Illusion-Out Of The Mist (1977)

Illusion was an important British progressive folk-rock band with a brief recording career. They emerged from the ashes of Renaissance, and along with Armageddon, were considered one of its offshoots. Their initial lineup consisted of Keith Relf (guitar and vocals), drummer Jim McCarty, keyboardist John Hawken, bassist Louis Cennamo, and vocalist Jane Relf. However, shortly before beginning recording sessions for their debut album, Keith Relf suffered a severe electric shock while playing his guitar and died instantly. Some time later, the band decided to continue, hiring guitarist John Knightsbridge and percussionist Eddie McNeill, with whom they entered the studio and produced the album "Out of the Mist". Following the style of Renaissance albums, this debut features catchy melodies with sophisticated structures, a strong pop influence, and a certain symphonic quality. The flavor of old-school folk-rock is evident in almost every song, as we can hear in the opening and captivating "Isidora", while other tracks like "Everywhere You Go" and "Face of Yesterday", along with the pop-rock song "Solo Flight", showcase their melodic character. On the progressive side, there's "Candles Are Burning", undoubtedly the album's most avant-garde track, brimming with synthesizer sounds and driven by a steady, energetic rhythm.

Max Webster-Mutiny Up My Sleeve (1978)

With their third album, "Mutiny Up My Sleeve", Max Webster cemented their status as a key figure in the Canadian progressive hard rock scene. Although always somewhat overshadowed by more mainstream Canadian bands like Saga and Rush, Max Webster forged a strong reputation in their home country and even crossed borders, finding success in the North American and Japanese markets. "Mutiny Up My Sleeve" was the band's most reflective work to date, with clear progressive influences. Here, the band, led by Kim Mitchell, presented a less intriguing sound compared to their first two releases, while simultaneously crafting more mature and rewarding compositions. Songs like the rhythmic "The Party", the melancholic "Water Me Down", the stirring "Astonish Me", and the progressive "Beyond The Moon" propelled an album that would make a significant impact on the charts and definitively solidify the career of this formidable Canadian band.

Gong-Gazeuse! (1976)

By the time the Franco-British band Gong released their eighth album, "Gazeuse!", their style was clearly focused on full-fledged jazz-rock, yet the humorous, zany, and experimental spirit of their former frontman, Daevid Allen, still lingers at certain points throughout the album. With a solid lineup of established British and French jazz-rock musicians such as Allan Holdsworth, Francis Moze, Mireille Bauer, Benoit Moerlen, Pierre Moerlen, and Didier Malherbe, the group manages to create a repertoire of well-written songs that contrast with one another but simultaneously fit together perfectly within the album's overall sound. Pierre Moerlen's extensive use of instruments like marimbas, xylophones, and glockenspiels adds color and relaxing moments to the music, while his precise drumming shines equally brightly. In addition to all of this, Allan Holdsworth's guitar work is sublime, showcasing intoxicating riffs that contribute significantly to all the compositions and interact with the exquisite contributions of Malherbe's saxophone and flute. Frenetic tracks like "Expresso" and "Esnuria", brilliant percussive canvases like "Percolations Part One", and the superb jazz-rock "Shadows Of" lead this album to be considered one of the jewels of European jazz-rock, driven primarily by the percussion instruments.

Journey-Look Into The Future (1976)

"Look Into The Future" is the second album by the American band Journey, who became a quartet for this record after guitarist George Tickner left the band shortly before the recording sessions. With an enigmatic cover and title, the band displays a more commercial orientation, pressured by CBS Records in search of immediate chart success. The album's repertoire is divided between catchy songs geared towards FM radio and others closer to their characteristic progressive jazz-rock style. Tracks like the melodic AOR songs "On A Saturday Nite", "It's All Too Much", "Anyway", and "She Makes Me" contrast with others more gratifying for the band's loyal fans, such as the more complex "You're On Your Own", the spectacular and progressive "Look Into The Future", the jazz-rock "Midnight Dreamer", and the bluesy "I'm Gonna Leave You". Ultimately, with this second release, the band composed of Neal Schon, Gregg Rolie, Ross Valory and Aynsley Dunbar explored a wider range of influences and styles than on their jazzy debut album.

Roger Waters-The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking (1984)

Roger Waters' second album is clearly a sequel to Pink Floyd's 1970s concept albums, this time focusing on certain aspects of the human condition. For this work, Waters didn't enlist any of his former Floyd bandmates, instead recruiting musicians such as guitarist Eric Clapton, keyboardist Andy Bown, saxophonists David Sanborn and Raphael Ravenscroft, percussionists Ray Cooper and Andy Newmark, and arranger Michael Kamen, among other prominent figures in the British rock scene. Although at first glance it seems an obvious successor to Pink Floyd's "The Final Cut", due to its oscillation between the general malaise of the world's population and Waters' own purging of inner demons, it actually differs considerably, driven by the album's intriguing compositional and musical construction, which doesn't adhere to a clear and concise stylistic pattern. Even so, there are some truly outstanding tracks here, with Eric Clapton delivering a brilliant performance on the six strings, lending an intense blues feel with his riffs and solos. Despite being rather fragmented and rejected by a good portion of the more orthodox Floyd fans, the album itself contains a repertoire of high-quality art-rock songs, with subtle references to enigmatic works like "The Wall" or the aforementioned "The Final Cut".

Emergency-Entrance (1972)

Formed in the style of their American contemporaries Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears, Emergency was another interesting German band founded in the early 1970s by Hanus Berka, a Czechoslovakian multi-instrumentalist with extensive experience working in the United States for other musicians of his nationality, such as Miroslav Vitous and Jan Hammer. For Emergency, Berka recruited his compatriots Jiro Matousek (keyboards), Dusko Goykovich (trumpet), and Otto Bezloja (bass), as well as German drummer Udo Lindenberg and British guitarist Barrié Newsboy. After a remarkable debut album that incorporated sounds like brass rock, R&B, and funk jazz, the band underwent its first lineup changes, bringing in drummers John Redpath and Curt Cress, keyboardist Jiøí Matousek, and guitarist Frank Diez. With this new lineup, they released what is considered their best work, "Entrance", a record that continues down the stylistic paths of their debut, but with a more bluesy approach. Songs like the jazz-influenced blues-rock tracks "Happiness" and "Journey", the dynamic jazz-rock "Emergency Entrance", and the dusty jazz-rock "Killin' Time" make up a solid album that, despite its tasteless cover, is a pleasant recording of the best brass rock from the early 70s.