Ray Owen´s Moon-Moon (1971)

In 1970, guitarist Ray Owen left Juicy Lucy, with whom he had recorded their debut album a year earlier, to begin his solo career. He founded Ray Owen's Moon with guitarists Dick Stubbs and Les Nicol, bassist Sid Gardner, and drummer In McLean. That same year, they were invited to perform at the Isle of Wight Festival and shortly afterward at the Midnight Sun Festival in Sweden, alongside Elton John, Blue Mink, Chuck Berry, Canned Heat, and Hawkwind. In 1971, they released their only LP, titled "Moon", which, like Owen's subsequent solo career, faded into obscurity. However, in the following years, Owen actively collaborated with the band Killing Floor, with Vincent Crane, and in the mid-1990s, he resurrected Juicy Lucy, with whom he recorded several albums during that decade. In "Moon", Ray Owen presented a psychedelic rock sound with blues and funk influences, full of great riffs, at times quite saturated due to the sound of the three guitarists (Owen, Gardner, and McLean). The funk-rock track "Talk To Me" combines all of the above with a funky bassline. In contrast, the hypnotic and atmospheric "Don't Matter" provides a moment of respite from the album's frenetic pace, which resumes with the powerful funk of "Ouiji" and the psychedelic-tinged hard rock of "Hey Sweety". The album concludes with the acid-tinged cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile". one of the highlights of a work considered by the prestigious magazine Classic Rock to be a lost gem of rock.

Man-Man (1971)

The quintessential Welsh band Man were, to say the least, one of those curious cases within rock music. They distanced themselves from the progressive rock and European pop-rock trends of the time, delving into more American sounds such as psychedelia, acid rock, blues, and country, without completely abandoning the British progressive style. A testament to this remarkable stylistic diversity is their third release, "Man", released in 1971, which immerses itself in the aforementioned genres. From blues-tinged tracks like "Romian", to country in "Country Girl", the psychedelic hypnotism of "Would The Christians Wait Five Minutes", classic rock in "Daughter of the Fireplace", and progressive experiments such as the expansive suite "Alchemist", this third album by the band comprised of Deke Leonard, Micky Jones, Ray Williams, Clive John, and Terry Williams, clearly demonstrated their rich, eclectic, and equally surprising musical offering.

Camel-A Nod And A Wink (2002)

Three years after the spectacular "Rajaz", in 2002 Andy Latimer reunited his band Camel to record their next official album, "A Nod and a Wink". Following a similar path to its predecessor, this new album showcases Andy Latimer playing sublime guitar solos in reflective and consciously nostalgic atmospheres. For this occasion, Latimer was reunited with bassist Colin Bass, after many years away from the band, as well as drummer Denis Clement and keyboardist Guy LeBlanc. Here, the sound approaches their essential style, sharing its glorious past with Latimer's flute, which transports us to magical passages, enhanced by some moving solos and revitalizing instrumentation. The ambient sounds of the opening track, "A Nod and a Wink", already hint at the direction this album will take, with its neo-progressive undertones. Other tracks like "Boy's Life", "The Miller's Tale", "Simple Pleasure", "Squigely Fair", and the emotionally charged "For Today" are steeped in sophisticated atmospheres with a strong bluesy feel. Ultimately, with this album, Andy Latimer firmly established his unparalleled ability to create music that is both admirable and pleasing.

Sebastian Hardie-Four Moments (1975)

This Australian band pioneered the progressive rock genre in their country and was originally called the Sebastian Hardie Blues Band. Founded in 1967, the band underwent several lineup changes over the years until well into the 1970s, when the classic lineup emerged, consisting of vocalist and guitarist Mario Millo, keyboardist Toivo Pilt, drummer Alex Plavsic, and his brother, bassist Peter Plavsic. In 1975, under the Mercury label, they released their debut album, "Four Moments", by which time they had adopted the definitive name Sebastian Hardie. On this debut album, the band makes no secret of their strong influence from the British band Yes, with a greater emphasis on Mellotron keyboards than those typically used by Rick Wakeman. The vocals are also prominent, featuring deep and powerful tones. The first side of the album focuses on vibrant sounds with funky undertones and expansive instrumental passages in "Glories Shall Be Released" and "Dawn of Our Sun", while "Journey Through Our Dreams" is much more atmospheric, featuring outstanding guitars and frenetic rhythmic shifts. The beautiful instrumental "Rosanna" serves as a prelude to "Opening", which closes the album with excellent interplay between the four band members in a superb mini-suite of progressive rock in the purest style of classic Camel. "Four Moments" was a great success, and the track "Rosanna" won an award for best instrumental single. Their next album, "Windchase", was released in 1976, and both albums are considered by critics to be progressive rock classics, particularly within the Australian symphonic rock scene. Shortly after the release of their second album, the band broke up. Millo and Pilt adopted the name Windchase and released an album. "Symphinity" in 1977, which stayed close to the sound of Sebastian Hardie, but did not find the same success or recognition as that of his parent band.

Sex-Sex (1970)

Lascivious, powerful, and raw garage blues rock is what the Canadian band Sex showcased during a brief career in which they barely had time to release two hard-hitting albums that are now highly sought after by fans of 1970s proto-hard rock. Formed in Quebec around 1969, this power trio consisted of bassist and singer Robert Trépanier, guitarist Yves Rousseau, and drummer Serge Gratton. Their first album, released in 1970, achieved some success in the Canadian underground scene thanks to a powerful rhythm section featuring a prodigious drummer, backed by great bass lines and incendiary guitar work. On this first album, the hard rock track "Scratch My Back", the jazz-rock song "Not Yet", the bluesy "Doctor", the Zeppelin-esque "A Hard to Raper Her" (the latter with a controversial title if released today), the folk-influenced hard rock "Come, Wake Up", the rhythmic hard blues "Night Symphony", and the psychedelic blues "Love Is A Game" stood out. A year later, they were joined by flautist and saxophonist Pierre Ouellette, who had already participated as a guest musician on this first album and with whom they would release the epitaph "The End of My Life" before their final disbandment in 1972.

Iron Maiden-Fear Of The Dark (1992)

In the early 1990s, Iron Maiden was experiencing a somewhat uncertain period. The rise of grunge and alternative rock, among other genres like the resurgence of classic hard rock and neo-progressive rock, were challenging and calling into question the traditional heavy metal bands of the previous decade. To make matters worse, their last album, "No Prayer for the Dying", had shown an alarming lack of ideas. Therefore, for their next album, "Fear of the Dark", Steve Harris and company pulled out all the stops to address the dissatisfaction their previous work had caused among their millions of fans. However, "Fear of the Dark" doesn't actually stray far from its predecessor, replacing lyrics inspired by fantasy and literature with others more focused on social and everyday themes. Musically they continue to showcase epic heavy metal but without the complexities of yesteryear; even so, we can still find great heavy metal anthems like "Be Quick Or Be Dead", "From Here To Eternity", "Fear Of the Dark" or "Wasting Love", while the rest are compositions with a more sinister and dark tone but of little creative intensity.

Budgie-In For The Kill (1974)

Budgie holds a special place in the hearts of hundreds of thousands of fans of 1970s heavy rock, even though they never quite reached the commercial or media heights of many of their contemporaries during that era. Like Led Zeppelin, Budgie understood the importance of incorporating lighter, sometimes acoustic, moments and complementing them with the grandeur of heavy hard rock and heavy metal riffs, thus creating a more dynamic and engaging style. "In For The Kill", the band's fourth album, is considered one of their greatest works. On it, they seem even more confident than on their superb previous releases, making their diverse range of styles all the more captivating. Tracks like the heavy rock of "Running From My Soul" and the thunderous, ominous progressive heavy rock of "Living On Your Own" showcase this clear dynamism. On the other hand, there are the solid and conventional heavy metal tracks "In For The Kill" and "Crash Course in Brain Surgery", the acoustic and beautiful "Wondering What Everyone Knows" or the epic and powerful "Zoom Club", which creates an attractive hard rock album with subtle progressive influences from the best heavy metal band that Wales has ever produced.

Rush-Permanent Waves (1980)

At the dawn of the 1980s, Rush released the album "Permanent Waves", in which they began to gradually move away from the progressive sounds of previous works such as "2112", "A Farewell to Kings", and "Hemispheres". While not entirely abandoning that genre, they delved into more accessible and mainstream sounds, always maintaining the framework of complex compositions with high-quality instrumentation. "Permanent Waves" was the most evident work of this transition, showcasing both Rush's most epic and progressive side and their most accessible. Tracks like the lengthy and experimental "Jacob's Ladder" and the epic and sublime progressive "Natural Science" are combined with clearly commercial tracks like "The Spirit of Radio" and "Freewill", featuring deep mid-tempo grooves and impeccable technical and instrumental execution. Many of the tracks here have a more realistic theme, unlike the splendid science fiction narratives of their previous albums, where philosophical reflections are bathed in epic yet more earthly details. The revealing dreams of a prophet ("Jacob's Ladders"), the critiques of the system ("Natural Science"), and those dealing with the affirmations of individuals and their relationships, such as "Different Strings" and "Entre Nous", are clear examples of this. In contrast to the aforementioned, more addictive, AOR-influenced tracks "The Spirit of Radio" and "Freewill". Ultimately, this seventh album from the Canadians was one of their finest achievements, in which they masterfully combined echoes of the past with the most modern sounds, a style they would soon reflect in their subsequent albums, such as the monumental "Moving Pictures" released a year later.

Mark Knopfler-Local Hero (1983) - Cal (1984)

In 1983, Mark Knopfler launched his solo career alongside his main band, Dire Straits, with the brilliant "Local Hero", which was also the soundtrack to the film of the same name. On this debut, Knopfler was accompanied by some of his bandmates, including keyboardist Alan Clarke, bassist John Illsley, and drummer Terry Williams, as well as other illustrious musicians such as Michael Brecker, Mike Mainieri, Gerry Rafferty, Tony Levin, and Steve Jordan. Replete with moments that evoke Scottish folk with a subtle and elegant sound, it contains memorable tracks such as “The Way It Always Starts” featuring a sublime Rafferty on vocals, the exquisite and ambient “Wild Theme” and “The Mist Covered Mountains”, the folky “The Ceilidh Louis’ Favorite Billy Tune”, the jazzy “Boomtown”, the ethereal “The Ceilidh and The Northern” and “Stargazer”, and the extraordinary “Going Home”. A year later, he returned with a second soundtrack, this time for the Irish film “Cal”, a work more oriented towards Celtic sounds and featuring a lineup of Irish folk musicians such as Paul Brady and Liam O’Flynn, in addition to his Dire Straits bandmates. Beautiful tracks like “The Road”, “The Long Road”, “Irish Boy”, “Irish Love” or “Father And Son” showcased Mark Knopfler’s great creativity and inspiration in creating albums with beautiful melodies and captivating ambient atmospheres.

Papa Zoot Band-SWF Session´73 (1973)

This obscure German band never even released an official album, and it's hard to believe (or perhaps not, considering the sheer number of talented groups at the time) that they didn't manage to secure a record deal. Hailing from Frankfurt, they formed in the early 1970s and consisted of bassist Robby Matthes, organist Reinhard Grohe, drummer Christian Engel, guitarist Lutz Sommer, and singer Ernst Nadler. Their only recorded recording is this "SWF Session", taken from a 1973 recording session on the German radio station SWF. Their style, a blend of British hard rock and the German avant-garde krautrock, earned them some popularity, leading to performances alongside more established bands like Creation, Can, and Guru Guru. After performing on the aforementioned German radio station, which received widespread airplay throughout the country, they secured a spot at one of the biggest festivals of the era, held in Essen, in northwestern Germany. Their style, a blend of British bands like early Pink Floyd, merges with elements of the German avant-garde, resulting in dramatic and theatrical sounds reminiscent of their compatriots Eloy, Nektar, and Jane, but with a more melodic instrumental edge. Tracks like the suite "Fly Away" offer an extraordinary, lysergic, and spacey journey through progressive sounds, reminiscent of masterpieces like Pink Floyd's "Echoes". Other tracks like “Driving High” or “Hear Me When I’m Crying” are closer to the hard rock of Uriah Heep or Deep Purple, with an imposing heavy organ that delivers powerful, scorching, and dark rhythms, while the psychedelic “All The Girls” resembles the sounds of the late sixties, ending with the bluesy and Doors-indebted “Can’t Be Myself”.

Billy Cobham, Steve Khan, Alphonso Johnson, Tom Scott-Alivemutherforya (1978)

In 1975, Billy Cobham left Atlantic Records to sign with Columbia. With this new label, the drummer debuted with the album "A Funky Thirst of Sings", featuring collaborations with musicians such as John Scofield, Randy Brecker, Michael Brecker, and Alex Blake. This album received positive reviews in jazz-rock circles; however, his subsequent efforts were more of a continuation of that style without much impact. It wasn't until the album "Magic", released in 1977, that he achieved his best work for the Washington-based label. Shortly afterward, Columbia encouraged Cobham to record a live album at their studios on 30th Street in New York City, which would be titled "Alivemotherforya". This was one of the most prestigious studios in the city, but nevertheless, it was an unusual venue for recording a live album. For the recording, some of the heavyweights Columbia Records had on its roster of jazz artists at the time joined forces, including guitarist Steve Khan, bassist and keyboardist Alphonso Johnson, and saxophonist Tom Scott. Interestingly, none of them had participated in the album "Magic". After recording "Alivemutherforya", the sound engineers noticed a significant lack of applause, which wasn't surprising given that the studios only had room for a small auditorium. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and they soon found an effective solution: they added applause and the ambient sound from some live performances by the band Chicago and Laura Nyro. With a bit of creative mixing, it sounded as if Cobham, Khan, Johnson, and Scott were playing to a huge, appreciative audience. This solved the problem, and the album was released in mid-1978. The result of this live "improvised" recording is essentially a repertoire of jazz-funk tunes with a fair amount of electronics, showcasing the talent of all four musicians. Due to its variety and spontaneity, it proved to be a project far superior to the individual work of each musician at that time. Highlights include the opening track, "Anteres", featuring superb saxophone work by Scott; the melodic jazz fusion "Shadows"; the vigorous jazz-funk rock "Some Punk Funk"; and "On A Magic Carpet Ride" a jazz-rock exercise that highlights the strengths of each member of the group. "Alivemutherforya" was very well received by critics and even sold reasonably well, but below the expectations of CBS Columbia, who never attributed this album to Billy Cobham's official record label, which would lead, after the release of one more album, to the termination of the contract by both parties.

The Move-Looking On (1970)

The Move emerged from the fertile British psychedelic pop scene of the mid-sixties. Propelled by the brilliant musician Roy Wood, they conquered radio stations with a string of hits that kept them at the top for several years. With their second album, "Shazam", they took a step towards a more experimental sound, a shift that would become definitive with the arrival of Jeff Lynne, starting with their third album, "Looking On". Lynne planted the seeds for the band's music to move towards progressive ideologies. His arrival also led to experimentation by Wood, who played a wide range of instruments, giving the final sound a much more avant-garde edge. The title track of this third album is a kind of cornucopia that oscillates between blues and progressive rock, and in some ways already hints at the style that Electric Light Orchestra would develop shortly afterward. Meanwhile, "Turkish Tram Driver Blues" is a much heavier psychedelic piece, built upon a wall of sound that intertwines with more traditional guitar work. The early ELO style is also evident in "What", a reflective track composed by Lynne, and a similar path is followed by the dense "Feel To Good", another brilliant piece brimming with wind instruments and cellos, underpinned by heavy, resounding riffs. This contrasts sharply with "Brontosaurus", a clever fusion of heavy rock and roll with a honky-tonk rhythm. Ultimately, with this third album, The Move reached their artistic zenith and simultaneously became the natural link to the Electric Light Orchestra project, which Wood and Lynne would soon form and which would take over the sound and style where "Looking On" had left off.