Mike Rutherford-Smallcreep´s Day (1980)

Once Genesis had finished their world tour promoting the album "...And Then There Were Three...", its three members, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford, and Tony Banks, decided to take a break from the band to pursue their solo projects. Thus, in 1980, Mike Rutherford released his first solo album, "Smallcreep's Day", for which he collaborated with his former Genesis bandmate, Anthony Phillips, who handled keyboards (a departure from his usual guitar), drummer Simon Phillips, percussionist Morris Pert, and singer Noel McCalla, while Rutherford played guitar and bass. Recorded at Polar Studios in Stockholm, it was produced by David Hentschel, the engineer who had worked on Genesis's later albums, in the final months of 1977. With "Smallcreep's Day", Mike Rutherford demonstrated his enormous talent for composing great pieces with excellent progressive melodies, alongside others with a clear symphonic pop feel. Instrumentally, the choice of the almost unknown McCalla was a wise decision, with very emotive and convincing vocal performances, while Anthony Phillips does an excellent job with an instrument that is not his usual one, while the rest show the perfect solidity for the execution of the pieces on this album. The album has two quite distinct parts. The first is composed of progressive and symphonic sounds, featuring the extensive suite "Smallcreeps' Day", divided into seven parts. While it's certainly more focused on individual pieces than a concise, cohesive theme, it boasts a wide variety of progressive rhythms, styles, and atmospheres, with numerous 12-string guitar passages, electric guitar solos, and sublime synthesizers and mellotron. All of this is supported by the magnificent work of a powerful rhythm section and the vocals of Pert and McCalla, which perfectly complement the album's musical philosophy. It culminates in the wonderful melody "At The End Of The Day", an epic song worthy of any of their main band's greatest hits. The second side has a much more commercial orientation with a symphonic undercurrent, featuring powerful tracks like "Moonshine", the passionate "Time and Time Again", and the progressive "Romani". This is undoubtedly one of the best solo albums by one of the members of Genesis and one of the great albums of the eighties, where you can still hear the echoes of such emblematic works as "A Trick Of The Tail", "Wind & Wuthering" or "...And Then There Were Three...".

Jethro Tull-Crest of a Knave (1987)

With this work, the sizzling Jethro returned to find the right path that had separated slightly mid 80 discs as loose as "A" or "Under Wraps" discs too "electronic" and uninspired. However, and without Peter-John Vetesse (whom I consider guilty and a bad influence musically Anderson) getting both synthesizer, the great Ian Anderson finally managed to become close to classic and traditional sound of the band and produce a handful of great songs, as always superbly accompanied by his faithful squire Martin Barre, who also performs work as always very noticeable on guitars. Surprisingly is appreciated resemblance to Dire Straits on tracks like "Budapest", "Said she was a dancer" or "The Waking Edge" especially in the vocal aspect, as Anderson suffered a throat operation and closely resembles vocal that of Mark Knopfler. This work received a Grammy for best album of Hard Rock-Metal in 1989, I think more in recognition of his long career, which was relaunched and strengthened. In short, it's a very appealing, with that exquisite style as always, mixing elements of Blues, Hard Rock and Folk to create a delicious work.

West, Bruce & Laing -Why Dontcha (1972)

Mountain were one of the most important bands in the development of American hard rock, comprised of two legends: Leslie West and Felix Pappalardi. They released two superb albums considered fundamental to the development of heavy metal: "Climbing!" (1970) and "Nantucket Sleighride" (1971). After releasing the latter album in 1971, the band broke up due to Pappalardi's health problems. However, Leslie West decided to continue and called on former Cream member Jack Bruce, who, along with his former Mountain bandmate Corky Laing, founded the band West, Bruce and Laing. Essentially, West aimed to continue the Mountain sound, with a style that drew from blues and Southern sounds, focusing on powerful, dense, and distorted hard rock. Thanks to the managers of Jack Bruce and Leslie West (Robert Stigwood and Bud Prager, respectively), they secured a lucrative contract with CBS/Polydor for one million dollars to release three albums. But before entering the studio, the band toured extensively, performing Cream and Mountain songs as well as covers of rock and blues classics. In 1972, they released their first album, and ultimately their best work, titled "Why Dontcha". It featured standout tracks like the psychedelic "Out Into The Fields" and "Pollution Woman", the rock and roll anthems "The Doctor", "Pleasure", and "Shake Ma Thing", and the blues rock tracks "Turn Me Over" and "Love Is Worth The Blues", all of which combined to create a superb record of the best American hard rock.