Anyone´s Daughter-Adonis (1979)

Anyone's Daughter is an excellent German band that was still active well into the 21st century. Founded in 1972 in Stuttgart, their early period was defined by the progressive sounds of the 1970s, with complex music, intricate arrangements featuring melodic guitars, powerful drums, and sophisticated bass lines. Their lineup consisted of bassist and vocalist Harald Bareth, guitarist Uwe Karpa, keyboardist Matthias Ulmer, and drummer Kono Konopick. In 1979, they released their first album, "Adonis", on the German progressive label Brain. On it, the band showcased a melancholic progressive rock sound similar to that of the British band Camel. The four-part suite "Adonis" features a delightful symphonic style with soaring guitar solos, rich keyboard textures, and intricate arrangements. The rest of the album is a perfect combination of Moog solos and guitars, such as "The Blue House" or the sophisticated and fast-paced "Anyone Daughter's". During the following years, they continued to release very interesting works such as "Piktors Verwandlungen" (1981), "In Blau" (1982), and "Neue Sterne" (1983).

Various Artists-Picnic-A Breath Of Fresh Air (1970)

“Picnic - A Breath of Fresh Air” was another promotional album that record labels released at a fairly affordable price to showcase part of their artist catalog. This particular one was released by Harvest, the progressive rock branch of EMI Records. In a way, besides promoting their artists, the release of these samplers was intended to rival contemporary labels such as Deram from Decca Records or Vertigo from Mercury Records, among others, which were also focused on the most avant-garde sounds of the late 60s and early 70s. The diversity of this album reflects the different types of bands and styles that flew under the Harvest banner, giving the listener a kind of historical document. Composed of the label's most promising bands, it includes everything from the dark and avant-garde; From Quatermass, Pete Brown and Piblokto, Third Ear Band, The Pretty Things or The Greatest Show on the Earth, to the more media-savvy and established like Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Edgar Broughton Band, Syd Barrett, Roy Harper, Kevin Ayers or Barclay James Harvest, passing through other lesser-known ones like Forest, Tea and Symphony, Bakerloo, or Shirley & Dolly Collins, forming with all of them a diverse mix of folk, hard rock, blues & jazz rock and heavy prog.

Kiss-Alive II (1977)

Two years after Kiss's first double live album, "Alive II" arrived, a natural sequel to the iconic original. "Alive II" was recorded during the "Love Gun World Tour" in August and September of 1977 in Los Angeles, New York, and Tokyo. The setlist for this live album draws from the band's three most recent albums: "Destroyer", "Rock and Roll Over", and "Love Gun". As with the previous live album, this one was remixed and produced by Eddie Kramer at Electric Lady Studios in New York. However, only three sides of this double album feature live recordings, while the fourth side is dedicated to five previously unreleased songs, including the noteworthy "Rocket Ride" and Dave Clarke's original version of "Any Way You Want It". But it's the live repertoire that elevates this superb live album. Hit hard rock and heavy metal songs like "Detroit Rock City", "Love Gun", "Shock Me", "Calling Dr. Love", "Ladies Room", and "Beth", are part of a selection from this legendary double live album, although it falls somewhat short of its predecessor. A seventh-place finish on the US Billboard charts and over two million copies sold only served to increase the success and popularity of the flamboyant and famous American band.

David Crosby-If I Could Only Remember My Name (1971)

David Crosby is an icon of American music, a formidable pioneer of folk and country sounds, as demonstrated by his superb albums with The Byrds: “Mr. Tambourine Man”, “Turn! Turn! Turn!”, “Fifth Dimension”, “Young Than Yesterday”, and “The Notorious Byrd Brothers”, all fundamental works of the genre released in the late 1960s. After leaving The Byrds, Crosby joined forces with former Buffalo Springfield member Stephen Stills and former Hollies member Graham Nash to form CSN. With them, he recorded the seminal self-titled album “Crosby, Stills & Nash” in 1969 and “Déjà Vu” a year later, featuring Canadian guitarist Neil Young, thus forming one of the greatest and most acclaimed supergroups in the history of rock music. In early 1971, David Crosby was going through a difficult time due to his addiction to marijuana and other substances, and the tragic death of his girlfriend in a car accident. The result of all this was his first solo recording, "If I Could Only Remember My Name", released in February 1971. It featured collaborations with his former bandmates Graham Nash and Neil Young, singer Joni Mitchell, Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, and Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia, among many others. "If I Could Only Remember My Name" is crafted from brief bursts of musical mastery, with rich vocal harmonies and a strong political and social dimension, representing diverse styles such as flower power and psychedelic folk. Filled with profound songs like the intoxicating “Music is Love”, the a cappella “I’d Swear There Was Somebody Here”, the angelic “Orleans”, the acoustic “Traction In The Rain”, the philosophical “Laughing” or the tour de force “Cowboy Movie”, they make up a somewhat chaotic but at the same time absolutely brilliant album.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer-Emerson, Lake & Palmer Box Set (1982)

This compilation box set, initially released only for the Spanish-speaking market, was a clever marketing move by Manticore Records, the label owned by Emerson, Lake & Palmer. It was intended to compensate for the international release two years prior, also titled "Emerson, Lake & Palmer". The key difference between the two lies in the fact that the first box set, released in early 1980 for the rest of the world, contains only tracks from their four most recent albums: one from their self-titled debut, two from their fifth album, "Works Vol. 1", one from their sixth album, "Works Vol. 2", and six from their seventh release, "Love Beach". Consequently, albums like "Tarkus", "Trilogy", "Brain Salad Surgery", and the live album "Pictures at an Exhibition" were incredibly absent. In contrast, this edition, distributed by the Spanish label Ariola, includes their first four original albums that is, all those not included in the previous version: "Emerson, Lake and Palmer" (1970), "Pictures at an Exhibition" (1971), "Tarkus" (1971), and "Trilogy" (1972). It quickly became a collector's item for the trio's most purist fans. With this box set (actually a collector's edition), Manticore Records sought to rectify the strange and incomplete previous compilation, which had disappointed fans and been a disastrous commercial move by the record company. This new release also completed another incomplete compilation released by the multinational Atlantic Records, titled "The Best Of EL&P", which had been released as a single album in late 1980.

East Of Eden-Snafu (1970)

East of Eden was a fascinating progressive rock band worthy of mention, boasting a long career spanning almost two decades. Formed in Bristol, UK in 1967, the lineup consisted of Dave Arbus (electric violin, flute, saxophone), Ron Caines (alto saxophone), Geoff Nicholson (guitar and vocals), Steve York (bass), and Dave Dufont (drums). In 1969, they signed with Decca Records, releasing their first albums, "Mercator Projected" (1969) and "Snafu" (1970). Both are excellent works, showcasing a powerful sound of electric violin, flute, and saxophone combined with Béla Bartók and other classical, Eastern, and even Gypsy melodies, all set against a hard rock foundation. "Snafu" continued the musical direction begun with their debut album, featuring a more solid sound that blended blues rock, psychedelic music, and fusion. Although labeled proto-prog like other contemporary bands, they showed less interest in sophistication and classicism, focusing instead on rougher, more complex sounds. This is evident in tracks like the catchy blues-rock "Have To Whack It Up", the exotic "Leaping Beauties For Rudy/Marcus Junior", the complex "Xhorkhom" and "Ramadhan", both with Arabic influences, and the jazz-blues "In The Snow For A Blow". The band continued releasing albums until 1978 when they disbanded, only to reunite in 1996.

Triode-On N´A Pas Fini D´Avoir Tout Vu (1971)

Triode was a French band about which very little information is available. Formed in the early 1970s, they managed to record only one album under the Futura Red label, which is now highly sought after by progressive rock fans. This sole album, released in 1971, is "On N'A Pas Fini D'Avoir Tout Vu", composed entirely of instrumental tracks and dominated by the excellent flute playing of Michel Edelin, with a style very close to Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull and indebted to the Canterbury sound. The flute interludes and the instrumental progressive elements lean more towards jazz with psychedelic guitar tones. It's a very rhythmic and versatile album where none of the tracks are filler, featuring lively instrumentations that demonstrate the full potential of a talented band with great musical ideas. Their version of The Beatles' "Come Together" is simply original and perfectly executed with a high-level psychedelic and progressive sound.

Donovan-A Gift From A Flower To A Garden (1967)

It was during the popular British television program "Ready Steady Go!" that a disheveled young man, sporting a Bob Dylan-esque cap, with a rhythmic voice and accompanied only by an acoustic guitar and harmonica, captivated millions of viewers in early 1965. This young man, Donovan Leitch, a Scot by birth, grew up surrounded by disaffected post-beat poets and the pre-hippie movement in his hometown of St. Albans. His clear Dylan influence and his natural talent caught the attention of Pye Records, thus beginning his long and meteoric artistic career. That same year, 1965, he released his first albums, "What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid" and "Fairytale", featuring covers of folk classics and melancholic original songs. This young man, Donovan Leitch, a Scot by birth, grew up surrounded by dissatisfied post-beat poets and the pre-hippie movement in his hometown of St. Albans. From this point on, a series of singles conquered the charts, tracks like “Mellow Yellow”, “Sunshine Superman”, and “There Is A Mountain”, and albums like “Sunshine Superman” achieved resounding success on both sides of the Atlantic. Some of the musicians who participated in the recordings of these albums were young talents who would soon become stars, such as Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) and Jack Bruce (Cream). Although psychedelic sounds and flower power were in vogue in the latter half of the sixties, Donovan continued with his vague aspiration for the spiritual happiness of folk, with a style that still maintained captivating poetic lyrics. However, Donovan would eventually succumb to the musical status quo of the time and embark on an ambitious double album titled “A Gift From A Flower To A Garden” (1967), which reflected a certain affinity with flower power sounds and Celtic poetic songs. Ultimately, this would be his best commercial and artistic record, even though in subsequent years he would publish works of enormous quality such as "The Hurdy-Gurdy Man" (1968), "Barabajagal" (1969), "Open Road" (1970) or "7-Tease" (1975).