Eat A Peach - ALLMAN BROTHERS****

Ain't Wastin' Time No More/Les Brers In A Minor/Melissa/Mountain Jam/One Way Out/Trouble No More/Stand Back/Blue Sky/Little Martha/Mountain Jam Continued

Eat A Peach was a part live part studio double album. It includes the final recordings of guitarist founder member Duane Allman who was killed in a motorcycle accident. (US:4)

“The album's tortured history is well documented and that background makes it an even more impressive package. I'm hard pressed to think of another band that in the wake of a massive loss like Duane Allman's death, couldn't have found the inner strength and courage to pick up the pieces of their personal and professional lives to complete an album.”

“The Allman Brothers were a band of two sides: the classic radio-friendly hit drenched in Southern comfort and the extended jam. In this double album consisting of nine songs, the Brothers provide plenty of both.”

“Mountain Jam is the crux of Eat A Peach, and possibly the best recorded jam ever. For anyone who is a fan of southern rock, this is a must have. I could go on for a long time about why but that would be saying too much about such a simple yet elegant work of art.”

“Released less than four months after Duane Allman's death, Eat A Peach gathers together the final tracks laid down by the original band, the only studio documentation of the short-lived five-man, one-guitar line-up and the remaining performances from the concerts which had yielded the epochal At Fillmore East album. Far from being a stereotypical posthumous odds and ends collection, Eat A Peach is a treasure trove containing much of the Brothers' best work, and stands right at the very apex of their stupendous body of recordings.”

“Rock with a very strong southern influence. The album flows really well and it becomes apparent that these guys are great song writers. From the rocking opening track there is a great diversity throughout.”

“This is a really effective mix of studio tracks and live performances. The guitarist Duane Allman died during the recording of this album and Eat A Peach was dedicated to his memory. The material is mostly jam band kind of stuff with some magnificent double guitar playing by Duane Allman and Dicky Betts.”

Who Will Save The World - GROUNDHOGS***

Earth Is Not Room Enough/Wages Of Peace/Body In Mind/Music Is The Food Of Thought/Bog Roll Blues/Death Of The Sun/Amazing Grace/The Grey Maze

Who Will Save The World maintained the commercial appeal of the blues-rock band Groundhogs, although with a dip in quality. Features the use of mellotron on a few tracks. (UK:8)

“Excellent progressive bluesy hard rock with mellotron and dark lyrics. I really love most of this. Sadly, the last two songs are not at all as good as what precedes them. Amazing Grace done Hendrix-style is not that fun, and Grey Maze lingers on for a while too long with headache inducing guitar solos.”

“On this, they seem to be clearly running out of steam. Still featuring primarily blues-rock, this one suffers from not enough of Tony McPhee's guitar pyrotechnics. It's still decent, just way off the outstanding performance they established on the last two outings.” “The Hogs are just not that great a band, they seem lost in an endless change of styles, which leads to a varied quality from song to song. One must realize that there are no musical milestones here.”

“If you forget about Amazing Grace which is pure filler, the rest is stylistically close to Hogwash, although this one leans closer to prog than hard rock.”

“A truly awesome album. Progressive licks blend perfectly with some excellent guitar kicks. It's like they've been practicing for years to achieve this. The result is amazingly smooth and it flows like the water on Nile and the Amazon, sometimes fast, sometimes slower, but with no gaps.”

“Who Will Save The World is nothing short of an amazing bluesy heavy progressive rock album. Here McPhee included Mellotron along with guitar and I really dig the use of Mellotron, even though he only used it on three songs.”

“Tony McPhee is an awesome guitarist and an even better song writer. His version of Amazing Grace still gives me chills. Lots of guitar effects and I think this is the best line up of the band members.”

Greatest Hits - BLOOD SWEAT & TEARS*****

You've Made Me So Very Happy/I Can't Quit Her/Go Down Gamblin'/Hi-De-Ho/Sometimes In Winter/And When I Die/Spinning Wheel/Lisa Listen To Me/I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know/Lucretia Macevil/God Bless The Child

An excellent compilation of the best songs from the jazz-rock ensemble Blood Sweat & Tears in their most creative period. These are single edits thus avoiding the lengthy more jazzy interludes. (US:19)

“Although not a perfect rendition of the band’s broad scope of artistic instincts, as it omits many of the secondary roads the band has travelled. It consists only of single edits instead of the more developed, and much more interesting, album versions, This is nevertheless a great appetizer which stimulates the curiosity to instigate a more detailed exploration of the incredible catalogue of the initial years of the god-fathers of jazz-rock.”

“What you get when you mix a soulful blues voice and pop horns is a good sounding band with power and finesse and heart. Someday I'll dive deeper into their catalogue, but for now this is an excellent collection.”

“The crisp songs on this collection are a good sample of jazzy rock blues. Along with the gravelly vocals, the tunes have those signature sounds of BS&T, a wicked brass section which blues and grooves its way through the album accompanied by some great keyboard and guitar work.”

“BS&T hits are best heard in their shorter radio edit versions as here that expurgate the jazzy interludes which sound nothing like the rest of the songs.”

“My favourite on this collection is the gentle soulful ballad Sometimes In Winter, a song that perfectly captures a mood of loneliness and regret that I believe is universal. It is atypical of the rest of their output, and very beautiful. This is an interesting collection of a rare jazz-rock experiment that seems to have died at the end of the 1960s.”

“This amazing group with the most incredibly soulful lead singer I've ever heard. So much passion in his vocals, and one amazing song after another.”

“Two of the band's signature hits, And When I Die and Spinning Wheel are the shorter versions, missing the outstanding jazz breaks. Not that this is bad, as BS&T's songs are so good that they defy editing.”

Thick As A Brick - JETHRO TULL*****

Thick As A Brick Part 1/Thick As A Brick Part 2

Thick As A Brick is a brilliant tour de force, a continuous piece of music divided into distinct segments of enormous creativity. Original LP came with gimmick of a spoof local newspaper. (US:1 UK:5)

“The idea was to make it truly a concept album, one continuous piece of music. It originated as smaller pieces of music that were strung together, so it has all the shifts in dynamics of a regular record, but lyrically it is one forty-minute song, and that's what's so fascinating about it.”

“The whole album is full of brilliant moments. The unbelievable talent of all of the members is overwhelming. The music is so creative, yet so difficult to play and so tight. It is hard to believe there are just five people here. The sound changes so much throughout the album. Different instrumentations, different time signatures, different styles. Everything here is one word, sophisticated.”

“This album is progressive because Jethro Tull married multiple musical styles on one album. The album is conceptual because the entire song is actually multiple songs married into one song by a variety of transitions and interludes. There may be an occasional unevenness in the transitions, but in general the whole thing works, and is one of the most unique works of rock music.”

“A surprisingly cohesive effort for a forty minute rock song. It avoids both the tiresome repetition a lot of songs that length indulge in, and the tendency of prog epics to consist of multiple unrelated sections. Everything here flows from one piece into the next. It rocks at times, but it’s always aware of and willing to return to the light acoustic progressions that form the heart of the album.”

“From the first moment you are transported to a magical world where anything goes musically, in which the musicians combine in an odyssey of rock, folk, jazz and classical elements to create a marvellous experience.”

“This album is simple and ambitious at the same time. The simplicity of the gentle, catchy melodies along with Anderson's hooky vocals contrast with the complexity of the lengthy instrumental passages and cryptic lyrics.”

“Rich vocals, fine ensemble musicianship, a beefy sound, and a playfulness that is the result of band members who are tight and at their peak.”

Harvest - NEIL YOUNG*****

Out On The Weekend/Harvest/A Man Needs A Maid/Heart Of Gold/Are You Ready For The Country/Old Man/ There's A World/Alabama/The Needle & The Damage Done/Words (Between The Lines Of Age)

Singer songwriter Neil Young hit a creative and commercial peak with Harvest, topping the album charts on both sides of the Atlantic. Consistently excellent throughout it includes the US No.1 and US No.10 hit single Heart Of Gold (US:1 UK:1)

“Harvest is a beautiful folksy masterpiece, featuring unforgettable and heart-on-a-sleeve numbers. It is also one of few rock albums on which an orchestral music additions actually works for good effect. A true classic.”

“Show me another album where songs of such quality arrive so densely packed. There are no less than six you wouldn't hesitate to call 'the emotional centrepiece' of some run-of-the-mill all-time classic.”

“A soft and smooth album, which apart from somewhat politically loaded lyrics also has a more sensitive and emotional side to it. As for the music it ranges between some singer/songwriter material mixed with a bit of folk-rock and some slight country elements as well. The rock is from the smoother side, but suits the lyrics really well, adding to the emotional appeal of the album.”

“One of those albums you just have to hear at least once in your life. Young seems to have a sincere way of expressing himself and having a unique style with this record. Wonderful stories and a great country rock vibe.”

“This album is the mortar and bricks that have built up the music industry. The lush sounds, sad themes and haunting melodies are beyond category, beyond time, and beyond what I had expected.”

“One of Neil Young's finest albums and one of his darkest. The Needle & The Damage Done is a fine anti-drug song. Alabama is an indictment of the old Southern way of thinking and way of life. Heart Of Gold is a beautiful song and Old Man is a slap at the older generation of the time. The whole album is great folky beautiful rock.”

“Harvest contrast nicely different approaches and sounds. The album refers to many issues. Neil also secured a nice skirmish with Lynyrd Skynyrd over the song Alabama, which was not appreciated by the southerners.”

In The West - JIMI HENDRIX****

Johnny B Goode/Lover Man/Blue Suede Shoes/Voodoo Chile/The Queen/Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band/Little Wing/Red House

In The West was a posthumous live album from guitar legend Jimi Hendrix. It features performances at the Royal Albert Hall, San Diego Sports Arena, Berkeley Community Theatre and his final live appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival in August 1970. (US:12 UK:7)

“I played this album to death in my teenage years and it seemed like it was never off the turntable. Even back then, I knew that its provenance was questionable and subsequently, diligent research has shown that several tracks were not recorded as advertised. At the time of its release it was one of only a small handful of legal, non bootleg, Hendrix live albums and, therefore, was an invaluable addition to any Hendrix fan. The quality of the recordings was fine, the only quibble being the number of covers. The version of Little Wing was particularly fine and remains to this day one of my favourite live songs.”

“Most of this material was recorded in 1970, and so must rank among his last. It's typical of live Hendrix, which is usually quite awesome. It seems Red House and Little Wing are the popular favourites, but Voodoo Chile is the standout for me.”

“This record includes Jimi´s versions of rock ´n´ roll classics Johnny B. Goode and Blue Suede Shoes, but also his short tribute to The Beatles with Sgt. Pepper. The ultimate highlight is of course the thirteen minutes long Red House which easily beats the studio version.”

“I've never been more stunned in my life after hearing a piece of music, it floored me. When Jimi first rips into that howling guitar solo in Little Wing it's really the most exciting and powerful notes ever played on guitar.”

“This is a must listen for all guitar aficionados. Jimi's version of Red House is mind boggling. It still holds up decades later as some of the greatest live blues guitar ever captured on tape.”

“The version of Little Wing on this album is mind-blowingly fantastic. Probably the most beautiful piece of music I've ever heard in my life. In The West is Jimi Hendrix's best live album, and it's worth searching out.”

John Prine - JOHN PRINE***

Illegal Smile/Spanish Pipedream/Hello In There/Sam Stone/Paradise/Pretty Good/Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore/Far From Me/Angel From Montgomery/Quiet Man/Donald & Lydia/Six O'Clock News/Flashback Blues

Self titled debut album from the American folk-rock singer songwriter John Prine. He remained a cult figure, notable for his insightful and enigmatic lyrics that drew comparisons with Bob Dylan. (US:154)

“John Prine sings from the heart about subjects ranging from new and lost love to drug usage and politics, but he does it in a way that’s disarming yet poignant. There’s always charm to break down the walls and get at the listener’s heart strings.”

“I can appreciate his incredible talent for lyrical storytelling. Prine's self-titled debut covers everything from drug-addicted veterans, the joys of simple living, the depression that comes with aging, the encroachment of industry on the environment, jingoistic pride in the military and crippling ennui, all while crafting immersive stories that draw the listener into the world of Prine's characters.”

“One of popular music's best lyricists is introduced to the world on John Prine's eponymous debut. His mixture of folk, country, and countercultural appeal definitely positioned him as one of the mythical ‘next Bob Dylan’ that record companies were looking for at the time. The good songs on this album are phenomenal but some of the tracks built around sombre narratives, get tiresome because the pathos in them seems forced, lacking natural appeal.”

“John Prine's debut album reveals him to be a deft lyricist on a par with contemporaries such as Bob Dylan or Neil Young. Less prone to getting very abstract than either, the album is divided between aching melancholia, satirical yarns and combinations of the two.”

“The next time someone accuses country music of being all about cowboys, reactionary politics, and rampant nostalgia, just turn them on to a little John Prine, who combines an acute social conscience with articulate lyrics.”

“John Prine has an incredible ability to create characters and situations in his songs which seem as real and familiar as your next door neighbour. His insightful and enigmatic lyrics are comparable to Bob Dylan, and his free and comfortable singing style appeals to fans of folk, country and blues.”