J.Geils Band-Live Full House (1972)

This led Peter Wolf on vocals and guitar J.Geils band was a real steamroller of rock'n'roll, soul and a lot of rhythm & blues. The truth is that to begin to taste this excellent band material, I can not think of anything else to start this direct published in the year 72. Previously, they had already released two albums that seem formidable me as essential and this recording was not more than the culmination of a perfect trilogy.
But what we were, which is nothing but this live recording at the Cinderella Ballroom in Detroit on April 72, consisting of only 8 songs, but enough to get into orbit from the first second. It is true that the recording can cross a somewhat shorter in duration, when at that time the band offered their fans directly twice typical fall of ass. But, what the hell !, this work sounds like a runaway locomotive without brakes. All exercise of power, passion and joined the unlimited talent musicians energy off his hat. There is little of their own as they only include tremebundo "Hard driving man", but versions that are marked "First I look at the purse" Smokey Robinson, "Homework" Otis Rush or immeasurable "Serves you right to suffer "by John Lee Hooker, to give some examples, are powerful tools to put this live on an altar reasons. And to show a button relative to the strength and intensity that emanated from these guys live with "Looking for a love" ... overwhelming!


   

Randy Crawford-Best Of (1996)

Thanks to her impeccable and refined voice, Randy Crawford is one of the great soul/jazz and rhythm and blues singers of the late 20th century. Randy rose to fame when she lent her vocals to the song "Street Life" on the album of the same name by the jazz fusion group The Crusaders in the late 1970s. From then on, her collaborations with keyboardist Joe Sample, as well as her solo albums, earned her the reputation of being one of the divas of Black music. Albums such as the exuberant "Secret Combination" (1981), "Nightline" (1983), "Abstract Emotions" (1986), and "Feeling Good" (2006) were chart hits around the world. A highly versatile singer, she has also collaborated with other artists such as former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett and Australian rocker Rick Springfield, among others. In 1996, his compilation album "Best Of" offered a meticulous review of some of his best songs, an album featuring elegant compositions with grand and magnificent arrangements of refined smooth jazz & soul and R&B such as "Give Me The Night", "Street Life", "Imagine", "Who's Crying Now" or "Knockin' On Heaven's Door".

Bob Marley And The Wailers-Natty Dread (1974)

Although Bob Marley's previous album, "Burnin' ", was released internationally in England and the United States, this would be the first to be distributed globally, introducing him and his band, The Wailers, to the world. That year, Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston, two of the original members of The Wailers, had left the group due to the pressures of constant touring and their growing popularity. With a reformed lineup featuring guitarist Al Anderson, bassist Aston Barrett, and organist Jean Roussel, Bob Marley undertook the recording of this seventh album, which would achieve unprecedented success in the Jamaican musician's career up to that point. Somewhat softening the political message of his earlier works, Bob Marley approached this project with a profound spiritual and emotional intensity. The powerful rhythm section of drummer Carlton Barrett and his brother, bassist Aston Barrett, along with Anderson's riffs and Marley's subtle guitar work and soulful, African-tinged vocals, drive an album brimming with African-American sounds adorned with reggae rhythms. "Takin' Blues", "Them Belly Full", and "Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock)" are clearly geared toward that antisocial message, while the rebellious "Lively Up Yourself" and the glorious "No Woman No Cry" complete one of Bob Marley and The Wailers' finest albums.

Thin Lizzy-Bad Reputation (1977)

Thin Lizzy are considered today one of the greatest hard rock bands in history, but this wasn't always the case. For much of their career, they were consistently undervalued and panned by the British press compared to other contemporary bands. Led by Irishman Phil Lynott, their early years saw several lineup changes. From the first lineup, which released their first three albums, featuring guitarist Eric Bell and drummer Brian Downey, along with Lynott on bass and vocals, to their final album released in 1983, illustrious guitarists such as Gary Moore, Scott Gorham, Brian Robertson, Snowy White, John Sykes, and keyboardist Darren Wharton all played with the band. "Bad Reputation" was their eighth album, preceded by the commendable "Johnny the Fox", an album that didn't achieve the same acclaim as its predecessor, "Jailbreak", partly due to its conceptual experimentation. For "Bad Reputation", the band, in addition to Downey and Lynott, featured guitarists Robertson and Gorham, and it was produced by Tony Visconti, who had previously produced David Bowie's "Heroes" album that same year. This is undoubtedly Thin Lizzy's hardest and most aggressive work of their entire career; however, all that power is not without its captivating melodies, as demonstrated by the thrilling "Soldier of Fortune". Besides this iconic song, other highlights include the hypnotic "Southbound", the irresistible "Dancing in the Moonlight" with its pop rhythm, the raw "Bad Reputation", the frenetic "Killer Without a Cause", the mid-tempo "Downtown Sundown", and the enormous "Opium Trail", resulting in an album as brilliant as it is essential within the hard rock genre.

Grand Funk Railroad-E Pluribus Funk (1971)

In 1971, Grand Funk were at their peak. Their fourth album, "Survival", released in April of that year, catapulted them to the forefront of American rock. Seven months later, the trio of Mark Farmer (guitars, organ, and vocals), Mel Schacher (bass), and Don Brewer (drums) returned to Cleveland Company Studios in Cleveland to record their fifth album, "E Pluribus Funk". Produced by Terry Knight, it continued their triumphant run with another anthological work of energetic hard rock. However, this new album already hinted at more melodic nuances, with the band taking a step back from the accelerator pedal of its frenetic songs. Here we find one of Grand Funk's anthems, the galloping "Footstompin' Music", a track that navigates between hard rock and psychedelia. As a counterpoint to this appears the soul rock "People, Let's Stop The War", a track with a clear allusion to the Vietnam War, followed by the frenetic with a funk rhythm "Upsetter", the heavy and forceful "I Come Tumblin' " or the dark "Save The Land" which together with the epic with progressive touches "Loneliness" is the repertoire of a superb work of the best hard rock to come out of the United States in the 70s.

Hawkwind-Warrior On The Edge Of Time (1975)

With their fifth album, Hawkwind continued their progressive and lysergic journey, which they had begun with their previous album, "Hall of the Mountain Grill". "Warrior on the Edge of Time" brought together everything that had captivated Hawkwind up to that point. It's all present here, brimming with pure (and perhaps even exaggerated) poetic lyrics, tracks overflowing with flutes, echoes, saxophones, sharp, lysergic guitars, hazy bass lines, and diverse electronica with overwhelming synthesizers and mellotrons everywhere. It's an astonishing concept album based on tales of wizards and space wars, all bathed in psychedelic music. But in addition to the band's ever-intricate style, there were their frequent lineup changes, and this album was no exception. Keyboardist Del Dettmar left, and a second drummer, Alan Powell, joined, a factor reflected in the powerful and varied percussion sounds throughout much of the album. The opening track, indebted to the best of krautrock, “Assault & Battery/ The Golden Void”, immerses us in a complex composition with a stormy barrage of mellotron sounds combined with a heavy rhythm featuring flutes, organs, and a powerful bass line. “The Wizard Blew His Horn” is essentially an introductory piece by science fiction writer Moorlock, set against a backdrop of strident, surreal sounds, and serves as a prelude to the hypnotic, spacey “Opa-Loka”. This is followed by the frenetic, progressive “Magnu”, with its excellent riffs and powerful percussion, leading into the more spacey and electronic “Spiral Galaxy 28948”. The album concludes with the more purely rock tracks “Dying Seas” and “Kings of Speed.” “Warrior on the Edge of Time” is considered one of Hawkwind’s greatest contributions to history and a minor masterpiece of space rock. From here on, and following the trail of continuous defections, bassist Lemmy Kilmister would leave the band (he was actually expelled for drug smuggling and for his clashes with the rest of the members over musical differences), to later found the iconic heavy metal band, Motorhead.