Blodwyn Pig-Getting To This (1970)

The blues leanings of guitarist Mick Abrahams and the jazz-influenced contributions of violinist and flautist Jack Lancaster fueled the style of the British band Blodwyn Pig. Formed in 1968, Blodwyn Pig were a pioneer of the British avant-garde movements of the late 1960s. Founded by former Jethro Tull member Mick Abrahams, along with Jack Lancaster, bassist Andy Pyle, and drummer Ron Berg, their debut album, "Ahead Rings Out", released in 1969, showcased the quartet's blend of blues, progressive rock, heavy rock, and jazz-rock the latter thanks to Lancaster's jazzy saxophones and flutes. This first album became a classic of British progressive blues and is often cited as one of the genre's landmark works. A year later came their second LP, "Getting To This", which featured pianist Graham Waller as a guest musician. Unlike their previous progressive album, this new release leaned towards classic blues rock with experimental and diverse tones, subtly moving away from their jazz approach in a clear attempt to expand their sonic palette. Tracks like the rhythm and blues "Drive Me", the progressive folk jazz "Variations on Nainos", the bluesy folk "Long Bomb Blues" and "Toys", the progressive blues rock "San Francisco Sketches", and the jazzy "Send Your Son To Die" represented this ultimately unsuccessful attempt to explore new sonic horizons.

Kokodril-Getting Up For The Morning (1972)

Kokodril was a Swiss band that emerged in the late 1960s, playing an addictive mix of acid hard rock, swampy blues, progressive and psychedelic touches with hints of Eastern and Indian sounds. Kokodril consisted of Walty Anselmo (guitar, sitar, and vocals), Düde Dürst (drums), Mojo Weidili (harmonica, flute, and percussion), Hardy Hepp (violin and keyboards), and Terry Stevens (bass). On their first two albums, "Kokodril" (1969) and "Swamp" (1970), the band explored a style related to the hard blues of bands like the British group The Groundhogs, but with a progressive edge. With their next album, "An Invisible World Revealed" (1971), they introduced more complex sounds of blues and psychedelic music, featuring a prominent Mellotron and highlighting the impressive atmospheric suite "Oddyssey In Om". "Getting Up For The Morning", released a year later, showcased a band more firmly established in the krautrock sound, with its wide variety of underground styles ranging from blues jams like "Schooldays" to motorik-like sounds with the acid folk of "Song No. 2 (Thought Under Conditions)", and including exotic tracks such as the interlude "Was There A Time", the powerful, dusty blues of "Rabatz", and the psychedelic and progressive sounds of "And I Know". However, the band began to show signs of creative exhaustion with their next release, "Sweat and Swim" (1973), which still maintains undeniable creativity, as demonstrated by tracks like the atmospheric, Pink Floyd-esque "Daybreak", the southern rock "All I Ever Wanted", the space rock "Skylabd", and the rural blues "Two to Twelf". Some time later, they disappeared until almost forty years later, when in 2013 some of its members revived the band, releasing several albums that recaptured some of Kokodril's original essence.

Manassas-Manassas (1972)

Once the massive (and at the same time, tumultuous) tour following the album "Deja Vu" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young had ended, each of its members decided to go their separate ways, temporarily leaving behind one of the greatest supergroups ever created. And it was Stephen Stills who first made a move, creating a new band called Manassas. For this, he recruited former Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers member Chris Hillman, former Flying Burrito Brothers member Al Perkins, and some of the musicians who had participated in the recording of "Deja Vu", such as drummer Dallas Taylor and bassist Fuzzy Samuels. With the addition of several more members, including Paul Harris, who at the time played organ in B.B. King's band, and former Pacific Gas and Electric percussionist Joe Lala, as well as special guest appearances from musicians such as Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman, Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia on pedal steel guitar, and Malcolm Cecil on keyboards, they entered Criteria Studios in Miami and recorded the double album "Manassas", the debut album of this country-rock supergroup. Divided into four sides with different subtitles, this self-titled first album was one of the decade's biggest releases and is still considered an extraordinary work today. On side A of the first disc, titled “The Raven”, we can enjoy a mix of rock with Latin fusions and among which stand out “Song Of Love”, with the immense sound of the guitars of Stills and Perkins, the fascinating “Rock & Roll Crazies / Cuban Bluegrass”, the jam rock “Both of Us” or the meritorious “Anyway”. The sounds of the countryside and rural life appear on the second disc, "The Wilderness", featuring tracks that blend country and bluegrass influences, such as "So Begins the Task", "Fallen Eagle", "Colorado", and "Don't Look at My Shadow". The third disc, "Consider", leans towards folk rock, with standout tracks like "Johnny's Garden", "It Doesn't Matter", and "The Love Gangster". This double album concludes with the fourth disc, subtitled "Rock & Roll Is Here", which, as the title suggests, is a tribute to blues and rock. It opens with tracks reminiscent of the best CSNY songs, such as "What to Do" and "Right Now", followed by the jam epic "The Treasure" and the acoustic blues "Blue Man". The latter is dedicated to three rock greats who had passed away in the previous two years: guitarist Jimi Hendrix, singer Al Wilson of Canned Heat, and guitarist John Allman the Great. Brothers, Duane Allman, a superb conclusion to an album as grand and apotheotic as the career of all the legendary musicians who participated in its creation.

Traffic-Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory (1973)

In 1973, progressive rock was at its creative, media, and commercial peak. That year saw the release of many of the genre's masterpieces, and the British band Traffic was no exception with their eighth album, "Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory". Following the same stylistic and visual pattern as its predecessor, they even re-released a cover very similar to the previous album, "The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys", featuring a cropped sleeve from the original LP. Inside, they unveiled a captivating work where the intelligent compositions of Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, and Chris Wood guide us through a series of perfect songs that blend jazz and rock masterfully with progressive elements. Tracks like the title track are a perfect synthesis of the band's genius, eleven splendid minutes of avant-garde fusion, while boundless creativity is on full display in the magnificent "Tragic Magic". The musical climax arrives with the country/funk/blues track "Roll Right Stones", which evolves from a pastoral sound to a gloriously ecstatic finale. The fragile "Evening Blue" serves as a kind of interlude for the album's melancholic and standout track, "(Sometimes I Feel So) Uninspired", featuring a solemn Steve Winwood in his distinctive soulful voice and delivering a breathtaking guitar solo. Ultimately, with this release, Traffic delivered another memorable album, adding to the already extraordinary discography of the band during their eight-year, brilliant career.

Gila-Night Works (1972)

Despite its flawed production, the second album by the German band Gila is a true historical document of one of the cult bands of krautrock. Recorded live in the studios of a radio station based in Cologne in 1972, "Night Works" was the chronological (though unofficial) successor to their monumental debut, "Free Electric Sound", an album that showcased an ambitious and experimental approach focused on the psychedelic and hypnotic sounds of so called Kosmiche Music. On this second release, the lineup still consisted of guitarist and vocalist Conny Veit, bassist Walter Wiederkehr, organist Fritz Scheyhing, and drummer Daniel Alluno. With a style clearly related to their debut, the Stuttgart-based band follows in the footsteps of the acid and lysergic sounds of early Pink Floyd led by Syd Barrett, featuring expansive jams like "The Gila Symphony". a tour de force encompassing everything from atmospheric and hallucinatory passages to intricate interplay between a heavy Hammond organ and biting guitars, all under the spell of a powerful and brutal rhythm section. In addition to this impressive piece, the album includes memorable instrumental passages such as the psychedelic heavy rock of "Around Midnight", the lysergic "Braintwist", the hypnotic "Trampelpfad", and the atmospheric "Communication II".

Blue Oyster Cult-Cultösaurus Erectus (1980)

"Mirrors" had been a step back in the career of the Blue Oyster Cult, to the point of losing some credibility and the trust of their fans, so for their next album they hired producer Martin Birch to put them back on the record. level they deserved.
And partly thanks to the album "Cultösaurus Erectus" they would achieve it, with a powerful work and a brilliant and impeccable production.
Here the instrumental developments return and they are the main resource of this magnificent album, as from the beginning with "Black Blade" it is intuited, a song with a very hard sound, "The Marshall Plan" is a visceral rock full of power and quality, and there are even times for some interesting extravaganza like jazz rock "Monsters"

David Bowie-Scary Monsters (1980)

"Scary Monsters" marked David Bowie's most "conventional" return after several albums of electronic and post-punk soundscapes reflected in the so-called "Berlin Trilogy" ("Low", "Heroes", and "Lodger"). On this occasion, the Thin White Duke once again delights us with a repertoire full of catchy songs, yet simultaneously boasting complex musical arrangements. For this fourteenth album, the British musician reunites with some of his regular collaborators, such as Robert Fripp and Carlos Alomar on guitars and Tony Visconti on acoustic guitar, in addition to other prominent musicians like Pete Townshend, Andy Clark, George Murray, and Dennis Davis. Songs like the addictive "Ashes to Ashes" alone make this album essential to Bowie's career, but it also features other great highlights like "Scream Like a Baby", which still retains glimpses of the creative brilliance of his earlier period. Other standout tracks like "Because You're Young", "Up the Hill Backwards", "Teenage Wildlife", and the surprising "It's No Game (Part 1)" make up one of his greatest recordings. With this album, David Bowie closed out a decade of immense creativity, producing some of the best albums in the history of rock music.

Cosmos Factory-An Old Castle of Transylvania (1973)

Taking their name from the legendary Creedence Clearwater Revival album, Cosmos Factory was another of the seminal Japanese psychedelic and progressive bands of the 1970s, releasing four albums between 1973 and 1977. Their lineup consisted of Tsutomu Izumi (keyboards, Moog synthesizer, vocals), Hisashi Mizutani (guitar, vocals), Toshikazu Taki (bass, vocals), Kazuo Okamoto (drums and percussion), and Misao (violin). Their debut, "An Old Castle of Transylvania", was their most progressive and ethereal work, driven by the sounds of a galloping Hammond organ, a soaring electric violin, and a fiery electric guitar. Songs like "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun" evoke the most psychedelic and underground Pink Floyd, while the title track is a 20-minute epic that moves between the heavy sounds of hard rock, space rock, and symphonic rock. With their subsequent albums, this Japanese group presented a different style on each one, from the intricate and complex "A Journey With The Cosmos Factory" (1975), to the heavy rock-oriented "Metal Reflection" (1977), and the more experimental "Black Hole" (1976).

Arena-The Visitor (1998)

The third album by the British band Arena is one of the most acclaimed and praised neo-progressive records, an admirable work of intelligent fusion composed of exuberant melodies and vibrant rock under an intricate and passionate musicianship. In this new release, the band introduced a new guitarist, John Mitchell, who replaced Keith Moore, becoming a key figure with his heavy riffs and tremendous melodic solos. Added to this are the haunting keyboards of the group's leader, Clive Nolan, who creates multi-layered sounds, grandiose orchestrations, and dreamlike, spacey synthesizers. For his part, Paul Wrightson's passionate, expressive, yet delicate vocals greatly contribute to this concept album reflecting why it is one of the greatest neo-progressive records in history.