Oldish Psych and Prog

style: prog
country: argentina
audio: mp3 (320k)
size: 87mb

Progarchives:
Formed by Cesar Banana Pueyrredon (b. in Buenos Aires, 1952), BANANA play a somewhat typical symphonic prog with a strong emphasis on guitar and vocals. The youngest of eight children, Cesar's rather timid disposition prompted him to take refuge in piano playing. He took lessons, attended the Catholic University (Argentina) and got together with brothers and friends for a few jams. Eventually, they decided to take on the name BANANA and in 1979, they released an album which boasted honourable sales in South America (Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Panama).
Their album, entitled "Aun Es Tiempo De Sonar", is at times very good, at times quite average prog. The music shows a variety of influences ranging from YES to NEKTAR, FOCUS, KAIPA, GENESIS and CAMEL. Though their sound is very melodic and the guitar most prominent, the rhythm section is pretty basic and the keyboards (mostly Fender Rhodes) are usually relegated to the background. As for the vocals, they are fairly abundant but sound rather AORish, or crooner style, if you like. What this album lacks is perhaps a little Latin flair - something similar to what their fellow countrymen ESPIRITU do. This definitely would give their material a bit more punch and originality.
Certainly not essential but has its fine moments, if only for the few times the synths burst forth, adding a whole new dimension to their sound.

style: neo prog
country: germany
audio: lossless (ape, cue, log , covers)
time: 54'09" size: 342mb

01. Terminus / Oh My 9:09
02. Now 6:14
03. I Can't Help You 4:50
04. The Drinking Mans Wine 5:53
05. Shangri-La 5:33
06. Salt And Vinegar And Rhythm And Blues 6:18
07. The Prodigal Son 6:44
08. Be Tonight 4:00
09. Day 9 5:19

Roye Albrighton – Lead Guitar, Bass, Lead Vocals
Allan "Taff " Freeman – Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Ray Hardwick – Drums, Percussion
 

style: soul
country: germany
audio: mp3 (192vbr)
size: 122mb

Cosmic Dreams:
When Frumpy disbanded in 1972, three of the members formed the 'super group' Atlantis, named after Plato's mythical continent that sank into the water. Vocalist Inga Rumpf was arguably the German answer to Janis Joplin with her distinct, gutsy blues voice. Along with Rumpf from Frumpy came Jean-Jaques Kravetz and Karl-Heinz Schott. The two additional members of Atlantis had recently left Emergency Frank Diez and Curt Cress. The band soon secured a contract with the German branch of Vertigo. Their first album was recorded in London and had a laid-back US West Coast feel to the music. The keyboards were quite dominant, and Rumpf of course sang the some blues and soul influenced tracks in her characteristic way. Along with Diez, she composed all of the songs. Cress and Diez quit the group again at the same time as the album was released. Dieter Bornschlegel became the new guitarist and Ringo Funk from Jeronimo took up the drums. It's Getting Better (1973) was similar to the first album but had an Afro-percussion player guesting on three tracks to make a more funky sound. There were further changes in the line-up when Jean-Jaques Kravetz quit to record a solo album (and then join Randy Pie). Bornschlegel also soon left Atlantis. Their replacements in time for the third album Ooh, Baby (1974) were Adrian Askew and Alex Conti, the latter had previously played guitar in Curly Curve. These two new members wrote most of the new material, which veered still closer towards funky soul rock. Tile double live album released in 1975 contained different live recordings from 1973-1975. In the Summer of 1975 the group was again transformed. Diez was brought back along with a second guitarist, Rainer Marz (ex-Jeronimo), for Get On Board (1975). This had a rockier sound, but was a less inspired work than the previous albums. One further LP was recorded, but not released until 1978. Atlantis finally disbanded in 1976. The group had, particularly during their first two years of existence, considerable commercial success in Germany. Inga Rumpf has since recorded several solo albums.

style: hard
country: germany
audio: lossless (ape, cue, log, scans)
time: 42'16" size: 286mb

unknown:
Asterix was a direct predecessor of Lucifer's Friend; released one (eponymous) album in 1970. Technically, this was the first Lucifer's Friend album, only under a different name. Also, one single was released featuring a slightly altered line-up, without John's involvement.
Peter Hesslein began his musical career way back in 1963 with a band called the Giants. Peter Hecht and Dieter Horns were both members of a group known as the German Bonds, from 1965 onwards. Peter Hesslein joined the Bonds in 1968 which survived until 1970. At this point the various members took up the study of graphic design in an attempt to forge more sensible careers.
But the call of rock’n’roll was too strong and in late 1970, the ex-Bonds men, together with Joachim Reitenbach , decided to record a new album. They needed a lead singer and eventually found John Lawton who had been with the group Stonewall.
The new band took the name Lucifer's Friend and released their first album 'Asterix' in 1970. Their first three albums were undeniably influenced by contemporary British bands such as Uriah Heep and Deep Purple. 'Lucifer's Friend' was released on the Phillips label in January 1971 followed by 'Where The Groupies Killed The Blues' (1972). Lucifer's Friend' was given rave reviews particularly in America where the Chicago Express compared them to Led Zeppelin. This encouraged the five-piece to commence a heavy touring schedule, a policy which later backfired. Gradually their music had become a shade more sophisticated and serious jazz and symphonic influences were detected by critics and fans. This was no doubt due to the increasing importance of 'progressive rock' which seemed to appeal to college students and university audiences rather more than good old heavy metal. It was also more interesting for musicians to play and presented them with new challenges.
 

style: prog, folk
country: italy
audio: mp3 (320k)
size: 64mb, cover

01 - Allora potrai cominciare 3:27
02 - Il quadro antico 4:46
03 - La pazzia 4:46
04 - Alle donne brutte 3:50
05 - La violenza 3:58
06 - Ninna nanna del piccolo borghese 5:40
07 - L'impotente 3:22
08 - E tu che ne fai di tuo fratello- 3:21
09 - Donna 4:47
10 - La nostra storia 3:17

Alberto Canepa - vocals, percussion
Giampiero Alloisio - vocals
Lilli Iadeluca - vocals
Gianni Martini - vocals, guitar
Bruno Biggi - bass
Ezio Cingano - keyboards
Gino Ulivi - drums, percussion

style: kraut
country: germany
audio: mp3 (192k)
size: 64mb

Gibraltar:
Ashra was Manuel Göttsching's continuation of Ash Ra Tempel, moving from the outerspace psychedic realms of the temple to the electronic domain of Berlin. Essentially a solo vehicle, Blackouts consists of Göttsching's guitar solos over sequenced patterns of synthesizer, ala Tangerine Dream. Some of Göttsching's solos are variations on short patterns similar to the sequencer motifs. Others are fully developed solos, played fluidly and with a steady hand which is in contrast to the wild excursions of the acid-drenched Ash Ra Tempel. Often the guitar is run through a delay to double the sound or make it spacier. The 17 minute "Lotus" comes closest to the original Ash Ra Tempel, at least in concept if not execution. Here Manuel uses his abilities to captain your brain through celestial atmospheres of cosmic proportions. Overall, Blackouts is very relaxing and a great way to unwind after a difficult day. Correlations adds Harald Großkopf on drums and percussion, and Lutz Ulbrich on piano, Mellotron, more guitar, and string synth, in addition to Göttschings guitar and sequencers. As you'd expect, the sound has more depth relative to the previous offering; however, I'd say that overall the sound is similar to Blackouts despite the added dimension and more rhythmic variety. If you like late '70s Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, etc., you will want to check out Ashra. -- Mike Taylor

Apparently when Manuel Göttsching signed up with Virgin Records, he was no longer allowed to use the Ash Ra Tempel name. So he concatenated it to Ashra, and continued making albums. New Age of Earth is very synth-orientated, but uses enough guitar so that you'll know who this is. Of the post-Ohr/Cosmic Couriers releases, this is probably the best, though I haven't heard the next one Blackouts. It's supposed to be good as well. Correlation finds Ashra a band again, Göttsching is joined by Harald Großkopf (ex-Wallenstein) and Lutz Ulbrich (ex-Agitation Free). They start getting more commercial, even resorting to disco (blech!) on "Club Cannibal," but there's enough good stuff to keep you interested. The beautiful "Oasis" and the hypnotic "Pas De Trois" are two of the better tracks. Belle Alliance is half short songs, half long pieces. The lengthy "Code Blue" sounds as though it could have been recorded at the same time as the first Ash Ra Tempel album, while the lovely "Mistral" resembles something from New Age Of Earth. -- Mike Ohman

style: rock
country: uk
audio: lossless (flac, cue, log, booklet scans)
size: 382 mb

Tapestry of Delights:
Rod Argent formed this band in 1969 following the break-up of The Zombies. The remaining line-up consisted of his cousin Jim Rodford and former Roulettes Russ Ballard and Bob Henrit.

Their debut album Argent was very much in The Zombies' mould. One of its stronger tracks was Dance In The Smoke which brought the band to the attention of a much wider audience by virtue of its inclusion on the double budget compilation, Fill Your Head With Rock. Another of its songs, Liar, was covered by Three Dog Night in the US, where it became a hit, whilst Cast Your Spell Uranus was included on the Together! compilation.

Their subsequent albums were heavier in style but yielded two UK hits:- the classic Hold Your Head Up and God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You. The All Together Now and In Deep albums sold well in this country.

In May 1974 Russ Ballard left the band to pursue a solo career, releasing a solo album Winning (Epic SEPC 69210) in 1976. He was replaced by guitarist John Grimaldi and John Verity. Following the flop of their Circus album, they switched to RCA for Counterpoint, which fared no better and in 1976 they split.

Rod Argent went on to pursue a solo career. Henrit opened a drum shop in London's West End and played in a band called Phoenix, with Rodford before they both joined The Kinks.

style: prog
country: germany
audio: lossless (flac)
size: 301mb
issue: 2000 GoDs

Garden of Delights:
Albatros from Hagen, named after the great Fleetwood Mac song from 1968, played polished art rock in the vein of the early Genesis or the early Wallenstein. Actually they were so good that their one and only record, "Garden of Eden", is a real treat for the ears. It is so imaginative and varied, the performance is so skillful and the recording so accurate that the band needn't shun any comparison. Due to the small edition of 500 copies, it was only in 1999 that the LP turned up in collectors' circles. It sells for a price of about US$500 now. Formed in early 1974, the band had soon won several prizes in contests in the wider Sauerland region, thus becoming a well-known figure there. Yet they never had a full-time manager actively looking after the business side. And so, unfortunately, they were denied their due recognition. A recommended album.

style: prog
country: denmark
audio: mp3 (320k)
size: 110mb
issue: 2005 Karma Music

For this concert in Norway the group only had one hour, so they had to play more compact and fast, which they did. The music is jam driven psychedelic rock with some jazzrock touch (great sax improvisations), comparable to what some Swedish progressive rock groups did live in those days (Flдsket Brinner, Harvester,..) with songs appearing in between many terrific psychedelic jams. Band leader Leif Roden remixed the original tape, and it surely is a great discovery/document. Just the last track for me is a bit more demanding. - progressive.homestead.com

style: prog
country: denmark
audio: mp3 (320k)
size: 91mb

01 - Om At 7:45
02 - Kender Du Det 6:14
03 - Jeg Tænker Så Tit På 7:15
04 - Rock Søster 7:43
05 - Ikke Forstyrre 8:13
06 - I Din Nabo's Lys 2:16

style: hard
country: canada
audio: lossless (ape, cue, log, scans)
size: 268 mb

01. Sister Change 4:47
02. All Along The Watchtower 4:34
03. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) 3:09
04. Tales Of The Unexpected 7:59
05. Down, Down, Down 5:37
06. Door Of Illusion 5:28
07. Woman 5:36
08. Bottom of the Barrel 4:50

Bass – Paul Harwood
Drums – Jim Ayoub
Guitar, Vocals, Synthesizer – Frank Marino
 

style: psych
country: germany
audio: lossless (flac, cue, log, scans)
size: 380mb

style: prog
country: hungary
audio: lossless (ape)
size: 373mb

The first album after the departure of main composer Csaba Vedres actually turned out to be quite impressive, and is another solid addition to the group's high quality back catalog. De Profundis proceeds with many of the same ideas of the previous three albums, emotinal compositions and solemn symphonic emphasis, complemented by the usual barrage of stark, churning cellos and powerful horns. However, it does manage to carve out its own niche in After Crying's body of work, adding an even more cinematic scope and sense of grandeur, due more perhaps to its 70 minute playing length than actual musical differentiation. Though the album, I feel, lacks the same haunting atmosphere and unique beauty of Megalázottak és Megszomorítottak, it also dumps the rather unnecessary ELP-isms of the first side of Föld és ég, coming closest in style to the second half of that album. That is, a number of solo and chamber pieces for various instruments arranged as separate tracks sequenced back to back throughout the album, occasionally interspersed with an epic band composition such as "Stalker" or the title track. Fear not any sense of discontinuity though, as the band successfully integrates the seemingly disparate elements, such as a chamber piece followed by tasteful electric guitar soloing, into a flowing and integrated whole. A deft compositional touch is certainly applied, making the moments where they entire group comes in with vocals and orchestral flair eminently satisfying.

style: prog
country: uk
audio: lossless (ape, cue, log, booklet scans)

style: neo prog
country: germany
audio: mp3 (224vbr)
size: 208mb

01 - A TAB IN THE OCEAN 16:47
02 - DESOLATION VALLEY 8:59
03 - REMEMBER THE FUTURE PART 1 16:47
04 - NELLY THE ELEPHANT 7:12
05 - MAN IN THE MOON 7:32
06 - IT'S ALL OVER 7:04
07 - NOW 7:19

01 - RECYCLED 18:21
02 - A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A PREACHER 12:37
03 - REMEMBER THE FUTURE PART 2 19:46
04 - CRYING IN THE DARK/KING OF TWILIGHT 11:00
05 - FIDGETY QUEEN 5:21

style: soft, prog
country: uk
audio: lossless (ape, cue, log, scans, size: 341 mb) & mp3 (320k, scans, 134 mb)

01 - This Morning 5:59
02 - Remember Me (My Friend) 5:28
03 - My Brother 3:28
04 - You 4:35
05 - Nights Winters Years 3:34
06 - Saved By The Music 6:10
07 - I Dreamed Last Night 4:28
08 - Who Are You Now 2:30
09 - Maybe 5:39
10 - When You Wake Up 5:14
11 - Blue Guitar 3:40

style: pop
country: uk
audio: mp3 (256k)
size: 86mb

01 - Take Your Chances 3:52
02 - Is It Just a Game 4:46
03 - One Again 4:45
04 - Moving Mountains 4:47
05 - Silverbird 7:41
06 - Lost and Found 4:20
07 - Goodbye 3:51
08 - Who Knows 3:43
09 - The Best is Yet to Come 3:57
10 - The Lights are Low 4:43

style: psych pop
country: australia
audio: mp3 (160k)
size: 60mb 

style: prog
country: uk
audio: lossless (wv, cue, log, book covers)
size: 345 mb
issue: 2002 Hdcd 24 Bit Remaster

Forgotten sons:
A point often brought up within progressive rock circles is to whom one could really attribute progressive rock's first real album. Many critics mention King Crimson's first album, In The Court Of The Crimson King, a masterpiece in rock music and on of music history's all time classic albums.
Though King Crimson have continued in one format or another till this various day, the classic lineup on this album was over before the world had woken up to their music. Two members of the quartet, namely Michael Giles and Ian McDonald felt they had to break away from the KC fold mainly due to musical differences with band leader Robert Fripp as well as due to constraints of touring. In fact the two left the band in December of 1969, during the US tour to promote their debut album (The last official date played by the band was December 16th 1969). Because of this Fripp had to stop the tour and cancel all dates booked for January/February 1970.
As can be imagined feelings between Fripp, McDonald and Giles were not too rosy during this period. According to McDonald, their departure from the band was due to the fact that King Crimson's music "is not happy music...And I want to make music that says good things instead of evil things". On the other hand Robert Fripp replied that their departure was due to them "falling In love" during the KC tour. What is definite is that Fripp decided to see out the first KC phase by releasing in quick succession a further two albums while McDonald and Giles would regroup together a few months later. Michael's brother, Pete (Of Giles, Giles & Fripp fame) was also roped in together with various guest musicians such as Steve Winwood. One can assume that Greg Lake was not involved in the band as he was still to a certain extent a member of King Crimson although he had already expressed his desire to leave.
The album is in itself an extremely upbeat album with many sharply contrasting events vis-a-vis In the Court Of The Crimson King occurring. One of the more striking points is the lack of use of the mellotron, an instrument that was popularised by McDonald on In The Court... , and an instrument that would be used to great effect by various other progressive rock bands. Furthermore, McDonald also plays guitar to great effect, something which he could not possibly do alongside Fripp!
When one discusses the album one should also reflect on a number of points, namely that both McDonald and Giles were creatively involved in KC's debut album, McDonald himself being composer of classic tracks such as I Talk To The Wind. However, one must definitely ask the question on what King Crimson's second album would have sounded like should McDonald and Giles remained within the line-up. A very good idea of that can be obtained from the McDonald and Giles album. Robert Fripp himself has stated that the M&G album was almost half of what the new KC album was to be and that the band had been rehearsing the material since the fall of 1969. Some material was composed even further back in time, For example, the Michael Giles' composition, Tomorrow's People -- The Children of Today dates back to the days of Giles, Giles and Fripp in 1967.
 

style: neo prog
country: switzerland
audio: mp3 (192k, covers)
size: 92 mb

1. After All These Years (9:43)
2. New Lords (8:03)
3. Sanctuary (2:14)
4. Didn't We Know (8:13)
5. Eyes On the Clock (7:12)
6. No One's Home (4:42)
7. Another Day (9:52)
8. Not Far From Heaven (5:41)
9. Moonbeams On the Wall (9:54)

Jean-Pierre Schenk / vocals, keyboards, drums
Giova Esposito / guitars
Dominique Schlafer / bass
Guest musicians
David Grillon / guitar on "New Lords"
Milena Zaharieva / flute on "New Lords"
 

style: psych
country: spain
audio: mp3 (256vbr, covers)
size: 127 mb

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.
 

style: psych
country: germany
audio: lossles (flac, cue, log, covers)
time:  size: 254 mb

Views: 2225 | Date: 26.04.2010 | Rating: 5.0 | Comments (1)

style: hard with Joplin-like vocal
country: us
audio: lossless (flac, cue, log,covers)
time: 1:08'26" size: 465 mb

Fuzz Acid & Flowers:
Produced by Neil Merryweather, Mama Lion was a group destined to show off the Joplinesque voice of Lynn Carey, a sculptural blonde beauty previously in Ivar Avenue Reunion. As often with the Merryweather outputs, the music is a rather loose mix of blues and rock. Their records are now mostly remembered for their sleeves, especially the first with Lynn Carey breastfeeding a lion cub
 

style: neo prog
country: austria
audio: mp3 (320k)
size: 78mb

A good first up release from this 80's German group. Melodic neo progressive where they don't try and sound like Genesis, Marillion etc. The progressive scene lasted longer than its counterpart in England and continued in Germany well into the eighties.

style: neo prog
country: belgium
quality: lossless (flac, cue, log, scans) 
time: 53'41" size: 355mb