Los Pekenikes-Los Pekenikes (1966)

Considered one of the best Spanish bands of all time, Los Pekenikes were equally fundamental to the beginnings of pop and rock in Spain. They became so famous and important that The Beatles themselves chose them to open their only concert during their visit to Spain in 1965. This renowned quintet, founded in 1959, included among its members some of the best Spanish solo artists of all time, such as Eddys Guzmán, Pepe Nieto, Rodrigo García, Juan Pardo, and Junior. In 1966, they achieved spectacular success with their song "Hilo de Seda" (Silk Thread), which topped the charts in countries like the Netherlands, Mexico, and Portugal, in addition to Spain, and had a significant presence on the charts in many other European countries. Creators of a unique and distinctive style that blended the so-called Tijuana Sound with Spanish popular music, they topped the charts on numerous occasions thanks to other emblematic songs such as "Palomitas de Maíz" (Popcorn), "Tabasco", "Los Cuatro Muleros" (The Four Muleteers), and "Embustero y Bailarín" (Liar and Dancer). Their first full-length album, released in 1966 under the Hispavox label, showcased the instrumental talent of all its members in a repertoire that included songs like "Hilo de Seda" (Silk Thread), "Lady Pepa", "Romance Anónimo" (Anonymous Romance), "Arena Caliente" (Hot Sand), and "Sombras y Rejas" (Shadows and Bars).

Jethro Tull-Minstrel in the Gallery (1975)

In 1975, Jethro Tull rebounded from the uneven Warchild with the great Minstrel in the Gallery. Minstrel is the band's eighth studio album and, in marked divergence with the fortunes of most of theother first-generation English progressive bands, heralded for Tull the onset of a creative second wind that propelled them through the years 1975-1978 in (mostly) superlative form. If I was to make a list of what I thought were Jethro Tull's three best albums, it would include Minstrel in the Gallery. Minstrel presents a refinement of the musical advances that the band had been making since around the time of A Passion Play, resulting in an album that has a foot in Tull's past while also portending future successes.

If Warchild tended toward sonic excess, Minstrel is all about economy and wastes nothing. It was Tull's most acoustic album to date, and remains one of Ian Anderson's most lyrically personal. Vastly diminishing the prominence of electric keyboards (most of what you'll hear from John Evan is on a piano) and perfecting the usage of David Palmer's strings, Ian Anderson created in Minstrel an atmosphere that is both intimate and organic, and which skillfully accomodates each dynamic extreme, sometimes within the same track. The album finds lead guitarist Martin Barre with plenty to do, as the first three songs have blazing guitar solos; yet, both "Cold Wind To Valhalla" and "Black Satin Dancer" also feature some of the album's most graceful, unobtrusive string passages. "Requiem" is a very pretty acoustic song that reminds me a bit of the shorter pieces on Aqualung — in fact, a good deal of Minstrel sounds like a more logical successor to Aqualung than Thick as a Brick, even if the music is often much more sophisticated.

That sophistication comes in the form of Tull's increasingly complex harmonic language. For all of the keyboards, the classically-inspired motifs and the big concepts in Jethro Tull's recent past, the band's music on Minstrel in the Gallery (and 1977's Songs From the Wood) is more original, complex and "progressive" than Thick As A Brick or A Passion Play. One of Jethro Tull's most important formalistic contributions to their genre was their pioneering usage of additive rhythms and beats (a technique discussed at length in Allan Moore's excellent book Rock: The Primary Text and referenced in Paul Stump's The Music's All That Matters: A History of Progressive Rock). The style is fully matured on Minstrel's ensemble pieces, distinguishing Tull's rhythm section (drummer Barrie Barlow, bassist Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond and, later, bassist John Glascock) as among the most creative in all of progressive rock. Additionally, Anderson continued to rely less and less on riffs as musical foundations and instead built his songs by weaving together different melodic lines, which increased the compositional potential for harmonic creativity and was conducive to unorthodox verse/chorus structures. It also opened the door for more contrapuntal activity, a trait that Anderson is said to have admired in the music of Gentle Giant.

The second half of Minstrel is taken up mostly by the multi-part "Baker Street Muse," a 17-minute piece that, in retrospect, was the final song approaching this length that Jethro Tull would record. "Baker Street Muse" is evidence that Ian Anderson never did quite master long-form composition, as it is more a sequence of collages than a unified piece. Because I find each of the sections to be melodically appealing and musically interesting, however, I must consider "Baker Street Muse" to be a success; at least, until the various themes are all hurriedly reprised in succession at the song's conclusion.

In my opinion, much of Minstrel In the Gallery displays Jethro Tull at the top of their game. I would recommend it to anyone. The album was remastered in 2002 and now contains a few bonus tracks. While the three studio recordings are all very good — particularly "Summerday Sands" — the two live tracks are irritating: if you're only going to include the intros to "Minstrel in the Gallery" and "Cold Wind to Valhalla," why bother at all?

King Crimson-Lizard (1970)

Lizard is very consciously jazz-oriented -- the influence of Miles Davis (particularly Sketches of Spain) being especially prominent -- and very progressive, even compared with the two preceding albums. The pieces are longer and have extensive developmental sections, reminiscent of classical music, and the lyrics are more ornate, while the subject matter is more exotic and rarified -- epic, Ragnarok-like battles between good and evil that run cyclically. The doom-laden mood of the first two albums is just as strong, except that the music is prettier; the only thing missing is a sense of humor. Jon Anderson of Yes guests on one key number, "Prince Rupert Awakes" (which vocalist/bassist Gordon Haskell never completed), and the album is stronger for his presence. At the time of its release, some critics praised Lizard for finally breaking with the formula and structure that shaped the two preceding albums, but overall it's an acquired taste

B.J. Thomas-Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head (1968)

Famous for his iconic song "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head", B.J. Thomas is a true legend in the United States. This singer-songwriter enjoyed a long career spanning five decades, during which he was a regular on the charts of pop rock, country, gospel, and soft rock. This Texan, born in 1942, showed early signs of his vocal talent as a child in his church choir. Years later, as a teenager, he began his career in groups like The Triumphs, and soon after became a professional musician. By the mid-sixties, he had climbed the charts with his song "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", which sold over a million copies. Several years later, another song of his, "Hooked On A Feeling", became another major hit. Such was his popularity in the late sixties that the celebrated Burt Bacharach commissioned him to write a song for the western "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", a classic film starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. The chosen song was "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head", which quickly became a worldwide hit and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1968. In the following years, Thomas achieved further success with songs like "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song", a number one hit in 1975. In the second half of the seventies and throughout the eighties, his style shifted towards country and gospel with songs like "Whatever Happened To Old Fashioned Love", "Two Car Garage", and "As Long As We Got Each Other", the latter chosen as the theme song for the iconic sitcom "Growing Pains". Following this success, Thomas maintained his popularity for years with several hit songs such as "I Just Can't Help Believing", "No Love at All", and "Mighty Clouds of Joy". His albums include "On My Way" (1968), "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (1969), "Most of All" (1970), and "Billy Joe Thomas" (1972), as well as several "Best Of" compilations. From the mid-1980s well into the 2000s, B.J. Thomas experienced a classic revival outside the mainstream charts.

Alan Parsons-On Air (1996)

Three years after his first solo work away from his well-known "Project", Alan Parsons returned to the scene with a new album titled "On Air", this time, as he had done with The Alan Parsons Project, crafted as a concept album. The theme this time is dedicated to the history of aviation, from hot air balloons to space travel. For the recording of the album, Alan Parsons enlisted a large group of musicians, including 10cc singer Eric Stewart, Steve Overland (singer of the British band FM), renowned American musician Christopher Cross, and other frequent APP collaborators such as Stuart Elliott (drums), Ian Bairnson (guitars), and Andrew Powell as conductor and arranger of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. The music presented here is generally more oriented towards soft rock, moving away from the grandiose and epic sounds typical of APP, although his unmistakable melodies are still present. Tracks like "Cloudbreak" and the instrumental "Apollo" evoke the sound of Pink Floyd in the 1980s, with David Gilmour's evocative guitar work standing out. Other pieces, such as the captivating "Blown By The Wind" and "Blue Blue Sky", showcase Eric Stewart's exceptional vocal range, while Neil Lockwood delivers equally impressive vocals on the beautiful ballad "Brother Up In Heaven" and the brilliant "I Can't Look Down". The latter is particularly noteworthy for its paranoid lyrics about the fear of flying, making it less than ideal to listen to before boarding a flight. Interestingly, the album included a CD-ROM containing additional information about the recording process and a brief history of aviation, but its unintuitive interface proved rather cumbersome.

Frank Zappa-Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar (1982)

"Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar" is one of Frank Zappa's most challenging works, comprised entirely of an impressive collection of Zappa's own guitar solos. Originally released as a triple LP in mid-1982, this stunning box set compiles much of the material released on various official albums between 1979 and 1981. All the content consists of pure, improvised jams, yet they convey the different moods, musical creativity, and original concept behind each track. The sheer number of musicians involved is as astonishing as it is breathtaking, featuring drummers Terry Bozzio, Vinnie Colaiuta, and Ed Mann; guitarists Steve Vai, Ray White, and Ike Willis; violinist Jean-Luc Ponty; bassists Patrick O'Hearn and Ray Estrada; and keyboardists Bob Harris, Peter Wolf, and Tommy Mars, among other renowned instrumentalists. Backed by these musicians in bands of varying configurations, Zappa delights us with everything from the brutal and visceral solos of "Five-Five-Five" and "Hog Heaven" to the reflective ones in "Pink Napkins", passing through Latin-tinged tracks like "Variations on the Carlos Santana Secret Chord Progression", the reggae parody "Treacherous Cretins", the heavy metal of "Beat It With Your Fist", the funk of "Ship Ahoy", and experimental extravaganzas such as the suggestive "Canarsie". This is undoubtedly one of his most inspiring works, and is considered one of the essential albums for understanding Zappa's immense talent with the guitar.

Todd Rundgren´s Utopia (1974)

After very great albums, of course, I dedicate an article to each gradually Rundgren in 1974 gives us one of the best works of American progressive rock. I am referring to Utopia. That same year he founded a band TR with the same name Utopia, That first training would lead to the great progressive rock album. With a futuristic cover, which was in line with the group's image, inside we found a very elaborate music of the highest quality. The opening track on the album Utopia Theme is a quality exercise brutal. Maybe now your listening to us is complicated by the constant changes of pace. Combined with slow passages attacks lightning fast guitar solos TR answered by keyboard locked in grueling talks between guitars and keyboards.