Neil Young-On The Beach (1974)

Neil Young's fifth album, "On the Beach", is considered by many to be a cult classic, following the bleak and depressing "Tonight's the Night". Like "Tonight's the Night", "On the Beach" wasn't a commercial success upon its release, but over time it achieved well-deserved recognition from fans and critics alike. Leaving behind his earlier, more ambitious productions, on this album Neil Young sought a more subdued and flexible sound. Here, the Canadian musician delves deeper into what he does best: composing, playing, and singing a series of songs that ultimately completed another of his great works. For this recording, Young enlisted the collaboration of several of his former bandmates from CSN and Crazy Horse, including Graham Nash, David Crosby, Billy Talbot, and Ralph Molina, as well as members of The Band, Levon Helm and Rick Danko. Songs filled with haunting tones like the folk rock "Walk On", the melancholic "Motion Picture", the blues "Vampire Blues", the folk "Ambulance Blues" or the hypnotic "On The Beach", made this one of the most conventional and honest albums of the brilliant Neil Young.

Murple-Io Sono Murple (1975)

Another of the many Italian bands of the 1970s was Murple, a Roman group that barely managed to release a single album in mid-1975. Founded in 1971, their lineup consisted of Giuseppe Santamaria on vocals and guitar, Pier Carlo Zanco on lead vocals and keyboards, Mario Garbarino on bass, and Duilio Sorrenti on drums. Their only official recording is "Io Sono Murple", an interesting transalpine offering of classic Italian progressive rock, featuring impressive displays of organ and guitar work with compositions that alternate between melodic and pastoral moments and the power and aggression of rock. It is composed of a series of short pieces that link together, creating a kind of unified work with sounds that oscillate between jazz, classical music, avant-garde, and rock.

Styx-Crystal Ball (1976)

When Styx burst onto the rock scene, they created a new way of understanding it, transforming its style with grandiose arrangements and theatrical ornamentation. This led to a succession of highly successful albums, especially in the North American market, where they were acclaimed and revered by the public. "Crystal Ball" is a crucial album for the band, following several years and their more progressive releases, including their debut "Styx" (1972), their second album "Styx II" (1973), and subsequent albums such as "Serpent Is Rising" (1973) and "Man of Miracles" (1974). After their fifth album, "Equinox" (1975), guitarist John Curulewsky left the band and was replaced by Tommy Shaw (guitar and vocals). Despite his sex symbol image and appeal to female audiences, Shaw had an interest in progressive rock, while Dennis De Young (keyboards and vocals) became increasingly interested in AOR. The rest of the band consisted of the Panozzo brothers, Chuck on bass and John on drums, and James Young on second guitar. Tommy Shaw provided the balance between creativity and commercial success that the band needed and was responsible for some of the best songs they would release in the following years. From the bombastic "Put Me On" to the dramatic "Clair de Lune/Ballerina", a series of irresistible tracks followed, such as the symbolic "Mademoiselle", the powerful ballad "Jennifer", the brilliant "Crystal Ball", the latter a track that would define the band's later sound and the dark and surprising “This Old Man”, “Crystal Ball” was the group’s first artistically solid album, achieving great chart success after many years in the shadow of their contemporaries. They would soon cease to be a local phenomenon in Chicago and its surrounding areas, becoming one of the iconic American bands.

Elonkorjuu-Harvest Time (1972)

This Finnish quintet, founded in the late 1960s, enjoyed brief and modest success with their debut album, released in 1972 under the EMI label and titled "Harvest Time". In the 1970s, they released two albums, of which "Harvest Time" is considered a collector's item among music lovers, fetching between 500 and 1000 € for an original vinyl copy. Their second album, "Flying High, Running Fast" (1978), was released under the English name HARVEST, perhaps in the hope of achieving better international exposure. During those years, Elonkorjuu toured Northern Europe and frequently participated in major Finnish and Scandinavian rock events, such as the Pori Jazz and Ruisrock festivals. Although they disbanded in 1978, the band reunited in 2003 and released a new album, "Scumbag", the following year. This marked a shift in their musical direction, leaning towards a heavier rock-blues sound. In 2010, the band released the double live album "Scumbag Goes To Theatre", and in 2012, the 4-CD compilation "Seasons", which includes almost everything the band had recorded. But focusing on their debut album, Elonkorjuu delivers an ambitious hard rock effort with an appealing fusion of different genres such as blues, jazz, touches of folk, and subtle progressive sounds. Despite its somewhat lack of cohesion, it's a commendable album, deeply rooted in the typical sound of the late sixties. Tracks like the galloping “Unfeeling” and the muscular “Swords” showcase the power of the Hammond organ and the penetrating guitar riffs, while psychedelia permeates “Captain” and “Praise To Our Basement”, or the sinuous sounds of jazzy guitars and frenetic percussion, as demonstrated in the magnificent instrumental “Future”. The fast-paced rocker “Hey Hunter” and the schizophrenic “Old Man’s Dream”, along with the captivating “Me and My Fiend”, are other highlights of this magnificent, eclectic, energetic album, a real treat for fans of early hard rock from the late sixties. 

Bighorn-Bighorn (1978)

In the late seventies, pomp rock was experiencing its heyday in the United States. Bands like Styx, Kansas, Toto, Angel, Magnum, Boston and REO Speedwagon, among others, dominated the charts, and their albums were among the most acclaimed and best-selling. However, there were also many other bands operating in the underground scene, bands that didn't achieve the desired success or notoriety due to the dominance of these more famous and media-savvy bands, which unintentionally blocked their path to the charts. One of these was Bighorn, a band formed in the early seventies in Seattle, who had already released a single in 1974, "I Get High"/"Takin' Me Down", which went completely unnoticed. After a constant turnover of members, towards the end of the decade, this band embarked on an extensive tour of the western United States and southern Canada. They were fortunate enough to sign with a small Canadian label in Vancouver, a subsidiary of Columbia Records, who financed and released their first and only album in late 1978. On this debut, Bighorn showcased their AOR style fused with progressive hard rock sounds, highlighting their irresistible vocal arrangements and catchy, highly addictive, and commercially viable melodies. The lineup that recorded this album consisted of vocalist Bon Marcy, guitarist Joe Shikany, keyboardist Peter Davis, bassist Michael Ipsen, and drummer Steve Adams. Notably, all of them were also vocalists, a fact that greatly contributed to the superb vocal arrangements. Produced by Briton Martin Shaer, the album is a brilliant collection of tracks ranging from hard rock songs like "Triad Every Trick" and "Helen Betty" to melodic rock like "Stand Up" and "Mary-Anne", passing through more complex tracks such as "Sparrow" and "Penny For Your Dreams", not to mention catchy mid-tempo numbers like "(I Love You) I'm Not Afraid Anymore" or the progressive hard rock of "Star Rocker". After this album, some of its members decided to leave to pursue other projects, and Bighorn would ultimately disband at the end of 1979 without a trace, but leaving behind this brilliant and forgotten melodic rock album for posterity.

Ayers Rock-Beyond (1976)

Ayers Rock was one of the most important Australian jazz-rock bands, with a style inspired by the instrumental complexities of Weather Report and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, the psychedelic sound of Traffic, and the Latin percussion of Santana. This band was among the first from Australia to perform before large crowds in the United States, long before iconic Australian groups like AC/DC and the Little River Band. Their first live album, "Big Red Rock", features powerful blues-rock compositions with subtle jazz influences. However, several years later, on their second album, "Beyond", the band shifted towards a more jazz-rock sound, incorporating elements of more accessible rock. Ayers Rock consisted of vocalists and guitarists Chris Brown and James Doyle, drummer Mark Kennedy, keyboardist and wind instrument player Col Loughnan, and bassist Duncan McGuire. In "Beyond", this Australian band showcases its immense talent in tracks like the melodic and energetic "Lady Montego", a song where the swamp rock influences are more than evident. Similarly, the blues-rock track "Talkin' 'Bout You" is another dynamic rock number with a prominent horn section. Ayers Rock's eclectic style is present in the rhythm and blues "Going 'Home", while "Crazy Boys" owes a debt to the more jazzy and complex sound of Frank Zappa. The dusty "Nostalgic Blues", the instrumental jazz-rock "Big Red Rock", and the funk-infused "Boogie Woogie Waltz" bring this commendable album of energetic and brilliant jazz-rock to a close. It's from one of those interesting and little-known bands that, despite their enormous talent, have been forgotten in the depths of rock music history.

After Tea-After Tea (1970)

Formed in the second half of the 1960s, After Tea was a Dutch band initially called Tee Set. They achieved some success with singles such as "Early In The Morning", "Believe What I Say", and "Don't You Leave", as well as the albums "Emotion" and "Join the Tea Set", all released between 1966 and 1968. The original Tee Set lineup consisted of bassist Polle Eduard, keyboardist Hans Van Eyck, drummer Carry Janssen, and guitarist Ray Fenwick. During their early years, the band experienced a constant turnover of members, including Pierre Van Der Linde, who would later become the drummer for the legendary band Focus. However, in 1969 the band definitively established itself as After Tea with a new lineup, including guitarist Ferry Lever, drummer Ilja Gort, and keyboardist Ulli Grün, while Polle Eduard remained the sole survivor of the defunct Tee Set. With this revamped lineup, they released their self-titled debut album, "After Tea" (1970), where they moved away from the psychedelic sounds of their initial approach and delved into the realm of blues rock, as demonstrated by the superb tracks "Joint House Blues", "Let's Come All Together", "You've Got to Move Me", and the tour de force "Trial/Punishment/The End". On the other hand, and bearing witness to their recent psychedelic past, "Someday" and "I'm Here" appear, pieces that enrich the musical palette of this forgotten band and one of the dark gems of European blues rock.

Horslips-The Táin (1973)

While many concept albums never quite work clearly and concisely, this second album from the Irish band Horslips does so brilliantly. Its concept is based on a legendary story from Irish mythology that developed around 500 BC. Musically, it's deeply rooted in Celtic folk, specifically from the Ulster and Connaught regions, filled with cheerful traditional melodies spiced with modern rock, which somehow provides the ideal musical backdrop for this intriguing concept. The strength of this album, and of this Irish band, lies in the magic of each song and its melodies, ingeniously crafted by a band of top-notch musicians. Songs like the folk-rock with progressive touches such as "Happy to Meet, Sorry to Part" ,"Setanta" or "Charolais" have certain influences of dark pastoral tales, while the traditional folk that appears in the second part of the album in songs like "Cu Chulainn's Lament", "Faster than The Hound" or "The Silver Spear", with its decidedly Irish violin sound and lively rhythm, fit in perfect conjunction with the overall atmosphere of this album.