Captain Beyond-Captain Beyond (1972)

One of the most overlooked old-school supergroups was Captain Beyond, formed by former members of four iconic bands. They released three excellent albums: "Captain Beyond" (1972), "Sufficiently Breathless" (1973), and "Dawn Explosion" (1977). Formed in 1971 in Los Angeles by vocalist Rod Evans (ex-Deep Purple), guitarists Larry Rhino and Lee Dorman (ex-Iron Butterfly), and drummer Bobby Caldwell (ex-Johnny Winter Band), they drew inspiration from the styles of their parent bands, delivering hard rock and heavy sounds that permeate every groove of their three albums, albeit with a touch of avant-garde, especially on their second release. On "Raging River Of Fear", from their debut album, the heavy blues riffs stand out, as does the frenetic heavy rock track "Dancing Madly Backwards", which together form a general repertoire of high-octane rock pieces with acoustic and jazz interludes. With their next release, they began to incorporate much more stylistic variety and progressive influences, as demonstrated by the dynamic "Sufficiently Breathless", the jazz-rock with Latin tendencies "Everything A Circle", and the spacey "Starglow Energy". Finally, with their third release, "Dawn Explosion", they return to hard rock, albeit with a more organic and melodic tone, as shown by the captivating tracks "If You Please", "Fantasy", "Breath Of Fire", and "Midnight Memories".

Captain Beyond-Sufficiently Breathless (1973)

After their stunning debut, the band led by Rod Evans fully embraced the sounds of avant-garde rock with "Sufficiently Breathless", a departure from the powerful hard rock of their first album. In this new release, progressive elements appear throughout, showcasing greater compositional maturity, more imaginative work, and even enhanced instrumental technique. All these changes are foreshadowed from the start with the progressive title track, which nevertheless retains the signature effective riffs, splendid vocals, and refined instrumentation. But they soon shift into high gear, revealing their energetic side with the surprising rock of "Starglow Energy", the addictive mainstream hit "Bright Blue Tango", the rock fusion of "Drifting In Space", and the powerful "Everything's A Circle". In short, with their second release, the band formed by the aforementioned Rod Evans (vocals), Larry Reinhardt (guitars), Guille Garcia (percussion), Marty Rodriguez (drums), Lee Dorman (bass) and Reese Wynans (keyboards), wanted to expand their style by producing an album that, although initially rejected by their most purist fans, is also true to be one of the most meritorious cult works of the early 70s.