Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow-Stranger In Us All (1995)

In 1995, Ritchie Blackmore revived the Rainbow brand to release a new album after a twelve-year hiatus. For this new album, the former Deep Purple guitarist assembled a new lineup with relatively unknown musicians at the time, including vocalist Doogie White, bassist Greg Smith, keyboardist Paul Morris, and drummer John O'Reilly. "Stranger In Us All" showcases the return of Rainbow's classic sound, harking back to their 1970s roots with hard rock brimming with heavy guitar riffs and a powerful yet melodic rhythm. Songs like "Wolf to the Moon" and "Cold Hearted Woman" evoke the beloved Deep Purple sound, with Doogie White's impressive vocals contributing significantly. On the other hand, Blackmore experiments in the semi-progressive "Hunting Humans (Insatiable)", while other pieces like the superb "Ariel", a successful attempt to revisit the symphonic sound of the classic "Stargazer", or others like "Stand and Fight", and "Too Late for Tears", focus on heavy blues rock with powerful hooks and raw, punchy rhythms. Despite being completely traditional to the typical Purple sound, they are very well designed and masterfully executed with a more modernized sound.

Robin Trower-Twice Removed From Yesterday (1973)

In the early 1970s, Robin Trower left Procol Harum and founded the band Jude, which had little media impact. After its dissolution, he decided to pursue a solo career, surrounding himself with drummer Reg Isidore and singer/bassist James Dewar to record his first and impressive album, "Twice Removed From Yesterday", released in 1973 on the British label Chrysalis. Replete with energetic blues-rock tracks showcasing Trower's powerful guitar work he was considered the "white Hendrix" at the time this album is a succession of masterful compositions, including the rock anthem "I Can't Stand It", the refined and tranquil "Daydream", the hypnotic and powerful "I Can't Wait Much Longer", the psychedelic blues "Hannah", the boogie-rock "Rock Me Baby", and the tender "Ballerina".

Jefferson Starship-Freedom At Point Zero (1979)

Jefferson Starship's fifth album, "Freedom At Point Zero", was released with numerous changes compared to its predecessor, "Earth". Singers Grace Slick and Marty Balin had left the band, the former temporarily, along with drummer John Barbata, and were replaced by singer Mickey Thomas and former Journey drummer Aynsley Dunbar. Furthermore, the band entrusted studio production to an outside producer, foregoing their usual collaborator Larry Cox and hiring the prestigious Ron Nevison, who had already worked with major artists such as Kiss, Thin Lizzy, Meat Loaf, Grand Funk, and Led Zeppelin, among many others. All these changes were clearly reflected in this new album. To begin with, their sound shifted towards a blatantly AOR style, where Thomas's prodigious vocals and Paul Kantner's addictive vocals were reinforced by doubling the backing vocals, resulting in an outstanding album. In addition, the prominence of guitarists Kantner and Chaquico becomes much more relevant, as demonstrated in exuberant songs such as the opening track "Jane", the epic and spectacular "Awakening", the AOR "Things To Come", or the powerful "Girl With The Hungry Eyes", while the irresistible "Rock Music" and "Freedom At Point Zero", or the delicate and superb "Fading Lady Light", showed that the band could continue to produce great albums apart from its mainstays, Slick and Balin.

Vangelis-Spiral (1977)

Following the magnificent albums "Heaven and Hell" (1975) and "Albedo 0.39" (1976), not forgetting lesser-known works like "Earth" (1973) and "L'Apocalypse Des Animaux" (1973), Vangelis created one of his masterpieces with his fifth album, "Spiral". With this album, Vangelis began one of his most fruitful periods, both in his use of electronic instruments synthesizers, sequencers, and all kinds of electronic and acoustic keyboards and in the melodic composition of his music. On this new record, he gradually moved away from the progressive and experimental sounds of his earlier work and its complex and intricate compositions, becoming more romantic and grandiose, gaining in simplicity and thereby attracting a wider audience with his accessible electronic music. All of this is demonstrated in tracks like the commercially successful "Dervish D", the addictive epic "To The Unknown Man", and the meticulously crafted "Ballad", "Spiral", and "3+3". Over the next four years, the Greek musician would release a mix of major works and others with less media impact, including the experimental "Beaubourg" (1978), the exotic and brilliant "China" (1979), and the stunning "Chariots of Fire" (1981), among half a dozen other albums.

The Beatles-Magical Mystery Tour (1967)

Magical Mystery Tour came at a critical time in the history of The Beatles. A few months before his manager, mentor and friend Brian Epstein was found dead of an overdose of amphetamines. Brian still alive The Beatles could afford to ignore the organizational and administrative aspects of his empire to concentrate solely on music; by Brian them ever had the concerns of other bands (mismanagement, losses, compromising contracts with clauses, accounting thieves, etc.), but without it the front first felt helpless and confused. We now playing the tough task of directing themselves vast multi-million dollar ship, as it is said, immersed in work is the best cure for pain, Paul took over and planned the next project of the Beatles: A film made , directed and produced by themselves with their respective soundtrack. While the film was a resounding fiasco (you have to deeply love the Beatles to be lenient with her) the soundtrack was confirmation of the grace period the quartet lived as innovative performers and authors. In its original form Magical Mystery Tour was a double EP (Extended Play) with the 6 themes of the film, but since this format was not popular in the US, Capitol made an LP by adding 5 pieces single released in the same year and that eventually become the definitive version of Magical Mystery Tour. The tracks on the EP are inspired by the original concept of the previous album, only the spectacle of Sgt. Pepper's is transformed here on a tour where the audience is led by the Beatles to places beyond imagination. While the issues Magical Mystery Tour and Your Mother Should Know are derivative of Sgt. Pepper's and When I'm 64 respectively, the other 4 are simply masterful, delving deeper into psychedelia but within a dreamlike atmosphere markedly doing its job support to the images of the film: the Fool on The Hill is one of the greatest creations of Paul with the contrast between an easily assimilable melody and arrangement intricately worked; Flying is a short instrumental and often overlooked but it seems to me superb, the way it blends into the images described in the film is a magical moment; Blue Jay Way George first used the resource to establish analogy between the material world and the spiritual through a seemingly simple letter and a surreal and menacing array; The Walrus I'm John is one of the highlights of this acid stage of the quartet, the letter touches the roof of the thematic non-sense of the author and arrangement characterized by various sound effects, voices insane and brilliant string section written by George Martin gives a touch delirious genius, a premonitory piece of 'orchestral rock' that would end later date after years in bands like the Electric Light Orchestra. The rest of the album is completed with the wonderful creative explosion of single Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane, the single post-Pepper All You Need Is Love / Baby You're A Rich Man and beyond nice Hello Goodbye (face b R 'm The Walrus). An album that is often seen as an appendix of Sgt. Pepper's but that is a fundamental part of that colorful sound collage that marked the career of the Beatles throughout 1967.