Rock Rose-Rock Rose (1979)

Another interesting and now largely forgotten band was the American group Rock Rose, who offered a compelling and engaging blend of melodic AOR and American rock from the late 1970s. The band was originally formed by bassist and vocalist Frank Demme, guitarist and keyboardist Chris Barr, and guitarist Carl Johnson, who attended high school together in a Los Angeles suburb. This trio was one of the most popular among a variety of California garage bands before recruiting drummer Jack Damore. Once the band lineup was solidified, they hit the ground running, playing a wide circuit of clubs in Southern California and touring other states along the West Coast. The immense popularity Rock Rose gained through their concerts did not go unnoticed by Columbia Records, who offered them a contract and produced an album in early 1979. This single album is well-crafted, featuring polished, harmonious arrangements courtesy of the top-notch production team that worked with Santana: Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter. Among its tracks are the addictive and catchy rock songs "Diary of Fools," "Daddy's Car," "Sad Thing," and "Slippin'," as well as the melodic "Bittersweet Love," "You've Gone Beyond," "Phantom Lover," and "Sad Thing." The album achieved more than acceptable sales in the North American, Canadian, and Australian markets, but this was not enough for Columbia, and some time later their recording contract was terminated. The band then returned to performing concerts in the Los Angeles area.

Pell Mell-Marburg (1972)

Pell Mell were another of those talented bands that fell into the abyss at the end of the 1970s, disappearing as if they had never existed. Their debut album, "Marburg," brimming with violins, mellotrons, flutes, and a solid rock foundation, developed a symphonic rock sound that drew from the genre's great classics, fusing them with a dose of heavy sounds driven by the Hammond organ, resulting in a style reminiscent of British bands like Uriah Heep or Deep Purple. This group was based in the city of Marburg in northwestern Germany, and its lineup consisted of Jorg Gotzfried (bass and vocals), Andy Kirnberger (guitar), Bruno Kniesmeijer (percussion and drums), Hans Otto Pusch (keyboards), and Thomas Schmitt (flute, violin, keyboards, and vocals). The nine-minute frenetic "The Clown and the Queen" opens this debut album and simultaneously becomes its climax, followed by the dynamic "Friend," the grandiose "City Monster," and the heavy rock anthem "Alone." While the cover of Smetana's classic "The Moldau" is perhaps the least interesting track, it doesn't detract from the merits of this compelling album of classic symphonic rock, highly regarded by progheads.

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band-SAHB Stories (1976)

Heavy riffs, theatrical stage presence throughout, flashes of glam rock, and a dash of humor were the ingredients that always characterized The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, one of the most popular bands in England during the 1970s. With eight studio albums and two live albums in just five years, they knew how to combine the heavy sounds of hard rock with humorous lyrics and an engaging stage show. In 1976, thanks to the hit single "Boston Tea Party," they also reached the top ten of the British charts, a track from their sixth album, "SAHB Stories," which also achieved significant chart success. This sixth album, produced in London's Basing Street studios during the first months of 1976, was released in the middle of the same year and was recorded by musicians Alex Harvey (guitar and vocals), Zal Cleminson (guitar), Ted McKenna (drums), Chris Glen (bass), and Hugh McKenna (keyboards). In addition to the aforementioned and carefree "Boston Tea Party", the group leaves us with a work full of impressive cuts such as the powerful and exquisite "Dance To Your Daddy", the groove boogie rock "Amos Moses", the elegant "Jungle Rub Out", the extravagant bluesy "Sirocco", the hard rock "Sultans Choice" or the epic "Dogs Of War", with which they bring to a close this fantastic and memorable album from one of the most iconic bands in the history of British rock.

The Greatest Show On Earth-Horizons (1970)

The Greatest Show On Earth was one of the many unclassifiable bands that emerged in the late 1970s. Despite releasing two excellent albums of eclectic prog rock, they didn't achieve the expected and deserved success. Founded in London by guitarist Garth Watt-Roy and his brother, bassist Norman Watt-Roy, the rest of the lineup included keyboardist Mick Deacon, percussionist Ron Prudence, trumpeters Dick Hanson, Tex Phillpoots, and Ian Aitchison, and vocalist, guitarist, and flautist Colin Jennings. The music of this large band was a blend of different styles such as soul, jazz, R&B, and progressive rock, leading to comparisons with their American contemporaries Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago. This appealing mix of styles caught the attention of EMI's progressive rock sub-label, Harvest Records, who produced several moderately successful singles for them. In 1970, their first full-length album, "Horizons," was released. It opens with the exuberant and powerful "Sunflower Morning," where the guitar and heavy organ establish themselves as the driving and dominant instruments of the band's original style. "Angelina," the following track, is dominated by horns in a clear brass rock style. The captivating and moving "Day of the Lady" closes the first side, showcasing superb musicianship. The energetic rock track "Real Cool World," with its pulsating rhythm and powerful guitar riffs, became the song that propelled the album to success across much of Europe, while the hard jazz rock track "I Fought for Love" demonstrates the impressive skill of keyboardist Deacon. With the title track, "Horizons," the band reveals its most avant-garde side, a resounding and apotheotic tour de force of progressive hard rock, before concluding this debut album with the melancholic "Again and Again." After a second album released at the end of 1970, and due to a lack of chart success, it contributed to the breakup of The Greatest Show On Earth, and all its members went on to join other bands of the time such as Glencoe, Vinegar Joe, The Blues Band, Chaser, Tagett, or the Wilko Johnson Band.

The Rubettes-Wear It's 'At (1974)

Initially categorized as a glam pop band with influences from Black American music like doo-wop, The Rubettes had their moment of glory in 1974 when one of their songs climbed to the top of the charts worldwide. Founded in 1974, their initial lineup consisted of Alan Williams on vocals and guitar, John Richardson on drums and vocals, Mick Clarke on bass and vocals, Tony Thorpe on guitar and vocals, and pianists Pete Arnesen and Bill Hurd. All of them were session musicians at Polydor Studios, and their main driving force was Wayne Bickerton, one of the directors of a division of the record label, along with producer Tony Waddington. Their biggest hit was "Sugar Baby Love," which, released in January 1974, reached number one worldwide several months later, dethroning ABBA's album "Waterloo" and becoming one of the biggest hits of the year. It's a song inspired by the vocal doo-wop-pop of the 1950s, but adorned with the arrangements of more mainstream music from the mid-1970s. Its tremendous success was therefore no surprise. It went on to sell a staggering ten million copies worldwide, including singles and LPs, achieving gold status in the UK and many other European countries. Although after this success, and despite having some less commercially impactful hits like "Juke Box Jive" and "Tonight," the band continued releasing albums well into the 1990s, but remained largely absent from the charts and were considered a beloved and famous 1970s revival band.

Hawkwind-Hall Of The Mountain Grill (1974)

"Hall of the Mountain Grill" was Hawkwind's fourth album and their first to fuse spacey sounds with the acid rock of their earlier work. Recorded during mid-1974 at Edmonton Sundwood Studios in London, it was produced by the renowned Roy Thomas Baker, a regular engineer for bands such as Free, Queen, Journey, Nazareth, and Foreigner, among many others. For this third release, keyboardist and violinist Simon House replaced Robert Calvert, while the rest of the band consisted of Dave Brock (guitar and keyboards), Nik Turner (saxophone, flute, and vocals), Lemmy Kilmister (bass and vocals), Simon King (drums and percussion), and Del Dettmar (keyboards). The new sound is evident in tracks like "The Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear in Smoke)," "D-Rider," and "Paradox," while the acid-tinged rock vein remains present in tracks like "You'd Better Believe It" and "Lost Johnny." However, the complete absence of Robert Calvert's science fiction and fantasy poetry interludes is noticeable. While these don't necessarily detract from the album's final result, they do lack the philosophical spark of his earlier work. Even so, as mentioned at the beginning, this album marked the beginning of a more ambient and progressive style, resulting in an admirable work of the best space rock of the 1970s.

Too Much-Too Much (1971)

This band, formed in the late 1960s in the Japanese city of Kobe, was born under the influence of Western music, especially that of the United States and England, thanks to the albums that arrived on supply ships for the consumption of the American troops stationed there. Led by former The Helpful Soul guitarist Junio ​​Nakahara, who already had an extensive musical career encompassing psychedelia, hard rock, and late 1960s blues, Nakahara enlisted vocalist Juni Lush, drummer Hideya Kobayashi, and bassist Masayuki Aoki. After signing with the American label Atlantic Records in mid-1970, they wrote a wealth of material, many of them proto-Japanese anthems, some of which appeared on the band's only album, released in early 1971. The final result is a masterpiece of Japanese rock, featuring monolithic tracks like the hard rock anthems "Grease It Out," "Love Is You," and "Gonna Take You," powerful blues-rock pieces like "Love That Blinds Me," and moody, tearful ballads such as "Reminiscence" and "I Shall Be Released." Psychedelic hard rock exercises like the epic "Song For My Lady," a massive progressive piece brimming with acoustic guitars, flute, and mellotron. Shortly after this release, the band would definitively disband, each member going their separate ways, but leaving us with this formidable album of the best Japanese hard rock for posterity.