genre: heavy, neo prog, kraut
country: germany
quality : lossless (ape, cue, log, booklet scans)
time: 41'49" size: 255 mb
issue: 2002
the Crack in the Cosmic Egg:
An obscure late-1970's progressive, Minotaurus hailed from Oberhausen (west of Essen) consisting of self-taught musicians, all in their late-teens or early 20's. In 1978 they decided they had an albums worth of material ready, and booked sessions at the local Langendreer Studio, home of Epidaurus, making use of their studio Mellotron and drummer as engineer.
Highly rated by some, I personally think that FLY AWAY shows a band that were just starting to find their feet (i.e. they needed to rehearse a lot more). As a lightweight and melodic prog album it's not bad, with that quaintly new-wave type edge typical of many German bands from the era. They aspired for greater things, but when compared to similar bands of the era: Madison Dyke, Second Movement, Neuschwanstein, et al., they paled as nothing remarkable, but pleasant. During their history, Minotaurus played some 100 gigs, then eventually disbanded in late-1979.
These are not to be confused with the Greek similarly named Minotauros!
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genre: heavy, psych
country: canada
quality : lossless (flac, cue, log, cover3)
time: 1:07'32" size: 472 mb
Wiki
01. Kryptonite 3:20
02. Star Rider 5:32
03. Always Be You 3:27
04. Give It Everything We Got 5:33
05. The Groove 5:30
06. Real Life Love 3:38
07. You Know Where I'd Rather Be 5:22
08. Let Us Be The Dawn 4:53
bonus:
09. Aren't You Glad That You Know 3:06
10. City Boy 3:02
11. Dust My Blues 2:40
12. Flat Black 4:16
13. You Must Live It 2:47
14. Your Real Good Thing 3:34
15. Local 149 Are You Ready 10:51
Backing Band - Space Rangers
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genre: mainstream, cabaret
country: us
quality : lossless (WavPack, cue, log, scans)
time: 52'25" size: 281 mb
Wiki
01. San Andreas Fault 3:57
02. Wonder 4:41
03. Beloved Wife 5:02
04. River 5:33
05. Carnival 5:59
06. I May Know The Word 8:05
07. The Letter 2:11
08. Cowboy Romance 4:40
09. Jealousy 2:42
10. Where I Go 4:01
11. Seven Years 5:32
John Holbrook - Organ, Electric Guitar, Engineer
Katell Keineg - Background Vocals
Barrie Maguire - Bass, 12 String Guitar
Natalie Merchant - Vocals, Piano, Organ, Vibraphone
Jay Ungar - Violin
Peter Yanowitz - Percussion, Drums
Michelle Kinney - Cello
Matt Henderson - Bass, Electric Guitar
Eric Schenkman - Electric Guitar
Adrian Lopez Guevarra - Percussion
Jennifer Turner - Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Background Vocals
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genre: heavy psych
country: germany
quality : lossless (flac, cue, log, scans)
time: 47'19" size: 338 mb
the Crack in the Cosmic Egg:
As a late-1970's band, McOil were too late on the scene to gain any media interest, being hard-edged rock with a typically German sound, akin to Jane, Harlis, Eloy, etc. Originating in Ochsenhausen in 1976, it was two years before a single was released, and with no chance of a record contract, they self-produced their only album in 1979. Andy Tischmann moved on to Bullfrog after this. He was replaced by one Rudolph Scheich, and a second guitarist Dieter Eisenmann joined the ranks. This line-up recorded a second album in 1981, which remains unreleased. McOil disbanded in 1986, with three members forming the heavy metal band Stinger.
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genre: psych country: spain quality : mp3 (320k, scans) time: 42'08" size: 103 mb issue: 1998
The Spanish Progressive Rock Encyclopedia: Pysch group with lots of great fuzz guitar. If you like psych, this band is for you. En Directo is a live album. "Why?" is a classic item of the spanish progressive psycheledia. The track that gives name to the album, dividided in two halves of 12 and 13 minutes is a delirant track of hammond and distorted guitars that fly very high over athmospheres of other galaxy. As usually happened with psych music, sometimes looses direction in benefit of experimentation, but no complaining about it. The second album was recorded live with new themes and with a full change in the line-up: only Enrique Herrera (Hammond) remaIned from their first record. The sound is different, a wind section appeared, and it's less experimental but good as well. The album "En directo" was recorded live in Barcelona, July 1972 except tracks 9 and 10 recorded in studio in November 1971. In addition to the line-up, they had other collaborations: Carlos Benavent (Bass), Hubert Grillberger (Trumpet, vocals), and Peter Rohr(Saxo). In 2004 the band rejoined with Batiste, Cabanach plus Toni Saigi at the keyboards and Quim Viaplana on drums. With this line-up they returned to the stages.
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genre: prog country: france quality : mp3 (320k, cover) time: 51'28" size: 124 mb
Gepr : Magnésis has been around since the late '80's, and making albums since the early '90's. I can't believe I've never heard of them until their 2006 release L'Immortel Opéra (recorded and copyrighted 2005, but not released until early 2006). Magnésis is compared to Ange, Genesis and Marillion in every review I can find of them on the web ... and that's not many, in English at least. While it's true that there are many Genesis-like musical clichés in L'Immortel Opéra, and the extensive use of spoken French "poetry" as opposed to singing reminds of Ange, it seems pretty unfair to this band to dismiss them with only these narrow comparisons. L'Immortel Opéra, in spite of some less than "pro-studio" recording quality (particularly noticable in the dull drum sound), is a simply excellent album that makes me want to investigate their previous releases. L'Immortel Opéra is at least a concept album if not a rock opera (it's hard for me to tell since the lyrics are all in French, and all the CD liner notes are as well), somehow involving Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Magnésis' music is usually described as "Neo-Prog", but L'Immortel Opéra sounds to me like '70's prog, in spite of the use of some digital keyboards and "string machines" or string patches substituting for Mellotron. It still sounds very deep and important in that '70's way. Perhaps the less-than-perfect studio technique helps. The vocals are spoken as much as sung, and not because Eric Tillerot has a bad voice. When he does sing, he has great control of pitch and vibrato, and a very emotional delivery. The band has a very dense, orchestral sound, probably in part due to the fact that they have two keyboard players. And though I can usually go through an entire CD of prog music without even noticing the bassist, I can't ignore Fabien Lo Cicero's excellent bass parts, featuring both slinky fretless lines and percussive slap bass. Add to this some nice melodies, good guitar work and an overall epic feel, and Magnésis has released a truly exceptional prog album in L'Immortel Opéra. I'll be looking for earlier releases as soon as possible, and if/when I hear them, I'll let you know. In the meantime, I highly recommend L'Immortel Opéra to all symphonic prog fans. -- Fred Trafton
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genre: folk, prog
country: uk
quality : lossless (ape, cue, log, scans)
time: 40'52" size: 238 mb
Tapestry of Delights:
This folk trio formed in the late sixties. In fact they were originally a duo - of Yorkshire-born Simpson and Australian Tranter. Glen Stuart joined them after they got a recording deal with Fontana. After what is now a very rare album on Mercury, they recorded a series of fine progressive contemporary folk albums on Vertigo. Seasons is beautiful, its subject matter being as the title suggests. It got to No 55 in the UK Album Charts. Guitarist Davey Johnstone was added to the line-up for the third album which also featured a guest appearance from Rick Wakeman. The In Concert album, which featured them live in Amsterdam, was disappointing in comparison to Songs From Wasties Orchard, which many consider to be their magnum opus. Johnstone departed after these two albums to work with Elton John and Kiki Dee.
Stan Gordon was added for Lord Of The Ages, which was well received. Bassist Graham Smith who'd done session work on the album joined the group shortly after. Within the year, though, Gordon and Smith had both departed, leaving Simpson and Stuart as a duo.
In the mid-seventies they briefly experimented with a more rock-based format, but this, like most of their subsequent line-ups, was short-lived. Stuart then quit the band for good in this era but Simpson remained to work with various line-ups over the next 15 years. He also recorded a solo album, Listen To The Man, in 1983.
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genre: prog
country: germany
quality : lossless (flac, cue, log, booklet scans, size: 359 mb), mp3 (320k, booklet scans, size: 129 mb)
time: 46'45"
issue: remaster
ProgressiveRock :
At the beginning of the year, Chrisitan Grumbkow put down his guitar and became the band’s manager, though musically he continued with lyric duties. Spaniard Pablo Weeber took his place, adding a significant mark to the band’s sound. The album was recorded with Manfred Schunke, of the Kunstkopf or "artificial head" fame. "Haktik Intergalactic" and "Sky Lift" open, revealing a more song-based approach, though no less progressive. The latter features a fantastic break, complete with trademark Noppeny viola solo. Bruchmann and Baar are in prime form for "Before You Lay Down" and its instrumental second half. On the second side, "Rare Bird" goes for the gorgeous, while "Necronomicon" is another fiery instrumental track, written by Weeber. The closing "Sun Rays" is another vocal number, the slight down tempo adding to its lusciousness. Again, Hoelderlin deliver an exceptional and original album. During their career, Hoelderlin was a significant touring band. In fact, they crossed their native Germany more than any other band of the era, save the Scorpions. Fittingly, the double live album Traumstadt served as a great document of their performance and was their best selling to date. However, after all of the live albums out now, change was afoot. In 1978, the band went through significant personnel changes before their appropriately titled next album, New Faces. It was a change in direction, their penchant for lush instrumental beauty replaced with shorter, more populist songs. Switching to the German language, the band released one final album Fata Morgana in 1980. Although skirting New Wave, it was an original enough venture, but a long trip from the original lineup’s Traum a decade before. Hoelderlin however remain as the premier progressive band from Germany.
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genre: prog
country: germany
quality : lossless (flac, cue, log, booklet scans, size: 430 mb), mp3 (320k, booklet scans, size: 113 mb)
time: 58'34"
issue: remaster
ProgressiveRock :
Hoelderlin's third album was recorded less than a year after their last and was another foray into British prog. Hans Baar replaced Peter Kaseberg on bass, while Joachim Kaseberg put his guitar down to concentrate on live-sound. Jorg-Peter Siebert guests on wind instruments. The album is divided into two halves as the title suggests. Side one, the "Clown" side, consists of songs proper. "Mad House" is reminiscent of Genesis circa Selling England, but here that's more of a good thing. Jochen Grumbkow's clavinet guides the track along, with Nopps Noppeney delivering an excellent vocal. Jochen takes his turn at vocals on "Your Eyes". "Circus" has a more complex structure, yet its several sections merge together effortlessly. Jochen's organ takes prominence as the band plays through the remarkable progressive arrangement. As you may have guessed, the second "Cloud" side is much more atmospheric. The simplicity of the Baar penned "Streaming" belies its effectiveness; fluid and ethereal, it rides on top of Bruchmann's drumming effortlessly, then seguing into "Phasing". Guided by a gentle electric piano and violin, the main melody swells over a hypnotic bass line, approaching critical mass. Beautiful and unpretentious, it’s one of the best examples of Prog, especially from a non-British band. As before, Hoelderlin's album was immaculately recorded and produced by Conny Plank and released on the German Spiegelei label.
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