Harrison, in the brightest moment of his career after The Beatles, brought the best of his triple debut album, "All Things Must Pass" released a year earlier, to live with conviction, spirituality and fervor that the songs required.
However, if the artistic result was very anthological (this direct was undoubtedly one of the best advertising operations that the Bengali cause could achieve), financially it was a complete disaster, in such a way that Harrison himself had to put his own pocket a check of almost a quarter million dollars for the benefit of the victims.

Prince and the Revolution-"Purple Rain" (1984)

Prince was one of the artists who aroused the most admiration in the eighties, this multi-instrumentalist musician, played all instruments, sang and produced his own records, all without leaving his own studio in Minneapolis.
The son of a jazz pianist and a singer, he made his debut at the age of 20 with his album "For You", which without being a relevant album would begin to be considered and respected in the world of pop.
His subsequent albums get better repercussions and thus "Dirty Mind" (1980), "Controversy" (1981) and above all "1999" (1982), manage to position themselves among the avant-garde musicians of vigorous pop rock and soul of the eighties. .
In 1984 his sixth album "Purple Rain" appeared (the first that he would sign with his band The Revolution), the soundtrack of a movie of the same name, with a confusing history and autobiographical notes on the rise to stardom of a glamorous rock musician.
"Purple Rain" would definitely elevate Prince to the olympus of pop rock, in part due to his portentous track "Purple Rain" in which Prince himself performs a memorable guitar solo.
An album that would achieve astronomical sales of more than 20 million copies, in addition to winning a Grammy and an Oscar for the best soundtrack.

Paul Simon-"Graceland" (1986)

By the early 1980s Paul Simon had released two mediocre and partly disappointing albums that had relegated them to popularity levels far below their status as a pop star.
Towards the middle of the decade Paul Simon overhears a cassette of South African groups from the suburbs of Soweto.
From this point on, Simon became interested in that music and considered recording an album where he mixed those African songs and his personal creativity.
The result was an incredible interracial work that mixed the roots of American music, pop, a cappella music, rock and traditional sounds such as isicathamiya and mbaqanga, in addition to receiving strong influences from South African musicians such as Johnny Clegg.
The vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and other great African and North American musicians participate actively in the album: Youssou N´Dour, Randy Brecker, Steve Gadd or Adrian Belew among many others.
"Graceland" won four platinum albums for its sales and the Grammy award for best album of 1986, in addition to putting Paul Simon on the path of success after a few years disappeared from the charts.

Michael Jackson-"Thriller" (1982)

In 1982 Michael Jackson released his sixth solo album "Thriller" which would definitely catapult him to stardom and would also become one of the best-selling albums in history and twelve Grammy Award nominations, of which he was awarded eight.
Produced by Quincy Jones, many renowned jazz and rock musicians such as Eddie Van Halen, Steve Porcaro, Paul McCartney, Jeff Porcaro, Steve Lukather, Paulinho Da Costa or Larry Williams among many others would work for the recording.
Much of the fault that this album was so successful was due to the video clips used to support some of the songs included as "Billie Jean".
Thriller contains a collection of great songs such as "The Girl is Mine", a duet with Paul McCartney, "Beat" with an impressive Van Halen guitar solo, "Billie Jean", a withering theme with a predominant bass or the ghostly rap of the song that gives the album title.

Fairport Convention-"Unhalfbricking" (1969)

Born into London's underground scene in the late 1960s, Fairport Convention would redefine traditional English music by fusing with classical and rock music, setting a new standard for folk rock.
And since their first album Fairport Convention they have done a nice job supported by the guitars of Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, where they even anticipate the debut of King Crimson with compositions like "Sun Shade" and "The Lobster" that could perfectly have been signed by Robert Fripp without excepting the use of Mellotron.
But after their second album and the subsequent "Unhalfbricking" (1969) the band undergoes line-up changes that result in a change of style towards a folk rock with traditional ornaments.

One of those responsible for this change was its new vocalist Sandy Denny, who had come in to replace Judy Dyble, and also partly responsible for the assorted changes not being to the liking of another of its members, Ian Matthews, who is leaving the band by the discontent of the change of style.
Practically all the members had an excellent academic training and that can be seen in the excellent and rich technique, both instrumental and in the lyrics of their songs.
"Unhalfbricking" contained great moments like "A Sailor's Life" a great traditional eleven minute song, the country "Cajun Woman", the great "Who Knows Where the Times Goes", or the versions of Bob Dylan "Percy's Song" and "Million Dollar Bash".
From here on, the band will continue to publish excellent albums such as the following "Liege & Lief" or "Full House" but with continuous line-up changes, which would detract from the creative vitality of the first works.

Grover Washington Jr.-"Winelight" (1980)

Grover Washington Jr. is one of the great saxophonists of jazz music, who from an early age would develop a natural instinct with this instrument and with jazz in particular.
Often criticized by the press for his jazzy commercial, Grover Washington Jr. released a series of albums in the 1970s that were highly rated by the public as the acclaimed "Inner City Blues", "All The King's Horses" or "Mister Magic", which made him a star, beginning to collaborate with musicians such as Eric Gale, Bob James or Dave Grusin.
In 1980 he published his best work "Winelight", where he experimented with funk and jazz, a fusion that was already associated with some of his previous works.
In "Winelight" he finally achieves international recognition and also at the same time aggravates his tense relationship with the specialized press, which on rare occasions gave a good review of his work by calling him selling himself to commercial sounds.
Tracks like the successful "Just The Two Of Us" sung by Bill Withers, "Let It Flow" with a solo anthology by the saxophonist, "Make Me A Memory" and the fantastic "Take Me There" took this album to the top on the Billboard Top Jazz Albums charts, a second place on the Soul charts and an incredible 5 spot on the Pop Albums charts, as well as a platinum record and two Grammy Awards in 1982.

ZZ Top-"Eliminator" (1983)

By the early 1980s, ZZ Top had released eight albums, all of them chart-topping and multi-million dollar sales, yet the trio of Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard still wanted much more prominence.
All his early albums were characterized by a style of southern rock, boogie rock and high voltage blues rock, among which "Tres Hombres" (1973) "Fandando" (1975) and "Deguello" (1979) stood out.
But after this adventure Gibbons decides to experiment with synthesizers and as a result of this came "Eliminator" and later "Afterburner", both works in which the band would jump with all the predictions to the first positions with a style based on their dusty rock seasoned with electronics, or what is the same dance rock.
"Eliminator" contained succulent examples of his hard rock-disco with such attractive themes as "Gimme All Your Lovin´", "Legs"or "Sharp Dressed Man".
However, they all had something in common and it was their lyrics focused on women, supported by video clips with images of beautiful young women and classics cars that would catapult them to the point of reaping sales of more than 17 million copies and high positions in the charts.

Deep Purple-"Fireball" (1971)

Inexplicably Deep Purple had not reached number one in the British Islands with their fantastic "In Rock", reaching only a fourth place, not so in the United States where they would reach the top, however with their next album "Fireball" if they would achieve it immediately.
Recorded with the classic line-up (Blackmore, Paice, Lord, Glover and singer Ian Gillan), it is the second album after the aforementioned "In Rock" where Deep Purple sounds like Deep Purple, their first three works are no more than interesting collections of versions quite obvious but very close to pop.
"Fireball" was always weighed down by being right in the middle of his two great masterpieces "In Rock" and "Machine Head" and among the great songs that compose it, only two have gone down to posterity; "The Mule" and "Strange Kind of Woman".
No one doubts that the level is somewhat lower than the two albums mentioned, but even so it has an enviable stylistic richness.
Apotheosis songs like "Fireball", the hypnotic and brilliant "Demon's Eye" or the psychedelic "Fools" show that he is almost at the height of his best works.

Jackson Browne-"Hold Out (1980)

In 1980 Jackson Browne had not published new songs for four years, his previous "Running on Empty" (1978) was a live show which was hugely successful thanks to the Zodiacs version of "Stay".
So this "Hold Out" meant the first work since "The Pretender" of 1976, with this new album Browne again gave a lesson in sobriety as a composer and at the same time showed that he was prepared for the challenge of a new decade and her styles that would predominate in her.
"Hold On" was from the beginning on the way to number one on the charts, his songs did not go unnoticed by the general public, and placed Browne at the top of popularity. Tracks like "Boulevard, "That Girl Could Sing", "Disco Apocalypse" or "Of Missing Persons" were very popular and among the most prominent of this fantastic album that although it would not exceed the sales of its predecessor, if it would achieve a double album platinum only in the United States.

Chuck Mangione-"Feels So Good" (1977)

It took 17 years for Chuck Mangione to finally have great success and international recognition, so it was with his 1977 album "Feels So Good".
Mangione had begun his artistic career in 1960 releasing album after album with a total of eight, all of which seemed to be, despite their undoubted quality, stuck at the bottom of the charts with little commercial impact.
His career up to that point had been quite prolific with various collaborations such as the Jazz Brothers, together with his brother Gaspare, in different jazz orchestras such as Art Blakey's Jazz Messenger and he even recorded an ambitious project with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra where he wanted to express his ideas of merging jazz and rock and which included the cut "The Hill Where The Lord Hides" with which he would draw attention.
When "Feels So Good" came out, it produced a collective madness towards Mangione's music, even leading the pop and black music charts, something unusual coming from the world of jazz.
But more unusual was that it would win the Grammy Award in three different categories; pop, jazz and rhythm and blues.
After this "Feels So Good", Mangione published other albums of great repercussion such as "Fun And Games" and the soundtrack "Los Hijos de Sanchez", both at the end of the seventies.

The Cars-"Candy-O" (1979)

The Cars was an American band founded in Boston by Rick Ocasek, and they were framed within the new wave current of the late 70s and early 80s.
After a shocking first album "The Cars", they released their second album titled "Candy-O", with a suggestive cover where pin-ups are drawn.
This album was produced by Roy Thomas Baker who came from producing the Queen album "Jazz", on "Candy-O" there is a great variety of power pop, sophisticated arrangements and powerful songs, highlighting "Since I Held You" , "Double Life" or the sudden "Let's Go".
The album was catapulted to the top positions with millionaire sales, and made the group one of the sensations of the time.
Later this quintet - in addition to Ocasek, the band was composed of Benjamin Orr, David Robinson, Elliott Easton and Greg Hawkes -, would continue to publish records until almost the end of the eighties, such as "Panorama" or "Heartbeat City" which were multi platinum and reached the top of the Top-20.

Led Zeppelin-"Presence" (1976)

In 1976 Led Zeppelin published "Presence" his seventh album, which, like all his previous works, would reach number one on the charts, however this album is not up to its predecessors.
Recorded in the midst of personal problems, the band had postponed the world tour supporting the album "Physical Graffiti" due to a traffic accident by Robert Plant on the island of Rhodes in Greece, likewise the excesses and addictions of Page and Bonham had as resulted in extremely complicated recordings.
Even so "Presence" contains memorable songs like the epic "Achilles Last Stand", in addition to the hard blues "Nobody's Fault But Mine" the blues "Tea For One" or the fantastic "For You Life".
However the rest suffers from certain deficiencies with songs that do not have the greatness of yesteryear, becoming the first minor album by Led Zeppelin.

Steve Vai-"Passion And Warfare" (1990)

Steve Vai is considered one of the greatest guitarists of the last part of the 20th century, his technique is of great virtuosity that is beyond the parameters of any musician, in addition to a great talent in composition.
With a rather complex and extravagant style, in a sense he has taken influences from Frank Zappa, with whom he collaborated on different occasions.
His obsessive work to achieve sound perfection has led him to publish albums that are either hated or venerated by the public, due to their innovation and avant-garde, which does not detract from a certain commercial coupled with his enormous talent with the guitar.
In 1990 he released his second album "Passion And Warfare" where he masterfully recreated his style with a lot of pyrotechnics, melody, magic and feeling all in anthologist compositions and in some cases sublime.
A repertoire where the melodic "Liberty", the innovative "Erotic Nightmares", the complex "The Animal", the enormous "For The Love Of God" or the extravagant "Love Secrets" stand out.

Frank Zappa-"Guitar" (1988)

Frank Zappa was never politically correct, both in his musical claims and in the concept and way of publishing his works.
In 1988 he published the double "Guitar", which exclusively includes guitar solos by Frank Zappa himself.
If it was published to demonstrate his guitar skills for those who always said that he surrounded himself with great guitarists or not, we will never know, but this is a clear example for those who thought about the first thing change their mind.
Apart from all this, Frank Zappa was one of the best guitarists of all time and in this album both Zappa and his band exude virtuosity, technique and feelings.
Surrounded by great musicians among which are Steve Vai, Vinnie Colaiuta, Ike Willis or Bobby Martin, among others, makes this work much more interesting, where we can listen to the different genres that he played throughout his career.
Rock songs "Hot Rats", psychedelic blues "Sexual Harassment in the Workplace", rock and roll "Sunrise Redeemer", reggae "That´s Not Really Reggae", ballads "Do Not Pass Go", musical delusions "That Ol´G Minor Thing Again" or superb solos like " Watermelon in Easter Hay".

Metallica-"Metallica" (1991)

In 1991 Metallica published their album of the same name or also known as "Black Album", for many the beginning of its decadence, for others a heavy metal masterpiece, although everyone agrees that it was a full stop in the career from the band.
Metallica with this album leaves behind their virtuous trash metal that had elevated them to offer a heavy sound, but with a clean sound and much more accessible than their previous four works.
There is no doubt that the production of Bob Rock contributed to the band recording their most commercial album and at the same time the most remembered, for better or for worse.
"Enter Sandman" with that mythical riff, the creepy "Sad Bad True", the heavy "Through The Never" or "Wherever I May Room" or the halftime "The Unforgiven" and "Nothing Else Matters" made up a superb work heavy metal with a dose of old-time trash metal.
Until 2018, some 17 million copies of this album had been sold in the United States and a total of 32 million worldwide.

Weather Report-"8:30" (1979)

"8:30" is a live stuntman for the jazz rock band Weather Report, chronologically the band's tenth album released in 1979 and was recorded the previous year at the Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica in California on the backing tour from the album "Mr. Gone".
At that time the band consisted of its most classic and successful line-up: Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius and Peter Erskine, in addition to other supporting musicians such as Erich Zawinul.
For many this is a historic recording and one of the best jazz rock live shows ever recorded, with a repertoire loaded with some of the band's best compositions such as the initial "Black Market", the delicate "A Remark You Made ", the classic Miles Davis "In A Silent Way" or the apotheosis "Birland".
This album would get a Grammy award for best jazz performance the following year and a third place on the Billboard Jazz Albums charts.

Pink Floyd-"The Wall" (1979)

"The Wall" is an album of enormous proportions, both in its realization, execution and conception, with pharaonic characteristics, an album that conveys a story through music, a monumental film and some superb and complex subsequent concerts.
Musically it was an ambitious project in the history of rock, created by a brilliant mind such as Roger Waters, with overwhelming results in sales and in favorable reviews, if Pink Floyd had already embroidered perfection with "The Dark Side of the Moon" with "The Wall" they had surpassed the threshold of final and final work.
A baroque, spectacular and convoluted album, a conceptual album that reaches absolute genius, with a luxurious production and a wealth of anthological texts.
The music perfectly complements what each song is recounting, which makes the listener be mesmerized and captivated in a thousand different ways.
One of the greatest masterpieces of music in all its history and of rock in particular.

Black Oak Arkansas-"High On The Hog" (1973)

In the second division of the southern rock bands, Black Oak Arkansas would publish about a dozen albums in the 70s, some of them with a great reception.
"High on the Hog" was the band's fifth album, fourth under study, released in 1973, and is their best work, produced by well-known producer Tom Dowd.
A band that using the best resources of the typical southern rock bands, had three guitarists who gave the characteristic touch to their sound. Big´s southern themes, doses of boogie rock, blues rock and the unmistakable voice of its leader, singer Jim Dandy, made up an album and a band that well deserved much more recognition than it got.

The Jeff Healey Band-"See The Light" (1988)

A blind guitarist playing like any virtuoso guitar man? Well, that was Jeff Healey, who at the age of eleven lost his sight due to cancer in his eyes, which were surgically removed and replaced by artificial ones.
He learned to play by listening to the greats of the blues and imitating them with his guitar resting on his lap, in the style of a pedal steel guitar.
Hardened playing in Toronto pubs and venues he would soon build a great reputation and in 1988 he released his first album under the name The Jeff Healey Band and entitled "See The Light".
Together with drummer Tom Stephen and bassist Joe Rockman, this spectacular trio made an album full of magic with that unique and unmistakable style that Healey imprinted in his way of playing the guitar.
Bestial blues rock songs like "Confidence", "My Little Girl", songs with a southern flavor like "Don't Let Your Chance Go", tender ballads like "Angel Eyes" or exciting blues like "That´s What They Say" , rounded off an album that made known a blues legend who unfortunately died very young at the age of 41 in 2008, but leaving a beautiful legacy of a dozen great albums.

Magnum-"Escape From The Shadow Garden" (2014)

Magnum are one of the most superb bands in rock history, with one of the longest careers and one of the most extraordinary discographies, which are nevertheless somewhat undervalued worldwide.
They have always combined virtuosity and melodies perfectly with different styles that have evolved over time, from the progressive rock of their beginnings to the melodic rock of their albums of the eighties and nineties.
In 2014 they released their eighteenth album "Escape From The Shadow Garden", an album that contains a collection of absolutely wonderful songs, with sublime arrangements, some memorable compositions, with those crystalline sounds and the guitars of Tony Clarkin and the tremendous voice of Bob Catley that give the essence to this fundamental and mythical band.

Dare-"Belief" (2001)

The band led by Warren Wharton; Dare, published in 2001 his fourth album titled "Belief", where they broadened their horizons of their great hard rock and AOR, wisely fusing it with Celtic sounds in an elegant and effective way.
Already in their previous "Calm Before The Storm" they had introduced Celtic elements, but nevertheless they were not as intense and emotional as in this new album, which was their most successful work and a classic of melodic rock.
Packed with great melodic and emotional songs like "Silent Thunder", "White Horses" or "We Were Friends".

Kiss-"Alive!" (1975)

"Alive" was the first live album by the legendary Kiss, published in 1975, where it includes a selection of songs from their first three and only albums published by the band until that year ("Kiss", "Hotter Than Hell" and "Dressed To Kill").
With this formidable direct double, Kiss obtained great fame and was the trigger for them to be known worldwide.
With a sound ahead of its time which was questioned by its "tweaks" in the studio, visceral and powerful songs such as "Hotter Than Hell", "Nothin´To Lose", "C'mon and Love me", "100, 000 Years", "Rock Bottom" or "Rock and Roll All Nite".
The album stayed on the charts for nothing more and nothing less than 110 consecutive weeks and its sales far exceeded 6 million copies worldwide.

The Beatles-"Let It Be" (1970)

"Let It Be" was the last Beatles album to be published, although not the last to be recorded, a fact that corresponds to "Abbey Road". It was originally agreed by Paul McCartney to go back to the roots of the band and not use all the studio effects used on their last albums, in order to be able to play the resulting songs in concert.
They also decide that they will create a documentary about how the band prepares for the aforementioned concert. The result of the recording cameras and bad relations between the four musicians in the studio, as well as the uncomfortable presence of Yoko Ono and the little interest shown by John Lennon in the project, result in tense sessions full of hostility, which will result in the resignation of George Harrison. Later there is a change of study and Harrison himself takes up the work (accompanied by Billy Preston) and things softened in part, however in reality he continued to be conflict, to such an extent that the tapes were mixed and rejected several times, finally Lennon he commissioned producer Phil Spector to edit and produce the album (Not without McCartney's rejection, who saw his idea of ​​an album amputated without so much study work).
In general terms, this album can be considered a worthy farewell to a group that shaped popular music as we know it today.
The band's rooftop concert at Abbey Road Studios will be a memorable moment to remember.

Emerson Lake and Palmer-"Tarkus" (1971)

In reality and more than a progressive rock band to use Emerson Lake and Palmer was a group of virtuosos who enjoyed showing off their enormous skills both in their albums and in their live shows.
Emerson's flaming organ and keyboards, backed up by Palmer's sublime and powerful drums and Lake's vocal sensitivity without neglecting his energetic and masterful bass playing, blended together perfectly creating wonderful albums like this "Tarkus".
"Tarkus" is the first work in which they prove to be an authentic group, combining the qualities of each member above the individualities.
The suite "Tarkus" is considered one of the definitive works of progressive rock, full of intensity and an overwhelming virtuosity that leaves the listener breathless.
The 20-minute duration of this impressive suite, partly weighs on the rest of the album unfairly, where powerful songs such as "A Time And A place" is also an anthological gem, or the rock and roll "Are You Ready Eddy?" where the trio shows their eclectic diversity.

Pink Floyd-"Wish You Were Here" (1975)

In 1975 Pink Floyd released "Wish You Were Here", the ninth album chronologically and the one that would rise the fastest to number one on the charts on both sides of the Atantic, it would also be the first to have the collaboration of musicians outside the band as was the singer-songwriter Roy Harper.
Conceived as a conceptual work during its recording, several very significant events occurred, the first would be when Syd Barrett would appear unexpectedly while the band was in the middle of recording, something that was essential for Roger Waters to rethink the entire subsequent recording process.
Another fact was the difficulties that the new sound engineer Brian Humphries had when he did not know well the recording methods of Abbey Road Studios.
Before being published "Wish you Were Here" had behind it the ballast of a masterpiece like "The Dark Side Of The Moon", which partly overshadowed this album (at least at the beginning), also the fact that that Alan Parsons was not the sound engineer was taken with some doubts, however, the album does not lose an iota of freshness for it.
Musically this album brings textures and harmonies more typical of space rock than of more linear progressive rock and there are even approaches to jazz at very specific moments.
Highlighting any song in this monumental album is unnecessary since it is a work that must be heard in full in one sitting without defining or evaluating any cut over another.

Bonnie Raitt-"Nick Of Time" (1989)

Bonnie Raitt would begin her career as a blues rock singer and guitarist in the early seventies with her debut album "Bonnie Raitt", which would go unnoticed as would also happen with her subsequent works until in 1977 she achieved moderate success with her album "Sweet Forgiveness ".
However, his following works followed the trend of his first albums and as a consequence his contract with Warner Bros was terminated due to poor sales in the early eighties.
The rest of the decade Raitt is dedicated to politics and goes through a painful period given over to drugs and alcohol.
Almost at the end of the decade he received an offer from Capitol Records and with this label he recorded his tenth album "Nick of time" (1989), with which he finally made it to the covers of music magazines and the charts almost 18 years after its debut.
Influenced by traditional blues, to which he adds a dose of country, to which he combines his good voice and great skill with the guitar and the slider guitar, he achieves an album overflowing with folk blues with warm ballads and cozy mid-tenses.
Actually, nothing changed here from what I had done previously, with the difference that the themes were more resounding and forceful.
A monumental album that would get three Grammy Awards and some six million copies sold.
From now on, Bonnie Raitt's career would emerge in a definitive way collaborating with the best musicians and getting two albums of great impact such as "Luck of The Draw" (1991) or "Longing in Their Hearts" (1994).

Black Sabbath-"Paranoid" (1970)

By the time Black Sabbath released their first album and introduced the topics of the heavy metal genre as we know it today: cult of black color, leather clothes, attraction to the satanic, inverted crosses on stage and with tuning a eighth below the usual, the public did not come out of their amazement and astonishment, and that translated into the eighth position that his second album "Paranoid" would occupy in the charts being more than a year among the top hundred.
"Paranoid" is one of the most iconic heavy metal albums in its history, with a repertoire as sinister as it is infernal, from the lugrube "War Pigs" to the heavy rock "Paranoid" not to mention the sinister "Electric Funeral", the lysergic "Planet Caravan" or the heavy metal anthem "Iron Man".

The Black Crowes-"The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion" (1992)

Classic rock & roll owes an eternal debt to The Black Crowes, since with their debut album "Shake Your Money Maker" they would once again regenerate a style and return it to the top of the charts.
They borrowed rock with hints of southern sounds, and without sounding like cheap copy and failing badly, they brought it back into fashion in the nineties.
However many doubted the ability of the band to compose their own songs when their first hit was a muscular version of the Otis Redding song "Hard To Handle", however songs like "Twice as Hard" or "She Talks to Angels" they would prove everyone wrong.
With their second album The Back Crowes they would make the definitive leap developing their own style that would take them to number one on the charts with a superb work.
"The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion" is a magical great rock album, with compositions of the highest quality that could perfectly have been published at any time in the 70's, for its genius and that classic hard rock that the greats distilled bands of that time.

Thanks to my friend Grey for having introduced me to this band-

 

Bachman-Turner Overdrive-"Not Fragile" (1974)

Shortly after publishing the acclaimed "American Woman" of the Guess Who, one of its founders; Randy Bachman, leaves the band due to health problems, although in reality the reason was another cause closer to the disparity of musical criteria than anything else.
Some time later Bachman recruited his brothers Tim, Robbie and Fred Turner to start another project that they would call Bachman-Turner Overdrive, a curious name inspired by a truck magazine of the time, something that would enhance the image of a band from working class rock.
However, their first two albums were little appreciated and went unnoticed by the general public ("BTO" and "BTO 2"), and would not enter the charts for a while after being published.
For the next album Bachman takes over the production reins and puts a young guitarist named Blair Thornton in charge of the band, which is the ideal repulsive the band needed.
The result is this "Not Fragile", which published in 1974, would be the most successful album of the band, even reaching number one on the North American charts and achieving a surprising platinum record.
The album contained numerous hard-hitting and vigorous rock songs like "Roll on Down The Highway", "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet", "Free Wheelin" or "Not Fragile".

Bee Gees-"Here At Last...Bee Gees...Live" (1977)

On December 26, 1976 the Bee Gees recorded their first live album at the Forum in Los Angeles, which would be released a year later as a double LP entitled "Here At Last ... Bee Gees ... Live".
This double album also closed the first part of an impressive career, achieving platinum disc for its sales shortly after its publication.
Until that moment the Bee Gees had been characterized in themes oriented towards tender ballads, pop rock and even approaches to R&B and dance songs such as "Jive Talkin" or "Nights on Broadway" from their album "Main Course" from 1975.
The repertoire that was finally included in this double album includes a fantastic selection of the band's mythical themes; "Love So Right", "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?", "You Should Be Dancing", "Nights On Broadway" or "Jive Talkin´".
The album had a great reception, reaching almost five million copies sold around the world, a figure that helped add up to the more than 400 million records that the band has managed to sell throughout its long career.

Chris Rea-"The Road To Hell" (1989)

If there is one thing that everyone agrees on, it is the exquisite career of guitarist Chris Rea, with a style based on his peculiar broken voice, his original way of playing the guitar and his great compositions.
Born in the early 1950s in Middlesbrough, England, Rea has been a professional musician since the early 1970s releasing some of the most memorable soft rock albums.
Although it would not be until 1978 when he published his first album "Whatever happened to Benny Santini", with which he would achieve a gold record.
From here on, albums like "Deltics" (1979), "Tennis" (1980) or "Chris Rea" (1982) establish a career in which he begins to be respected and taken into consideration by critics and the public.
His albums cover disparate styles ranging from jazz to blues with great gospel touches that are the sounds that stand out in his work.
In 1983 he self-produced the album "Water Sign" in which his style took a more electronic look and the following works will maintain the same tonic, being very commercially received, "Wired the Moon" (1984) or "Shamrock diaries" (1985).
But the international popularity would arrive with the album "On the Beach" (1986) with which it manages to be number one in different countries with millionaire sales.
The following years will be marked by a series of great albums among which the fantastic "The Road to Hell" (1989) stands out, with which it would rise again to the first position in the charts with more than 7 million copies sold.
An album that contains memorable moments such as the frenetic album title song, the heartfelt "You Must Be Evil", the evocative "Looking For a Rainbow", or the dancing "Texas.
Auberge (1991) his next work and following the trend of the previous one, it would also become an international success, although to a lesser extent than this one "The Road To Hell".

Thunder-"Laughing On Judgment Day" (1992)

Formed in the late eighties with members of the defunct band Terraplane; Luke Morley and Danny Bowes decided to embark on a new adventure with a new band they called Thunder, and that with their first album "Backstreet Symphony" they would get a great diffusion and they would gain enough credit to perform in the prestigious "Monsters of Rock" of 1990 as headliners.
In this debut album the band showed an incipient hard rock of great invoice thanks to full compositions of great quality.
Two years later they would publish "Laughing On Judgment Day" where without leaving the hard rock essence of their first album, there is a greater prominence of the sounds of classic blues rock of the 70s but fused with the freshness and self-confidence of the ninety.
The intense "Empty City", or the halftimes "Low Life In High Places" and "Better Man" along with the cheeky "Everybody Wants Her", proved that the band was not just a promising debut.

Jean-Michel Jarre-Oxygene 7-13 (1997)

When a musician or group faces a second part or a sequel to a masterpiece, there are two possibilities, the first that it is a continuous success or the second that it is a failure, it is a complete disaster and ends up being viciously beaten.
Examples we have many, from Meat Loaf with his "Out of Hell II" to "Tubular Bells II" by Mike Oldfield to give just two examples that came out well.
In 1997 Jean Michel Jarre thought of continuing that fabulous album that he had released in 1976 "Oxygene", but giving it a more modern approach with the most technologically advanced sounds of the moment.
"Oxygene 7-13" was the title that was given to this sequel and was the product of the logical conological movements that followed the original, which consisted of six.
Jarre in this new installment of "Oxygene" sacrificed much of the original romantic component, changing it for a greater drama and a more calibrated dynamic load, achieving an elegant work that pleases and innovates without surpassing his original album.

Frank Zappa-In New York (1978)

"Zappa In New York" is a direct double that includes a selection of songs taken from various concerts offered by the great guitarist at the Palladium in New York at the end of 1976.
As was customary for Frank Zappa, his performances were not only intended to simply perform songs from previous albums but also to play new compositions and experimentation's that in many cases would later be included in later albums.
An album divided into two well-differentiated parts, the first album with a theatrical and humorous theme where "Puky's Whips" stood out, the burlesque "Honey, Don't You Want A Man Like Me", "the blues" The Illinois Enema Bandit "or various instrumentals such as "Cruisin´For Burgers" or "I Promise Not To Come In Your Mouth" songs both where the drummer Terry Bozzio and the keyboardist Eddie Jobson do a great instrumental job.
The second album is directed towards the virtuous part of Zappa himself and his band in general, as demonstrated in "The Purple Lagoon / Approximate", "Manx Needs Women" or "Black Page".
On "The Torture Never Stops" Zappa performs one of his now legendary guitar solos, which is technically flawless, while "Sofa" is one of the album's most memorable moments with the full band appearing in unison with a high degree of virtuosity.
A band that among others was comprised of very great musicians who would end up carving out reputable solo careers later: Eddie Jobson, Patrick O'Hearn, Terry Bozzio, Randy Brecker, Mike Brecker, Dave Samuels or Ray White.

Yes-Union (1991)

After smoothing the rough edges that existed between mainly Jon Anderson and Chris Squire in 1990 the two ABWH working groups on the one hand and the Yes on the other (although in reality Trevor Rabin on the one hand and Chris Squire on the other), both with different groups of musicians would record and produce the album "Union" in six different studios in New York, Los Angeles and Paris.
This nonsense working method would entail a lot of work for such an album, also the cover would once again be the work of Roger Dean and Eddie Offord would also appear in the production work.
The album contained, despite an evident little cohesion between them, very valid songs such as the frenetic "I Would Have Waited Forever" the excellent "Masquerade", the progressive "Miracle of Life" or the interesting "Silent Talking", the rest is enough. more predictable without too much interest coming from those who come the music.
An album that without being a bad job was inferior to the one that ABWH had released two years earlier as it suffered from a cohesion between the two fractions of the band that recorded this curious "Union".

ABWH-ABWH (1989)

At the end of the eighties the "world" Yes was immersed in chaos, on the one hand some old members of the original formation entered the studio to record a new album, on the other the remaining members were also immersed in a new work, all This under the name of Yes, however everything would remain in different projects away from the name of the band due to legal problems.
On the one hand Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford, Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe had to settle for signing their new album as ABWH (the initials of their last names) to officially launch the album and on the other the so-called YesWest formed by Chris Squire, Alan White, Tony Kaye and Billy Sherwood, did the same.
After ironing out rough edges they all signed an album with an all-eight band called "Union" in 1991, but before that the first four had released their desired "ABWH" in 1989.
An album that a priori had all the ingredients to be one of Yes's best works despite not having the official name, and that would even have a cover designed by Roger Dean himself.
However, it was not what was expected despite containing good moments and in a way it manages to sound like the Yes of its best time in certain songs such as the initial "Themes" or "Quartet", the rest are a kind of hybrid between which they did Asia or GTR like "Birthright", "Order of the Universe" or songs that seemed more taken from the works of Jon Anderson with Vangelis than from Yes as a band; "Let's Pretend" or "Fist of Fire".

Deep Purple-Made In Europe (1976)

Often disparaged for comparisons to the formidable "Made In Japan", this live is the perfect testament to Deep Purple's greatness in the mid-1970s.
"Made In Europe" was recorded after the two albums that the so-called Mark III (the formation comprised of Blackmore, Paice, Lord, Coverdale and Hughes), recorded, that is to say "Burn" and "Stormbringer", so all songs that appear here belong exclusively to those two works.
A live show where the majestic "Burn" and "Mistreated", the dizzying "Lady Double Dealer" or the bluesy "You Fool No One" stand out in an overwhelming way.

Queen-Live Killers (1979)

Almost at the end of the 70s Queen were still in their purely rock stage, without those pop sounds, sweet, mellow songs, tacky in many cases and synthesizers everywhere that were the tonic of the eighties.
"Live Killers" was recorded during the European tour of the album "Jazz", it is an example of what this band did at that time in a so raw and real way, there we have to demonstrate it with the initial and tremendously fast "We Will Rock You", the challenging "Let Me Entertain You" or the poisoned "Death On Two Legs", and so hard songs with calmer moments go by until they reach "Bohemian Rhapsody" and a series of energetic songs that leave the public breathless like "Tie Your Mother Down", "Sheer Heart Attack" and the encore "We Will Rock You" at its original speed, to end with the rock arrangement of the British anthem "God Save The Queen" that closes this magnificent double live, far superior to any others that have subsequently been published.