Dreams - Imagine My Surprise (1971 CBS)

First time I found these Dreams about six years ago and bought it mostly because I noticed Billy Cobham was member of the band. Have to say this album was not any surprise to imagine. Same year 1971 Cobham joined Mahavisnu Orchestra and played on their jazz-rock masterpiece "Inner Mounting Flame". Later he made two excellent solo albums "Spectrum" and "Crosswinds". But back to Dreams... I don't know what happened to the other band members, but at least Cobham's dreams came true, I believe. Maybe the others calmly walked into a Pike's maw and were left there. No, not really.. They have met success too. The music on this album is standard a bit funky jazz-rock with no bigger surprises. I paid only  5 euros for this near mint copy.

Bangor Flying Circus - S/T (1969 Dunhill)

Found another near mint copy of this for a reasonable price yesterday. BFC is organ and guitar driven jazz-hard-rock.  After HP Lovercraft disbanded the drummer Mike Tegza founded BFC. Later without Tegza, they  started Madura  - a very fine group too. Both BFC and Madura are the kind of music I love to listen. The whole band plays well together. The  bird has flown (Norwegian Woods) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nNM-iejunk

Elijah - S/T (1972 UAS)

Funky horn rock. Horn rock is normally okay for me but this time the funky element makes it sound a bit odd. I picked this up at a flea today after hesitating some time. Then I decided not to have a hamburger meal instead of this. Stupid or not stupid...? I'm not a very fat guy anyway.

Isotope - Illusion (1975 Gull)

John McLaughlin meets Weather Report... Great album, great guitarist Gary Boyle, Hugh Hopper. This is music made for my ears.

Marillion - Misplaced Childhood (1985)

I earlier told i skipped the whole 80s and have not regreted that. My opinion has been there were not good music made in 80s. BUT this Marillion is a big positive surprise. With this I feel like finding a lost Genesis album after the superb Selling England, Nursery Crime and Foxtrot trinity with Gabriel singing. Funny that i don't feel at all like condemning the fact this is a Genesis clone. I like this a lot.

I have learnt now that Marillion started the second coming of prog.

Awful cover art but so what.

The Rolling Stones - Big Hits (1966 This re 1977?)

Buckinghams' The - Greatest Hits (1969 Columbia)

Hmmh... Why?  I don't know.  What is this? Sunshine maybe... half cloudy rather cause of those horns. I forced myself to listen the side B too and found it better than the A side. That is mostly because of the Foreign Policy. Susan is nice too.

4.6. I usually like brass but somehow I think The Buckinghams' use too much of it. The songs are quite nice and okay, but Chicago Transit Authority playing at the same time with them is a bit too much. If they had used that smooth organ sound that occasionally appears in "Kind of a Drag" instead of that Chicago brass, they would have made it.

Fine group anyhow and at least those two "italianos" Giammarese and Fortuna seem to be still alive and strong. That's great and take care!

Rita Jean Bodine - S/T (1974 20th Century this Philips)

I got thrilled with her unique voice on her second album "Sitting On Top Of My World" some years ago. Then I was hoping i would find this her debut album here in Finland some day and today is the day. I believe it was for both coincidence and necessity. Love to listen her and the tight band.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC_3BcfJVEc

Jim Keltner, David Kemper, Ed Greene - Drums
Rita Jean Bodine - Piano, Vocals, Percussion
David Hungate - Bass
Dean Parks - Guitars, Bass, Drums, Horns, Background Vocals
Dan Ferguson, Larry Carlton, Jay Graydon - Guitars
Michael Omartian, Ron Fransen - Piano, ARP, Clavinet, Organ, Harpsichord
David Paich - Horns, Keyboards
George Bohanon, Chuck Findley, Paul Hubinon, Lew McCreary, Steve Leeds, Mark Hofstein, Tom Scott - Horns
Carol Carmichael - Percussion, Steel Drums, Background Vocals, Producer
Howard Steele - Percussion, Steel Drums
Kim Carnes, Maxine Willard, Julia Tillman, Vangie Carmichael - Background Vocals

George Duke - Save The Country (1971 Liberty Pacific Jazz Series)

Frank Zappa's influence really is present on this album and that is one big reason why i enjoy listening it. The other reason is the ease and fluency in the band's playing. Duke himself says this is not one of his finer moments of recording but it serves a place in his musical development.

Don't believe him.. This a great album. There is more spontaneous and authentic depth in their playing than one (and he himself) can maybe think. Lightness and easiness is not always a synonym to "not very high-class". I really enjoy this music on this album.

Georg Duke: The LP was recorded, I believe, during the Spring of 1970 while I was touring with Frank Zappa. His influence is certainly felt in this album. 

Rod St.James - Has Anybody Seen The Superstar (1972 Paula Records)

An enjoyable album! When listening this first time i got same kind surprised feeling like i had in 2009 when i after picking Rodriguez's Coming From Reality at a flea listened it first time.

Poe / Playboys Of Edinburgh (1971 Uni)

I already knew this album existing but first time i stumbled upon a copy of it at a record shop here in Finland. I did not hesitate a moment to pick it up. It is one of my best american band/album finds for a long time.

Höyry-Kone - Huono Parturi

Finally this masterpiece of Finnish barber-prog has returned and first time on vinyl.

Beau - Creation (1971 Dandelion re Sommo21)

Very nice a bit more personal English folk. If i did not know, i would say this is American west coast music or at least from somewhere around there. And finally Silence Returns... you know what mean if you listen this. Great album.

Soft Machine - S/T (1968 Probe re Sundazed)

Very good Canterbury Scene band indeed. This their first album is strongly influenced by Frank Zappa.

Charlie - Lines (1978 Janus)

Found this for me unknown band today at a flea. Among hundreds of cheap pop albums with a sexy girl cover this caught my attention over all the others. There sure were no shortage of naked legs in the bins, so was it the still life on the picture that impressed me or the girls facial expression saying: hey guys this time i'm the boss and have managed to book you some gigs, So beat it!

When back home i was a bit excited. I cleaned the album and put it on the plate. I was right! This is much above average power pop with quality sound, a bit Steely Dan hints and 4-6 minutes long slightly jazzy (funky) tracks and so on. More to come later.

Meanwhile i recommend you to those six reviews on RYM.

Still Life - S/T (1970 re Akarma)

Still Life is one of those organ driven prog bands one would think should to be more respected among the more well known albums of the prog genre. After all the main track "People in Black" is the One on the album, an excellent prog piece. Maybe the the rest of the stuff is not good enough to lift this to the first caste, but good enough for me to return to this again and again.

Help - Second Coming (1971 Decca re 2013 Soundvision)

Picked this at a record fair last weekend. Wanted to try it because i happen to own an original copy of their first album Help. Helps second coming sounds even better than their first. It sounds timeless forward going tight hard rock with some psych-maybe elements. Very nice guitar work and tight bass work. The organ sounds a bit like Blue Cheers on some their album. Amazingly modern sounding, unaffected real stuff even if not so far from being prog! I like.

Room - Pre-Flight (1970 Deram re Akarma)

They did it much better than Ikaros or Leonardos volunteer cliff jumpers. Much better. This Room is filled by interesting progressive rock with jazz and blues elements and some brass. Enjoyable! I'm obviously wrong and stupid, but i can't help me getting some same kind of feelings when listening Julian's Treatments Time before This. Or maybe it is just the female vocals on both those albums that remind a bit of each other.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_aviation

What do you have if...

... you combine Giorgio de Chirigo's typical metaphysical painting and Salvador Dali's surrealistic Burning Giraffes painting?

Hipgnosis's cover Photo to Pink Loyd's album Wish You Were Here of course.

Led Zeppelin - III (1970 Atlantic this re 2014)

I have never been any big fan of LZ and allways passed this album mostly because everybody say it is not so good. But they were wrong. In my ears LZ III sounds mature music for adults. Immigrant Song is may be the most known song on the album, but there are such songs as "Since I've Lovin You", "Gallows Pole" and "Bron Y Aur Stomp" which are excellent. LZ's best album?

Van Der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts (1971 Virgin this re 2013 4 Men With Beards)

Every prog fan knows this album. I heard it first time in seventies and did not like it. I did not like Peter Hammil's vocal sound. I also found it artsy and affected. After avoiding this for decades i have recently started to inure meself with it but i have to say i still seem to have a long way to go. Pawn Hearts has its  moments but there are too many moments they try too much to be so pompously mysterious.

Deja Vu - Between The Leaves (1977 this 1996 Record Heaven)

There are many bands playing on this album. No, not really but i can hear there at least Camel, Queen, Gentle Giant (maybe), Yes (synthesizers on Topographic Oceans), Pink Floyd, Wigwam, Tabula Rasa, Jukka Tolonen, Deja Vu is quite late progressive rock from Norway and fortunately not yet absorbed too much influences from that irritating AOR style of typical late 70's "prog". In fact Deja Vu is one of those hidden pearls of the prog era you may still have not yet stumbled on. It is a well played mixed bag of different styles of prog based stuff, both hard and melodic and everithg from between. The main thing why i like this more than i normally would is the feeling of jammy undertow basicly caused by the skillful  bassist.
visons of nirvana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOJxe56gMbk

John Lodge - Natural Avenue (1977 Decca)

Picked this only because of it was cheap and mint condition both cover and vinyl and of course "nice" R. Dean cover. The content is not very uplifting but quite okay elevator music anyway if i only had an elevator where to hear it.

Marc Brierley - Welcome To The Citadel (1968 CBS this re 2014 Cherry Tree)

The first song "The Answer Is" sounds just like i remind Andy Zwerling sounding on his "Spiders in The Night" (1971) album. There is also something on this "Citadel" that puts Will Malone (1970) on my mind. Maybe they have listened to Marc? I like this kind of misleadingly "simple" sounding folk stuff. It is simple in good way and not simple at all for example  in Beatles's "Yesterday" way. :-) I really said that...!!!  Even when MB says his music has some West Coast effects for example from Lovin Spoonful, Jefferson Airplane, Mamas and Papas and even Mothers Of The Invention he has hided and smelted those effects quite skillfully and naturally just as some general hints somewhere in the wider and deeper background of his album. At least i can't hear many The Mothers/ FZ effects and i know their music from F to Z. Rather there are stronger elements of his own country's traditional folk music.

Now when i have heard this some more times now i think the song "Vagabond of Sleep" sounds a bit like Velvet Underground on their first album. And then one more new note: "Matchbox Men" reminds me of Sixto Rodriguez on his Coming from Reality (great album!) not necessarily much because of the music but because of the way of singing =  articulation, the way of singing crystal clearly specially the ends of the words. That is something that makes the song feel even better. "Take me To a Ride On Your Aeroplane"  sounds a bit like Donovan or some.

Even this reminds me of some more familiar to me folk singers "Welcome to C" is largely Marc Brierley's own music. Absolutely. Excellent album.

Out Of Focus - Wake Up (1970 This re 2009 Missing Vinyl)

Krautrock again. Maybe it is so that a bit too big part of my interest in purchasing for me unknown music is this kind of cover art. 25 or 6 to 4! Hey John sounds a bit like that. Out Of focus is a bit jazz influenced progressive rock typical Kraut organ sound.

Bröselmaschine - S/T (1971 this re 2008 OHR)

I found this today at a local vinyl shop and took a risk with this and purchased it because of the cover art which looked interesting. It is like an upper comprehensive school student art degree work. But luckily the musical content turned out to be far beyond my low expectations, in good way. Avoiding laud i just describe it progressive/psychedelic folk rock. This must be one of most interesting folk rock album that only few already know to exist.