Released on May 24, 1974, Diamond Dogs is a further testament to Bowie’s ability to evolve his musical vocabulary and associated lyrics to stay on the leading edge of rock music relevancy. The album is generally darker and more detached than Aladdin Sane, more dramatic and gritty, providing a new urban-influenced glam that effectively provides a novel combination of alienation, bleakness and soulfulness. Two particularly notable tracks include “1984”, one of several of the songs redeployed from Bowie’s earlier effort at crafting a musical from Orwell’s 1984, and the incessantly inescapable 4/4, punk-influenced (and punk influencing) “Rebel, Rebel.”
Sparks: Kimono My House
Released on May 1, 1974, with the album title slyly referencing the David Seville/William Saroyan song, “Come On a My House”, Kimona My House is one of the great art-rock classics of the 1970s successfully blending glam and baroque-like progressive rock elements together to create a unique and impressive work. The music is quirky but easily accessible, and the combination of Russel Mael’s upper range vocals, and Ron Mael’s innovative composition, lyrics and arrangements bring this to the level approaching Queen’s upcoming albums (Killer Queen and Night and the Opera.) This is the Sparks first big success, but with the passage of time has not been given the weight it deserves in the canon of rock classics despite being one of those rare albums that transcends all stylistic and genre categories, while also being one of the most enjoyable works of its time. If you haven’t yet give this a listen, you will be in for a treat once you do!
Slapp Happy: Slapp Happy (aka Casablanca Moon)
Released in May of 1974, with this, their second album, the trio of Dagmar Krause, Peter Blegvad and Anthony Moore decide to seriously apply their talents to commercial music, and come up with an album both musically and lyrically impressive. The album was first recorded, with members of Faust adding bass, drums, and sax, for Polydor which rejected it, and then later re-recorded with Virgin records with new arrangements by Roger Wootton (of prog-folk band Comus) effectively using violin, trumpet, and saxophone (Geoff Leigh of Henry Cow) to further distinguish the original compositions. The original Polydor recording was rereleased in 1980, titled Noom Acnalbasac and the Virgin rendition is not only more interesting but much more effectively deploys Dagmar’s exquisite vocals, showcasing them in such a way that anticipates the female vocalists of some of the new wave bands. It’s worthwhile to have both albums to compare the two versions — both instructive and enjoyable!
Henry Cow: Unrest
Released May 27, 1974, Unrest is one of the finest examples of “avant-garde” progressive rock of the mid-seventies. The first side starts with a short angular, motivic instrumental from Fred Frith, “Bittern Storm Over Ulm”, cubistically based, so to speak, on the Yardbird’s “Got to Hurry,” showcasing Frith’s precision guitar work, followed by two miniature masterpieces, John Greaves’ “Half Asleep; Half Awake” with prepared piano, and Frith’s “Ruins” which rhythmically leverages the Fibonacci series, ala Béla Bartók, and takes advantage of multi-tracking editing with slowed down and sped up instrumental parts.
The introspective “Solemn Music” opens side two, followed by a little over 15 minutes of four tracks of highly creative, mostly improvised studio work that includes some tape manipulation, direct use of piano strings on “Arcades,” and some remarkable bassoon and oboe contributions from Lindsay Cooper. All in all, a fine album that significantly outshines most of the music produced in academic avante-garde circles at that time.
Rick Wakeman: Journey to the Center of the Earth
Recorded in January of 1974 and released on May 3, 1974, Rick Wakeman’s Journey to the Center of Earth is a musical retelling of Jules Verne’s classic story of three explorers’ journey into a forgotten subterranean world that included ancient humanoids and sea creatures. Wakeman engages the London Symphony Orchestra, the recently formed English Chamber Choir , a narrator, and a few bandmates to realize the forty-minute, single LP work. There are many fine moments due to Wakeman’s effectiveness at creating dramatic musical episodes — and also notable is the choir’s contributions to the battle between the prehistoric sea creatures, reminiscent of similar passages in 18th and early 19th century classical choral works.
If the whole effort doesn’t quite come together, that is remedied with Wakeman’s 2012 re-recording of the work which engages an additional vocalist who shares duties with the original, weaker vocalist from the original album. The newer 2012 recording includes additional material, but is most notable for its superior production, sound, and overall impact.
Recorded Live at the Drury Lane Royal Theater on October 28, 1973 and released on April 19, 1974, this live album presented a mix of new material and a composition from their 1970 album and their 1972 Waterloo Lily album arranged and performed with a decently sized orchestra conducted by Martyn Ford. The recording quality is good for that era, and the combined effort between the band and the orchestra works well, providing a new dimension to previous studio work. Fortunately, there is a re-issue of this album that adds additional tracks including a preliminary set without the orchestra of three compositions from their previous album, For Girls That Go Plump in the Night as well as arranging the tracks in the original order from the concert. This reissue also provides an exciting encore with the orchestra: a energetic, well-performed rendition of their instrumental “A Hunting We Should Go” from their previous album. Overall, this live album is a real joy to listen with the orchestra enhancing the colorful nature of Pye Hastings compositions and Caravan’s arrangements.
Arti e Mastieri: Tilt (Immagini per un orecchio)
Released in April of 1974, Arti e Mastieri (Arts and Crafts) debut album was indeed “Images for the Ear!” Each composition has its own character and musical path. The album starts off strongly with “Gravità 9,81” which includes sax, mellotron, clarinet and violin, followed by “Strips” with comforting vocals somewhat similar to PFM. The third track, the short energetic “Corrosione,” flows seamlessly into one of my favorite tracks on the album “Positivo/Negativo”, which includes violin, vibes, violin and particularly propulsive percussion from their very talented drummer, Furio Chirico (love that name!) “In Cammino” provides a welcome contrast with its initial mood, and develops into a strong rock fusion piece by its conclusion. This is followed by the brief, beautiful, initially contemplative “Farenheit” which, even within its short timespan of seventy-five seconds, evolves and develops effectively. The most notable piece on the album, is the lengthiest — the dramatic “Articolazioni” — a true prog-rock masterpiece, seemingly greater in both length and scope that its actually timing of “13:24” would indicate. The album ends with the anomalous title track, “Tilt”, which, though interesting and well-done, stands out from the rest of the album, perhaps only to signal an end to the album rather than devised to fit in with the mood of the previous tracks. All and all, an amazing album. Though this is the debut album, it is evident that these are experienced and very knowledgeable musicians, who clearly achieved what they set out to do, and in the process delivered one of the great Italian Progressive Rock albums of all time. Those seeking this out should go with the CD reissue which provides superior sound to the original LP.
Focus: Hamburger Concerto
Released in April 1974, Focus’s fourth studio album is my personal favorite of the Focus studio albums I am familiar with. The first side starts out with Jan Akkerman’s arrangement of a composition from late renaissance lutenist and lute composer Joachim van den Hove, and is followed by catchy Thijs van Leer composition “Harem Scarem.” The third track is the impressively-wrought “La Cathédrale de Strasbourg” with its strong dramatic first theme and its effective use of pipe organ and acoustic piano, vocals, and contrasting jazz theme. Akkerman’s “Birth”, which ends side one, opens up with harpsichord introducing the theme which is then referenced in the main progressive rock section with Akkerman’s guitar work and van Leer extensively on flute. Quite memorable.
The second side of the album is devoted to Akkerman’s “Hamburger Concerto” which is inspired and based on Brahm’s Variations on a Theme By Haydn, and which effectively becomes a progressive rock theme and variations. The Haydn theme opens up the work with van Leer on organ, Allen on timpani and drums and Akkerman providing a short counter theme on guitar with a third theme introduced on Hammond organ. In general, the Haydn theme provides the thematic foundation but the creativity of Leer and Akkerman (including the incorporation of other themes including a Dutch Christmas Carol) and Van Leers yodel-like vocals (a la their big hit “Hocus Pocus”) take this beyond a straightforward theme and variations exercise with the work effectively and interestingly ranging in moods and blending various musical influences into a cohesive experience making this the highlight of a rather remarkable album by this talented Dutch progressive rock group.
Gryphon: Midnight Mushrumps
Released in April of 1974, Gryphon’s second album merges their medieval and renaissance influences with a modern progressive rock sound, placing them closer to the progressive rock mainstream of 1974. The first track, for example, is a single side composition, the title track of the album, one that pushes them beyond the constraints and expectations governed by shorter pieces. Fortunately, the band handles this nicely, with an surprisingly extensive nine-minute, introduction that effective sets up the main section of the work for the final ten minutes. The second side has shorter pieces, including the notable episodic “Dubbel Dutch” which skips through a range of styles appropriately analogous to the work’s title. The final track, “Ethelion”, takes the elements of an early renaissance dance composition and envelops them into an exhilarating, rhythmically displaced, complex metrical arrangement that transitions to a simpler, emphatically repetitive section that brings the album to a satisfying close.
The Residents: Meet the Residents
This neo-Dadaist musical work was released to minimal fanfare and meager record sales, timed fittingly for April fool’s day, 1974. This is clearly either a labor of love or an extreme instance of obsessive chaotic, disruptive agitation. Either way, it distinguishes itself from the established rock-world non-conformists of the day (Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart) with its distinctness and eccentricities. Overall the effort is noteworthy for its consistent inconsistency, eclecticism and its overall artistic identity. One particularly noteworthy track is “Rest Aria” which combines a simple beautiful folk-pop melody, 1960s classical minimalism, and a bizarre, westernized deconstruction of Indonesian Gamelan music into a truly effective and interesting result. If you don’t know the Residents, this first album is a great place to start your entry, or attempt at entry, into their world.
Released March 1974, Starless and Bible Black drifts further into free improvisation than previous albums, successfully showcasing both the virtuosic skills of the band, particularly those of Robert Fripp, as well as the band’s other-worldly improvisational skills. The first two tracks provide enough accessible progressive rock to make the album an absolute must for the prog-rock fan, and the rest of the album mixes studio and live material to present a less accessible, but highly impactful musical experience. Particularly noteworthy is the live track “Trio”, an improvisation that the always amazing Bill Bruford wisely allows the rest of the band to develop and finish without forcing his own entrance, fully sensitive to the mood and the masterpiece being created. The gem of this collection is “Fracture”, worthy of lengthy musical analysis far beyond my capabilities. It’s intricacy and irregular rhythmic and structural aspects makes this a particularly challenging composition to perform, but the band is unfazed and undaunted, and not only succeeds technically but fully imbues it with the necessary emotion and expression to make this one of the most meaningful listening experiences in the King Crimson catalogue.
Camel: Mirage
Ethereal and wistful, Camel’s Mirage was released in March of 1974, first with the album cover showed above, and then with replaced (as demanded by the Camel cigarette company) with an alternative cover. Andrew Latimer (guitar, flute, vocals) and Peter Bardens (keyboards, vocals) produce a set of compositions that blend together seamlessly creating a distinctive lush and compelling sound experience. “Supertwister” is the most dynamic and energetic track of the album, a short instrumental that marks off many traditional prog-rock check-boxes with the rest of the album being more introverted and contemplative.
Queen: Queen II
Queen’s second album, released on March 8, 1974, gives us a much more ambitious and artistic effort than the previous, making this their first must-have albums. The production is more polished and the group clearly invested substantial hours in the studio capturing the perfected harmonies and instrumental layering. Side one is mostly Brian May’s compositions, with one work by Roger Taylor, showing off Queen’s own brand of hard rock, while side two, is completely dedicated to Freddie Mercury’s fantastical compositions, with their abrupt musical shifts and endless harmonic energy. Drama and musical theater abound, particularly on the second side, and the musical diversity and level of instrumental excellence have made this an album that never wears out its welcome in the listening room.
Kansas: Kansas
Kansas released their first album on March 8, 1974, with six musicians from the American Midwest — five of the six born in Kansas or Missouri. The album is particularly American in sound, with hints of boogie rock, country, folk-rock and similar American Rock styles. Notably different than other American Midwest and Southern Rock groups is their facile integration of contemporary prog-rock elements, some of which are very similar to Genesis and Gentle Giant material, though not in the least derivative or perceivably mimicked. Particularly notable is the work of Kerry Livgren on synthesizer and the contributions of violinist Robby Steinhardt. One of the finest debut albums of 1974.
Weather Report: Mysterious Traveller
Weather Report begins to unleash is full range of jazz-fusion capabilities with the release of their fourth studio album on March 24, 1974, climbing to number 2 on the US Jazz Charts, as high as 46 on the US Pop album charts, and up to 31 on the US R&B charts. Additional funk and world music influences are incorporated, possibly leading to creative differences with legendary Miroslav Vitouš, who makes this his last recording with the group, appearing on two of the eight tracks on acoustic bass, replaced by bass guitarist, Alphonso Johnson on the other six tracks.
The album is inventive, innovative and filled to the brim with interesting improvisation — fusing jazz, world music, including Latin influences, funk, rock, and hints of classical. Album not only showcases the creativity and imaginative brilliance of Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter, but includes memorable contributions from everyone involved included several guest musicians on percussion instruments, ocarina and woodwinds (on “J0ungle Book”) and vocals (“Nubian Sundance.”)
Peter Hammill: The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage
Released in early February of 1974, even though there is ample participation by fellow Van Der Graaf band mates, this is clearly a personal, Peter Hammill solo effort. From the start Hammill dives inward stirring up and capturing a range of emotional turbulence.
The album opens with the metrical tempestuous “Modern,” and ends with one of Hammill’s greatest classics, the deeply emotional “A Louse Is Not a Home.” Hammill often performed these two songs along with “The Lie (Bernini’s Saint Theresa)”, also on this album, in the 1970s on solo tours in small venues, injecting every ounce of energy into his dramatic renditions.
Generally the featured instrument is Hammill’s expressive vocals appropriately supported by piano, mellotron, acoustic and electric guitar with additional support from the VDGG band members with Spirit’s Randy California on lead guitar on one track. The production emphasizes a sense of intimacy which underscores the uncompromising, unsuppressed intimacy, immediacy, and intensity which makes this album so remarkable.
Todd Rundgren: Todd
Todd Rundgren’s eponymous double album, released in February 1974, proclaims energetically, or rather electronically, that Mr. Rundgren is a master composer and arranger, delighting us with a wide array of electronic timbres and effects. Yes, we still have beautiful Rundgren ballads, such as “I Think You Know” and “A Dream Goes On Forever” included amidst all the voltaic dazzle, but the main attractions are Rundgren’s summoning of artfully deployed electronic-generated special effects, his command of various studio production techniques, and his venturing into more challenging musical compositions, like the metrically unbalanced “Drunken Blue Rooster”, the whimsical “An Elpee Worth of Tunes”, and ” the snide, unbridled ”Heavy Metal Kids.” Altogether, this is a extremely enjoyable, adventurous yet cohesive work that some may chose to classify as prog-rock, yet clearly stands separate from anything previously released commercially. This no doubt contributed to it going over the head of just about every major rock critic that reviewed the album in 1974 but also contributes to this being one of the most notable albums from 1974.
Steely Dan: Pretzel Logic
This is just one of those classic rock albums. Released on February 20, 1974, there really isn’t any single track that is at the level of “King of the World” from their previous album, but just about every track here is very close to that level of excellence. They group seems to have intentionally kept each song to AM airplay length — this means that jazz influence is more densely embedded in the tracks, but still handled very artfully and tastefully, retaining the classic Steely Dan sound.
Brian Eno: Here Comes the Warm Jets
Brian Eno’s debut solo album, Here Comes the Warm Jets, released on February 8, 1973, is a unconventional rich tapestry of accessible pop (think Sid Barrett) set into ingenious contexts. Truly delightful, this album showcases Eno’s unconventional brand of creativity.
Tangerine Dream: Phaedra
Released on the 20th of February 1974, this engaging album overtakes Harmonia’s Musik Von Harmonia, released the previous month, in the race for approaching the fully mature sequence-driven, repetitive, German Prog Rock that would soon become so prevalent. The music truly pulls the listener out of their current environment and into another universe — a universe where sound is not differentiated from sensation, imagery, or existence.
Chase: Pure Music
After a very successful first album, and a weaker second album, it seems Bill Chase finally figured out the best direction to go in — emphasizing a more jazz-based brand of jazz rock, with mainly instrumental material. Every track works nicely, but alas, this would be Chase’s last album due to the crash of the twin-engine charted plane flight to his scheduled performance at the Jackson County Fair. Also lost to us all was drummer Walter Clark, guitarist John Emma, and the especially talented Wallace “Wally” Yohn, who provides some excellent keyboard contributions to this last Chase album.
Chase brings some of his Stan Kenton, Woody Herman and Maynard Ferguson experiences into the music on this album, elevating the content with more sophisticated arrangements and showcasing his personal solo skills at their very best. While Chicago, Lighthouse, If, and Blood, Sweat and Tears, best work was now in the past (by February 1974) is appears that Chase’s best work was tantalizingly close but, unfortunately, for all of us, never captured.
Mick Ronson: Slaughter on 10th Avenue
Released in February 1974, this is about as close to a David Bowie album as one can find which doesn’t have David Bowie involved in singing, performing or producing. We do have another member of Ziggy’s Spider From Mars band, Trevor Bolder on bass, trumpet and trombone, and we have Mike Garson on keyboards (notable especially for his piano contribution on Aladdin Sane) — and we also have two original songs by Bowie, ”Growing Up and I’m Fine” and “Hey Ma, Get Papa.” Ronson’s vocals are second best to Bowie, but good enough to carry the album off nicely. Truly a recommended record for any Bowie fan.
1974 started with the release of one of the finest singer/songwriter albums of the 1970s, Joni Mitchell’s melodically and harmonically sophisticated, partly jazz-influenced, Court and Spark, an album that ended up in the record collection of most of the young ladies I knew in the 1970s, and deservedly so. As a music lover, it is the quality and distinctiveness of her music that wins me over, and how her music not only supports her nicely crafted set of meaningful lyrics but weaves and seeps into their essence. Ensuring that Mitchell’s vision is fully and artfully realized, and is a masterfully finished product, Tom Scott provides beautiful, engaging orchestral arrangements for some of the tracks and he and other musicians provide remarkable complementary contributions to fully complete Mitchell’s masterpiece. Every track Joni Mitchell has composed is a classic, and she ends the album with “Twisted”, AnnieRoss’s (of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross) clever overlaying of lyrics to Wardell’s Gray’s November 1949 recording of his instrumental composition “Twisted” with its masterful tenor saxophone solo, an appropriate way to end an album which owes part of its magic to Mitchell’s adept incorporation of jazz influences.
Harmonia: Musik von Harmonia
Released in January 1974, Harmonia’s debut album, “Musik von Harmonia” is, in my mind, the debut of German electronic cosmic space music. Many albums released before this have been classified into that umbrella term “Krautrock”, but for that specific flavor of German repetitive, sequence-driven, minimalist-inspired, partly ambient, but mostly hypnotic music that Tangerine Dream perfected and first showcased in their February 1974 release, Phaedra, and which Kraftwerk would popularize later in 1974 with their relatively more pop-oriented Autobahn album, it is this album that provided the prog world its first taste — the amuse-bouche for what is to shortly follow.
Musik von Harmonia is a collaborative masterpiece, uniting the talents of Michael Rother, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, and Dieter Moebius, all of whom were already renowned for their contributions to the German/Swiss avant-garde “rock” music scene. Together, they craft an auditory experience that well exceeds the existing conventional boundaries and expectations of pop music or of the contemporary progressive rock of the time. It works wonderfully as ambient, background music to read or do repetitive tasks during its forty-two minutes of mechanical-like mysteriousness, but it is even better for concentrated listening, as one allows oneself to get pulled into the funneling, black-hole sonics of this trio’s relentless and imaginative industrial-electronic soundscape.
Carly Simon: Hotcakes; Graham Nash: Wild Tales
Released in January 1974, both these albums deserve mention for how they are successfully stamped with the creative musical style of their respective artists. My favorite track on Hotcakes is “Haven’t Got Time for the Pain” written while Simon was with child. While there is no one track that stands out on the Nash album, it bubbles with his captivating, pop-flavored, often country-music tinged musical style. As a bonus we have appearances by David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Neil Young, David Mason and a hint of Joni Mitchell’s vocals.
Released on December 7, 1973, Yes’s sixth studio album, is a double LP set containing a single work composed of four sections inspired by a footnote in Paramahansa Yogananda‘s autobiography which discusses the classification content of Hindi scriptural writings into four categories of shastras: śruti, smriti, puranas, and tantras — or four bodies of knowledge. The album devotes a whole side of each LP to four concepts: 1) The knowledge of God and available truth, 2) Our comprehensive memories, feelings and thoughts — the Topographic Oceans of awareness and being, 3) Ancient, lost knowledge and culture, and 4) The Ritual of Life. The lyrics of the album, perhaps are worthy of study or further understanding, but I accept the words as being beyond my initial or even my likely eventual comprehension, and I am content to value them for their sound characteristics and overall contributions to the musical whole of the album.
That musical whole, is more arguably worthy of study, and provides a wealth of pure auditory enjoyment, and even though there is a fair share of meandering and excessive repetition, and though Bill Bruford has left to join KingCrimson, and Rick Whiteman, contributing to his final Yes album, has less of a compositional and performing role than ideal, there is much to like in the many individual musical episodes and the overall impact of the work. Howe’s guitar work is exceptional, and Wakeman, Alan White and Chris Squire provide an exceptional musical foundation for this immense, though somewhat imbalanced and imperfect, ambitious effort. The production quality is amazing, another fine effort by Eddy Offord, and the sonic brilliancy of the album is a major component of its enduring appeal.
Joe Pass: Virtuoso
Recorded in August of 1973 and released December of that year, Joe Pass’s Virtuoso is one of the best musical treatises on the electric guitar. Pass performs without any supporting musicians, deftly executing one jazz standard after another — as well as performing one original work as if exquisitely improvised on the spot. Providing intimacy and depth for each solo, Pass’s overall musical and technical approach set him apart from even his most notable contemporaries Most importantly, each track is similar to a short story or multi-page poem, with a distinct narrative identity and all the elements that make up a good theatrical piece. Pass’s handling of time is particularly remarkable as he goes beyond the use of traditional rubato into the realms of an elastic stretching of the tempo and beat, further contributing to the sense of someone spinning a good folktale or an off-the-cuff story. For example, on “My Old Flame” it is as if Pass is reflecting leisurely, over shared afternoon coffee or tea, on a past relationship — and ultimately going beyond simple musings by delivering a clear sense of some unspoken message or moral. The recording is amazing, allowing clarity of each individual note and the accompanying acoustics of the guitar and room to be radiantly presented. A must album for anyone that has even a borderline fondness for guitar.
Gong: Angels Egg
Released in early December of 1973, Angels Egg (no apostrophe in the title) is Gong’s fourth studio album and the second in the Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy, continuing the narrative of the earlier Flying Teapot and adventuring into even greater musical exploration, spiced with an appealing (French and British mix of) whimsy and eccentricity. The album is cosmic and sometimes just plain fun, and shifts moods (as well as rhythms and textures) wildly, unpredictably, yet sensibly and coherently, covering the mundane and the galactic, the profound and the profane, and all with elite, unique musicianship.
ELP’s fourth studio album, Brain Salad Surgery, first printing released on November 19, 1973, is the most ambitious of all the ELP albums, and a classic of progressive rock music, providing both moments of dark seriousness, and lighthearted diversion.
ELP’s powerful and dramatic arrangement of Sir Hubert Parry’s “Jerusalem” hymn has a dual function. The first is as an formal opening for the album as a musical event, just as “Jerusalem” might open up a BBC Proms concert at the Royal Albert Hall, or be sung prior to the commencement of the Commonwealth Games or an important soccer match. The second function is to set the musical tone for the album: dense, dark, mysterious, martial and empirical.
This is followed by an amped-up arrangement of the main theme from the presto finale of Alberto Ginastera’s first piano concerto. That arrangement brings out the most thunderous and relentless aspects of the original work. The middle section of original material features an extended drum solo from Carl Palmer on both traditional percussion and a set of percussion synthesizers, which along with additional material provided by Emerson provides a ingeniously compatible “B” section for the piece with the original theme returning to appropriately conclude the work. Worth referencing here is a passage about this track from Mark Powell’s accompanying booklet in the 2008 Sanctuary Records release of the CD: Soon after the adaptation (of Ginastera’s music) was committed to tape in September, the group became aware that they did not have the rights to release this music. Emerson contacted Ginastera’s publishers who responded that the composer would not allow any adaptation of his works, but they advised him to talk to him personally. So Emerson flew to Geneva to discuss the issue with Ginastera himself. Once Ginastera heard the new arrangement, he gave the authorization to use his piece. To quote Emerson: “He played our recording of “Toccata” on a tape recorder. After a few bars he stopped the tape … and exclaimed ‘Diabolic!’ I thought he said ‘diabolical’ and expected him to show us the door. He had been listening to the tape in mono and our recording was in stereo. I jumped up and switched the machine to stereo hoping he would listen again. It transpired that he wasn’t concerned about that at all. He listened again and declared ‘Terrible!’ which actually was a compliment. ‘You’ve captured the essence of my music like no one else has before’, the great maestro said.”
Greg Lake’s intimately delicate “Still… You Turn Me On” followed by the wildly humorous “Benny the Bouncer” with lyrics provided by Pete Sinfield (lyricist for that legendary first King Crimson album.) provides a sharp relief to the rest of the album and prepares the listener for the musical onslaught to follow. Notable is Emerson’s barroom piano style that adds further lightheartedness and musical interest to “Benny the Bouncer.”
Now the entryway has been opened to the main event: Karn Evil 9 — the title bringing to mind an evil carnival Karn Evil 9 is composed of three sections — the first, second and third “impression” — each symphonic in nature, and though each having its own thematic material, convincingly coalescing into one of the most impressive works in the progressive rock literature.
Karn Evil 9: First Impression brims over with a wealth of music material and alternates vocal sections with remarkable instrumental diversions. There are few if any cases in progressive rock where repeated material holds up so effectively, and part of this is because the group has advantageously leveraged the classical-music theme and variations concept so that verses have varied instrumental support, and part of it is just due to the strength and infectiousness of the thematic material.
The second impression is mostly in acoustic piano trio format, including further display of synthesized percussion nicely support by Emerson on piano and a brief suspenseful middle section that then explodes into unbridled energy with Emerson’s keyboard skills fully on display. Of course, Palmer’s precision percussion work contributes to overall excitement.
The third impression opens with synthesizer fanfare, and the music, in march time, has clear militaristic overtones. Sinfield has again provided lyrics and the sci-fi content is even more topical today with the advanced made in Artificial Intelligence. The unrestrained delivery of the lyrics by Lake, the military Moog fanfares from Emerson, and the relentless percussion contributions from Palmer all over the inexhaustible 2/4 march meter propels us forward into a epic-level instrumental section. The vocals return for the climatic finale with its dramatic end. As a final exclamation point, we get an accelerating, synthesized looped-motif that, on a properly set up audio system, images death-spirals around one’s head.
Back in the last few weeks of 1973, and in the two live concerts I attended in 1974, I found this music exhilarating, impressive, immersive, and magnificent. The same holds today, fifty years later, with the passage of time providing one important alteration to such a summation — the music is also timeless.
Greenslade: Bedside Manners are Extra
Greenslade’s second album, though not particularly cohesive as a whole, contains much to engage and nourish the listener. Underrated, both as a group and as individuals, the level of musicianship here is worth remarking on. Dave Greenslade is an accomplished keyboardist and as a composer would later be in high demand for his knack at writing short instrumentals appropriate as themes for television shows. Doug Larson had a unique, emotionally impactful vocal style, a gift at writing subtly ironic lyrics, and excellent keyboard skills, particularly with electronic synthesizers (he plays the Arp 2600 in the memorable Star Wars Tatooine cantina scene.) Tony Reeves had a jazz background and provided unusually interesting bass work with the group. Andrew McCulloch, played on King Crimson’s second album, and was notably referred to in The Guardian as being one of the most skillful and inventive drummers working anywhere in the jazz or rock spectrum.
The album contains three instrumental pieces, all good, but the highlight are the three vocal works, all of which address the subject in the second person. The title track, is a wistful farewell to the narrator’s current love who will soon be separated from him by being sent off to a distant school, with a particularly poignant ending. The other two songs has the singer intimately yet critically addressing the subject with enough of a cynical tone so that the commentary reflects negatively on the character of the speaker, himself, adding a dimension of irony. The music ably supports the qualities of the lyrics, with notable instrumental passages, making these three vocal works particularly memorable.
Le Orme: Felona e Sorona
Le Orme’s fourth studio release serves as a textbook example of Italian symphonic prog-rock. The album takes the form of a concept album revolving around two interdependent neighboring planets: Felona, a prosperous and idyllic world, and Sorona, a blighted and hopeless realm in decline. The interconnected destinies of these planets become evident near the album’s conclusion when attention shifts to the restoration of Sorona, yielding unforeseen and seemingly unavoidable consequences for the state of Felona.
This allegory of the risks of shifting the focus and care of one undertaking to another and the consequences of such a shift is musically narrated in the band’s native language, Italian, perfect for the associated music created for this concept album. As non-English lyrics were a commercial hurdle for European bands, effectively limiting exposure in American and European markets, an English language version of the album, authored by Van Der Graaf Generator’s Peter Hammill was recorded and released by 1974. The new version, though nicely done, has the drawback of altering the details of the original story, though still true to the allegorical message. More importantly, the use of English-language lyrics, does not provide the same musical compatibility with the original material as Italian. Think La Bohème in English or the English version of PFM’s “É Festa” — just not a good match.
The album sound is pretty good for 1973 — the overall production quality enhances the sonic depth, allowing each instrument to properly contribute to the overall soundscape. Though this trio’s makeup of keyboard extraordinaire (Tony Pagliuca), bassist/guitarist responsible for vocals (Aldo Tagliapietra) and skilled percussionist (Michi Dei Rossi) matches that of the German prog-rock group Triumvirat and the better known Emerson, Lake and Palmer, the music is quite different. Yes, the musical arrangements are intricate, there is the artful and judicious deployment of multiple time signatures, and the musical diversity is remarkable, yet the overall sound is more symphonic with less of the trio-based intimacy of the other two groups. The work is polished, logical, and above all, a joy to listen to, rivaling other prog rock music of its time.
Roxy Music: Stranded
Roxy Music’s “Stranded” is a tasteful testament to the band’s art rock ingenuity, offering a lush and immersive experience that adroitly exposes layers of accessible melodic and harmonic material, a range of rhythmic content, a spectrum of suave musical sophistication and even a touch of avant-garde sensibilities. Released sometime in November 1973, this album marks a pivotal shift in the band’s sound with the inclusion of Eddie Jobson, whose contributions add an additional sonic dimension to the overall effort. Historically, this is an important album with influences on later glam, new wave, synth-pop, alternative and indie rock, as well as (even in Brian Eno’s absence) ambient and electronic pop music.
Ange: Le Cimetière Des Arlequins
Ange’s second album, though not as varied and musically complex as their first, has a greater sense of cohesiveness and unity. The lyrics are exceedingly challenging for non-French speakers, but the music is readily accessible and provides an overall musical continuity and art rock sensibility, similar to Roxy Music’s Stranded, even though the styles are very different.
Keith Jarrett: Solo Concerts Bremen/Lausanne
I purchased this three LP set, released in November 1973 at the end of December using some of the Christmas money I had received. I eagerly looked forward to listening to over a couple of hours worth of solo piano. However, there was significant surface noise on the LPs which was particularly audible for solo piano, particularly as the overall sound level on the recording was lower than optimal and there we many quiet passages. I also found it annoying that one of the Bremen pieces was split across sides, and that both the Lausanne pieces were split up.
Fortunately, the CD version of this solves both these issues. The recording still requires setting the volume a bit higher than usual, but there is no disadvantage to this as there is no corresponding surface noise. More importantly one can listen to the improvised pieces as intended and follow the entire flow of the music without interruption — which is a key requirement for this music which beautifully unfolds and evolves, Jarrett being a master musical story-teller.
Throughout the album, Jarrett’s improvisational prowess is on full display. Covering a wide range of emotions and styles, he effortlessly weaves together motifs, melodic fragments, and harmonic progressions, creating intricate and layered compositions on the spot. The way he navigates the keyboard, often employing extended techniques and innovative rhythmic patterns, showcases his mastery of the instrument and his willingness to push its boundaries. His technical skills are incredible, and its a marvel to hear the perfect execution of left-hand ostinatos providing an unfailing foundation for the unbridled excursions for the right hand. The Lausanne improvisations are particularly exciting: Part 1 is a whirlwind of musical innovation, while Part 2 masterfully blends an array of styles and techniques including tapping and knocking against the piano’s wooden exterior with plucking of strings, occasionally punctuated by pressed keys, as well as traditional keyboard performance ranging from a tumultuous free-jazz passage to a number of introspective harmonically-based musings.
Black Sabbath: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Black Sabbath’s fifth studio album, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, is a successful expansion of the band’s musical and technical perimeters, We still have the trademark sinister-sounding ostinato patterns throughout the album, but the band has taken a distinctly progressive turn more with more complex song structures, greater musical variety, effective use of synthesizers, and incorporation of other prog-rock elements including strings on the final track and the participation of Rick Wakeman on piano on the fourth and sixth track.
Santana: Welcome
Santana’s fourth studio album, released on November 9, 1973 marked a continuation of Santana’s fusion of rock, Latin, and jazz influences, while also masterfully exploring additional progressive musical elements. Interestingly, the album as also more accessible and more melodic than their previous efforts.
The album begins with Alice Coltane’s evocative and imaginative arrangement of the “Going Home” theme of the Largo of Dvorak’s New World Symphony. The album is consistently excellent and varied, with Flora Purim on vocals for the gravity-defying “Yours is the Light”, the multi-faceted and percussion-dominated “Mother Africa”, and the final track, an effervescent recasting of John Coltrane’s “Welcome” with Alice Coltrane on piano.
Released on either September 29, 1973, or more likely October 5, 1973, “Selling England by The Pound” stands as one of the finest progressive rock albums of the 1970s. The sound is superior to that of their previous album, “Foxtrot,” and the music maintains the same level of excellence. It adeptly balances instrumental passages with vocal sections, blending humor (seen in tracks like “The Battle of Epping Forest” and “Aisle of Plenty”) with more serious compositions.
“Firth of Fifth” (note the humor in the title, which is a reference to Firth of Forth , the fjord of the Forth river, in Scotland, north and northwest of Edinburgh) is my favorite track, particularly due to is introductory theme on piano, later reprised by the group, but there is not a single weak moment on the entire album — and quite an album it is, with seven perfectly realized tracks totaling over fifty-eight minutes of magnificent music.
The Who: Quadrophenia
Released on October 19, 1973, this is the Who’s masterpiece about teenage alienation, angst, attitude, and the multiple personalities vying for integration into the evolving identity of an individual. It also addresses the weaknesses within the UK social system and the moments of solace that British youth of the 1960s sought and found in music and by the seaside. Moreover, this work is an astounding musical achievement, characterized by skillful thematic reiteration. Its musical content can be enjoyed both on a visceral level and intellectually, making it enduringly captivating upon repeated listens. Notably, the lyrics were deftly incorporated into music that was apparently written first, and Townshend has delivered exceptionally well-crafted lyrics that serve as the narrative backbone.
Effectively, this is a rock opera set in 1965, centering around a singular British youth, inspired by conversations Pete Townshend had with early fans of The Who. A significant distinction is that, unlike “Tommy,” which featured two songs by John Entwistle, one by Keith Moon, and a reworking of a Sonny Boy Williamson tune, all the original material here is authored by Pete Townshend. The emphasis is on “initial”, since Townshend intentionally provided a framework of lyrics, melody and chords that would develop into final arrangements through Townshend’s working with the band and the studio equipment to achieve the final product. So though Townshend deserves appropriate credit here for the authorship of this impressive work, it is The Who, as a band, that must be recognized for making this an enduring classic.
For those interested in additional information on this great album, please check out this track-by-track review by Caryn Rose written back in 2013 for Quadrophenia‘s 40th anniversary: Track-By-Track Review
Return to Forever: Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy
Released sometime in October 1973, this third album from Return to Forever magically and masterfully weaves together elements of jazz, fusion and progressive rock. Chick Corea dazzling keyboards and his other worldly — no, make that other galactic — compositions just radiate throughout this album. Fellow band members, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White and Bill Connors are equally up to the challenge, with Mr. Clark providing a wonderfully radiant composition of his own, “After the Cosmic Rain” and exhibiting Olympic-level mastery on electric bass. The coup de grâce is the last track, “The Game Maker”, breathtakingly piloting us over intricate, wondrously, shifting musical landscapes.
Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
The one obstacle that prevented The Who’s Quadrophenia ever getting to the number one album spot in the UK or in the US, was the multi-million-sales avalanche of Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, released on October 5, 1973, almost two weeks before Quadrophenia. Of the slightly over one hundred million copies of albums Elton has sold, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road accounts for over thirty-one million, and continues to sell in substantial quantities to new Elton John fans today.
Rather than compose music and then fit lyrics into the music, Elton John’s method in the 1970’s, like that of many songwriters, was to take already written lyrics, in Elton’s case partnering with Bernie Taupin, and then create music too complement those lyrics. Considering the nature of many of Taupin’s lyrics, it is rather incredible that Elton created so many highly popular and widely-appealing songs from the initial material. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, in a sense a loose or partial concept album, provides insight into Elton’s range of compositional skills, with the initial track, “Funeral For A Friend:, being one of his rare instrumentals, providing a glimpse into the depth of his creativity when not bound by lyrics. This instrumental introduction is effectively paired with “Love Lies Bleeding” providing an almost progressive-rock opening for the album.
Overall the album is quite good and along with his two albums from 1970 (Elton John and Tumbleweed Connection) and his live album from that period (17-11-70) are a set of his works I hold in high esteem. Now, though the first side and last side of the original 2 LP “GYBR” is indispensable, as is the first track of side two, and the last track of side three, the material in between could be omitted, to get a very fine single LP album, at a total length of around 45 minutes. Now some may wish to further add another track like “The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909–34)” resulting in an album that still comfortably adheres to standard LP limits. That said, the CD, containing over 76 minutes of the original material, is now sold at roughly the same price as other Elton John albums from the early seventies — so even though a slimmer, arguably better album could be achieved, what’s the point — given how effortless it is to replay favored tracks on a CD or to skip those not currently of interest.
Billy Cobham: Spectrum
Spectrum, Billy Cobham’s first album as a leader, released October, 1, 1973, is as impressive and important as any fusion album of 1973. The combination of Cobham and Jan Hammer dominate the album, and the supporting resources, particularly Tommy Bolin who is present on over half of the musical material, round out this excellent work. Album includes duets between Cobham and Hammer, Hammer soloing on acoustic piano on the beautiful ballad, “To the Woman but it is the longer tracks, and several lengthier tracks including the opening track, “Quadrant 4” full of energy and purpose, “Stratus” with remarkable bass work from Leland Sklar, and the fast-paced, electrically-charged title track, “Spectrum” with Joe Farrell on sax and flute, and Jimmy Owens on trumpet and flugelhorn.
Gryphon: Gryphon
Gryphon’s first album is a unique blend of folk and rock, incorporating both modern elements (guitar, bass, bassoon, trombone, drums) and earlier musical instrumentation (mandolin, recorder, crumhorn) into a successful set of songs. In late 1973, there were several folk rock groups, such as Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, and Pentangle, but Gryphon, with two of the group members—Brian Gulland and Richard Harvey, both graduates of London’s Royal College of Music—distinguish themselves through a level of originality that transcends replicating traditional Celtic folk harmonies and melodies. Their occasional use of late 19th-century and 20th-century dissonance, not found in traditional English, Irish, Scottish, or Welsh music, coupled with their colorful and sometimes unconventional instrumentation, creates a new sound that effectively captures and maintains the listener’s attention. Later, the group would develop a more progressive-rock sound, but this first album is a fine one, deserving to be enjoyed and appreciated on its own terms.
Renaissance: Ashes are Burning
Renaissance’s fourth album, “Ashes are Burning,” was released on October 10, 1973. The album opens with full intensity, featuring the instrumental introduction of “Can You Understand?” This segues into the introspective acoustic main section, accompanied by some orchestration, showcasing Annie Haslam’s spellbinding vocals. The introductory material returns to conclude the piece. Such artistry and high-quality musical content are defining characteristics of this album, effectively blending classical, folk, and rock elements. The album concludes with the majestically crafted and musically uplifting “Ashes are Burning,” providing an emotionally captivating ending to a highly enjoyable album.
Herbie Hancock: Head Hunters
Released on October 26, 1973, and recorded the previous month, this landmark album signifies a conscious shift in direction for Mr. Hancock. It departs from his previous, more progressive and adventurous modal-based music, embracing a solidly tonal funky style of jazz. For this endeavor, he replaced all the members of his previous sextet except for himself and the talented Bennie Maupin on reeds. Remarkably, this jazz album achieved significant commercial success, foreshadowing George Benson’s stunning commercial breakthrough three years later.
The album starts off with “Chameleon,” featuring its initial foundation of two relentlessly repeated bass figures. However, the music is far from stagnant; it organically develops as it progresses, with the bass occasionally taking a secondary role but always remaining fundamental to the overall forward motion. The improvisation, while solidly jazz-based, aligns with a generally funky mood. Toward the end of “Chameleon,” we encounter sparkling chord changes reminiscent of a chameleon changing its exterior color, yet it retains its essential nature—similar to the music—concluding with a more static, funky ending. This is followed by an abstracted, funky rendition of Hancock’s classic, “Watermelon Man,” creatively presented to sound fresh, innovative, and slightly futuristic.
Side two starts with “Sly,” a vibrant homage to Sly Stone that includes some wild, abandoned, but clearly intricate interplay between Maupin’s sax and Hancock’s keyboards. This dynamic exchange offers all the excitement and vigor of the free jazz of the era, yet within a tonal, structured framework—making it accessible to a wide range of listeners. The album concludes with the reflective jazz tone poem, “Vein Melter,” seemingly representing the impact of heroin. The sense of time is significantly slowed by the floating, detached music, free from earthly worries or concerns. Notice the slow beat that initiates, persists, and concludes the track, possibly symbolizing the futility of the heroin experience. This second side, featuring “Sly” and “Vein Melter,” stands as one of the best single LP sides of any album from the 1970s.
Kraftwerk: Ralf und Florian
Released sometime in October1973, Ralf und Florian is the third studio album by the soon-to-be influential German electronic music pioneers, Kraftwerk. At this time there group is just the two former students of Düsseldorf’s Robert Schumann Conservatorium, Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider The album is influenced heavily by “classical” or conservatory/university ideas about electronic music, but it is clear that a more accessible element is added into their works. This is far from their pop-flavored, and very influential, fourth album, but it still holds a special place in the band’s discography, marking that important transitional phase between their early “experimental” electronic work and the groundbreaking sound they would later be known for. The most intriguing work on the colorfully diverse side one is the pattern-based “Kristallo.” The second side open with “Tanzmusik”, which comes the closest to the music of their next album, with its lighthearted texture, vocoder-enhanced vocals and relentless drive. The album concludes strongly with the longest track, the relatively accessible “Ananas Symphonie” (“Pineapples Symphony”) with the vocoder, this time, used to modulate their voices to sound detached and machine-like. Ironically, though, the piece also creates a relaxing, mediative soundscape reminiscent of a tropical island — pineapples and traces of seashore sounds included.
Caravan: For Girls That Grow Plump in the Night; Lou Reed: Berlin
With changes to their lineup, the loss of bassist Richard Sinclair and keyboardist Steve Miller and the addition of Richard’s cousin, Dave Sinclair on keyboards, and Geoff Richardson on viola, Caravan moves away from the more progressive, jazz-infused sound of their previous album, to a less progressive sound infused with some pop elements of the late sixties The highlight of this fifth studio album, released on October 5th, 1973, is the medley on the last track, “L’Auberge Du Sanglier / A Hunting We Shall Go / Pengola / Backwards / A Hunting We Shall Go – Reprise”, which includes strong guitar work from Pye Hastings, impressive electric viola and cello from Richardson and Paul Buckmaster, respectively, some sensitive acoustic piano from Dave Sinclair and a solid orchestral arrangement from John Bell and Martyn Ford.
Also, on October 5, 1973, Lou Reed releases his poignant concept album, Berlin. Though not as melodically memorable as his previous album, and with some musical content from earlier works recycled or redeployed, the album is still deserving of attention. The last track, in particular, provides an affecting and fitting conclusion to the work.
With one good debut album and three excellent albums that followed, Gentle Giant released their fifth album in the UK on the 21st of September, 1973. One of the key band members, Phil Shulman, who had provided both lead and backing vocals, sax, and even some trumpet and clarinet, as well as being a significant contributor of the music and lyrics, determined that touring and other hardships were not for him and his family — and so left the band. With his absence, the group forged a slightly new direction into generally a heavier prog-rock sound with Derek Shulman taking on more lead vocals and Kerry Minnear and Ray Shulman making a greater contribution musically. The result was another excellent album, and for many, their best album yet. Unfortunately, Columbia records, which had released Octopus inin the states, didn’t much care for the music and passed on releasing it to the U.S. market. Certainly a bad decision for both Columbia and the band, as the album did relatively well in the UK, and due to its heavier sound and preference for electric instruments over acoustic would have been a more accessible album for the American public. In fact, although not available as an American release, the import of the UK album ended up becoming one of the best selling imports, selling over 150,000 copies despite the difficulties consumers had in obtaining a copy. Ultimately, the music found its way on to an American release in CD format many years later..
The album is a loose concept album more or less covering the fragility of the human psyche with a general progression from the more degraded states (criminal, psychotic) to more common/normal/prevalent states. The metaphor conveyed in the album’s title is that we live in a glass house, fragile and assailable. The music effectively complements the lyrics resulting in the prog-rock equivalent of a 19th century song-cycle — comprising a collection of interconnected songs, six in this instance. Each song delves into a different aspect of our delicate existence, with the implicit analogy being that, to some extent, we reside in a fragile state, much like an occupant in a glass house. The album begins with the shattering, terrifying, possibly panic-inducing sound of breaking glass, that condenses into a repeated loop in 5/4 time, representing a sort of PTSD-burdened recovery that moves forward, obstinately, enduringly, into the vacillating stream of precarious living. The music that follows is uninhibited and infectious — almost celebratory of the flight of the runaway described in “and free is his future”, yet there is no joy, for “all thoughts are scarred” and hopes are “stained with strange regret”; his dreams are dreams that “he cannot get.”
Next we have a passage of that wonderful Gentle Giant “stride” style (see Fifty Year Friday: July 1971 with additional examples mentioned in Fifty Year Friday: December 1972, Fifty Year Friday: April 1972, Fifty Year Friday: November 1970) followed by a sharp, brittle-ish marimba solo and some moog, haunting vocals, another brief dash of moog and the return of the main theme with final lyrics reminding us of the elusiveness of long-dreamed-for, long-desired freedom: “Senses like sharpened sword, guards for the shadow on his tail.”
While the first track, “The Runaway”, nicely covers “imprisonment escaped yet freedom unachieved”, the second track, “An Inmate’s Lullaby” explores further degradation of the human state where the subject, an insane asylum patient, hopelessly and pathologically absorbed in an opaque internal reality doesn’t have awareness of his own imprisonment..
Gentle Giant’s and Minnear’s unique approach to repetition saturates the musical essence that supports the lyrics. The track opens with celeste, vibraphone, and glockenspiel, accompanied by overlapping vocals from Derek and Kerry, as well as more vibraphone and marimba. The music is disjointed and eerie at times, reminiscent of a diseased mind. The mallet and celeste work by Minnear is generally simple but highly effective, supported nicely by Weathers’ appropriately-timed rhythmic interjections.
The third track, “Way of Life,” which is the last on side one, begins as a musical whirlwind — energetic and occasionally more raw and relaxed, but with interjected, repeated, pointillistic musical cells. The second theme contrasts as a beautiful ballad sung by Minnear, evoking reflection and wistfulness. It’s restated at a higher volume instrumentally, followed by a dramatic transitional passage that guides us into a brief reprise of the first theme. This is then succeeded by an organ-dominated reiteration of the second theme, featuring a yearning repeated organ passage that concludes side one, repeating until it gradually fades away.
Side Two opens up with “Experience” which starts out reflecting on the selfishness of youth, music nicely supporting the character’s musings: “Once I was a boy, and innocent to life and my role in it.” This is interspersed with instrumental commentary, repetition-based, and exquisitely layered with multiple instruments. Included is a subtle motific reference (unveiled to the listener by Phil on bass) to the later hard-rock chorus-like section. But before this “chorus” section, we have a new section with organ and discant recorder presenting a new theme, reflecting the view of maturity, “Now I am a man, I realize my unwordly sins pained many lives.” Included in this is multiple reiterations of the bass-line motif until it explodes into the next section, the loud volume hard-rock chorus with Derek on vocals thunderously proclaiming “I’ve mastered inner voices (for?, of?) making any choices.” Next is a short instrumental section, trademark Gentle Giant repetition, with a stretto-like tail, followed by a short reference to earlier material with bass motif intact, and then a repetition of the chorus with additional electric guitar material from Gary Green. Next is a brief reprise of the opening material with a coda based on earlier material, repeated to the close of the track. All in all, this track offers a truly musical experience, featuring multiple musically diverse yet seemingly related sections, and multiple time signatures that seamlessly work together to form a unified whole.
The fifth track of the album, “A Reunion, is the shortest (two minutes, eleven seconds) and most beautiful section of the album with Phil and Kerry providing string accompaniment (Phil on violin, Kerry on cello) accompanied with acoustic guitar. While the lyrics start off as the innocuous and tender, sentimental reflection of the past spurred by a chance meeting of former partners (lovers, business partners, band members, etc.), the relation of this song to the “glass house” concept is soon revealed: “Sharing thoughts and deeds, simple harmony, plans and hopes erased in our maturity. Now, tomorrow’s dreams are now yesterday” — making this beautiful ballad notably bitter-sweet.
The album ends with the title track, a summation, with very dark lyrics, but very upbeat, exciting music. Much that we identify as classic, post-Octopus, Gentle Giant is included here, the compact phrase-based repetition, instrumental interplay and imitation, Derek’s intense, assertive vocals, multiple time signatures, what I call the Gentle Giant “stride-style” (at the 3:03 mark), and overall infectious music that (depending on the listener) results in listener euphoria. This amazing album then ends with a short unlisted track that is a concatenation of short samples of each track.
Like many long-time Gentle Giant fans, I cannot readily answer what my favorite album is; each is distinct, and even the multiple weaker albums that follow the 1975 Free Hand album have some indispensable material. My best reply to any query about my favorite GG album, is to reference my personal list of Must Listen to Music.
Eloy: Inside
Eloy’s second album, Inside, is a bleak and dense offering, a dark blend of intricate musical craftsmanship. The centerpiece instrument is the electric organ, the sole keyboard used throughout the album. The thick textures are unusually mesmerizing without ever risking tediousness or monotony, and over the course of the album, they provide an overarching binding element.
Such is the consistency of the bleakness that even toward the end of the first track, during a section of repeated triad-based arpeggios—a typical prog technique often bringing a sense of elation and energy—this passage remains dimly shaded due to the music’s minor tonal center.
A notable point to mention is that the second track bears a recognizable similarity to the musical style of Jethro Tull’s Aqualung. This similarity led to substantial FM radio airplay, which, in turn, contributed to bolstering the American sales of Inside.
Faust: Faust IV
With their fourth studio album, released on September 21, 1973, Faust delivers an exemplary masterclass in German Progressive Rock. The first track, appropriately titled “Krautrock,” stands out as the highlight of the album, providing a perfect example of the driving, hypnotic style of “Kosmische Musik” that would soon become the signature of groups like Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk. The second track, “The Sad Skinhead” mixes reggae and punk elements to provide appropriate musical support for commentary on the ethical character of the second iteration of the skinhead — not the relatively harmless skinhead of the sixties, but the fascist-leaning, violent skinhead that would gain numbers in the late seventies. The lyrics reflect this shift: “Apart from all the bad times you gave me, I always felt good with you. Going places, smashing faces, what else could we do? What else could we do?
The remainder of the album continues with a diversity of German Progressive Rock substyles. The third track, “Jennifer”, starts off with a portentous bass that soon provides the foundation for lighter, more dreamy music with repetitive lyrics, followed by a storm of electronic effects and then some rag-tag, saloon piano to finish off the first side of the LP. The second side is also adventurous with five diverse compositions including “Just a Second” with its repetitive bass and expressive electric guitar that gives way to a Stockhausen-like “electroacoustic music” second section, “”Giggy Smile” in 13/8. The final track “It’s a Bit of a Pain”, opens up acoustically, and serenely, eventually followed by strategically placed electronic effects providing the appropriate musical irritation.
Frank Zappa and the Mothers: Over-Nite Sensation
Released on September 7, 1973, and recorded at the same time as Zappa’s “Apostrophe” solo album, this work artfully brings together rock, progressive rock, jazz-rock, and R&B elements (with uncredited backup vocals provided by Tina Turner and the Ikettes). Though progressive and musically innovative, it is still easily accessible to a wide range of listeners. One may possibly find the often sexually-focused lyrics clever, witty, and sardonic, providing an often detached, dry-humored commentary—or perhaps one will perceive them as waywardly placed in the deeper recesses of the gutter. However, the music itself is generally elevated, showcasing outstanding solo work, including saxophone (Ian Underwood, of course), keyboards (George Duke), and guitar (Zappa), complemented by some excellent mallet work from Ruth Underwood. The music is inherently entertaining, and I believe that it likely had a strong influence on the San Francisco-based Tubes, who began releasing albums in 1975.
Art Blakey: Anthenagin
Including remaining tracks from the same March 26-29 sessions used for the Buhaina album, Anthenagin is a particularly enjoyable album with Woody Shaw’s brilliant trumpet radiantly shining during his various solos. Cedar Walton is mostly on electric piano except for the introduction of “Without A Song” and for the entirety of Walton’s “Fantasy in D”, the latter being my favorite track on the album. And though my preference would be to have Walton play piano for all the tracks, his electric piano is crucial to the overall impact of another one of his compositions on the album, the title track, “Anthenagin.” This album, sadly, appears to have never been released on CD, but is available on streaming services and on the original Prestige LPs.
Vangelis: Earth
Earth, Vangelis first official solo studio album, stands as a testament to Vangelis’s pioneering spirit and creative prowess, marking his inaugural foray into the realm of official studio albums. Within this musical odyssey, Vangelis reveals not only his compositional finesse but also his remarkable aptitude for arrangement and his astute selection of instruments. While certain moments of the album’s foundational melodic and harmonic material are less than notable , it’s through Vangelis’s virtuosic touch that these seemingly straightforward elements metamorphose into a tapestry of captivating sonic storytelling.
Vangelis’s deliberate curation of instruments becomes a central pillar of the album’s enchantment. His choices encompass a diverse array of sonic colors, each instrument meticulously positioned to weave its own narrative thread. Through this meticulous crafting, the album transcends its individual components, elevating them to become harmonious voices within a grand symphony of sound. Vangelis’s ability to orchestrate these instruments with precision and sensitivity results in a truly immersive experience, where listeners are invited to traverse the intricate landscapes he has diligently designed.
Osanna: Palepoli
Episodic with a few rough edges, Osanna’s 1973 album provides a great immersive listening experience from its relaxed unhurried world-music opening that breaks unabashedly into a passage of celebratory, Italian folk-based dance music until it closes with a mysterious coda based on the opening of Stravinsksy’s The Firebird. This isn’t just Italian Progressive Rock, this is Neapolitan Progressive Rock at its best — uninhibitedly creative and reveling in musical freedom!
After the musically masterful Aqualung and the impeccably crafted and executed Thick as a Brick, there were many of us in 1973 that had very high expectations for Tull’s next release. Those preceding albums had been released in March of 1971 and 1972, respectively, and it wasn’t until July of 1973 that the next studio album saw the light of day. Once it hit the record stores, my next-door neighbor brought it over to be played on the better stereo at my house and give me the opportunity to record on reel-to-reel, which I set at 7 1/2 inches per second, a speed I reserved (since I had limited funds to purchase recording tape) for recording the best albums.
The album starts out with a mysterious, dramatic opening: a heart beat, the wind, and a hint of the recurring musical theme with additional components eventually including a repeated organ pattern accented with drums, then a musical opening as energetic, upbeat, lively, and captivating as the material on Thick as A Brick — initially unfolding as organically as any prog-rock album up to that time. Vocals are added and the main theme is introduced, and this is followed by a wonderful shifting-meter section that includes soprano saxophone. The theme returns, followed by another strong instrumental section with acoustic guitar and soprano or sopranino sax, and all is well approaching the end of side one. Yes, one could argue that there is excessive musical repetition, however that is easily absorbed in any initial listening just as it was easily absorbed during that initial listening back in 1973. So all was great back then, until the last few minutes of side one, with the inclusion of the seemingly irrelevant, textually and musically, “Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles”, which sounds like an aggressively-abbreviated and vastly inferior nod to Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. Oddly this section could have been placed entirely at the end of side one or two, but was divided, Solomon-like, so it marred both the end of the first side and opening of the second side. Thankfully, this diversion only lasts for less than 4 1/2 minutes, but it irrecoverably breaks any momentum and continuity. The second side includes much good material, but even with the forced inclusion of the “Passion Play theme” most notably as a coda to finalize the album, much of the music sounds unrelated to anything from the first side.
How then to critique something that really outshown 98% or more of the music being released at that time, yet it could not meet the standard for musical cohesiveness set by a few exceptionally rare cases, such as Yes’s Fragile, or Jethro Tull’s own Aqualung or Thick as a Brick? Well, for what it’s worth, back in 1973, the two of us, my next-door neighbor friend and I, as teenage listeners, him 19 and I recently 18, our expectations, primed by the two exceptionally strong previous two albums, ended up disappointed. That did not inhibit my immersing myself in multiple replays, on headphones, mostly, of the Passion Play LP content I had recorded on reel-to-reel. I found much to like, and enjoy, but ultimately rarely played the album after the initial week of repeated listening. The album was panned by the senior rock critic of the L.A. Times, whose name I will just as soon not mention — enough just to say that he generally panned all prog-rock, focusing on his perceived excellence of groups like the New York Dolls, whose first album was released also in July of 1973.
Years later, with informed by the wealth of information on the internet, and in preparation to hearing this album again prior to writing this month’s entry in the zumpoem’s blog, I learned that the initial material intended for the new album started as a set of individual songs, even though Ian Anderson’s and the band’s intent was to create something much like the previous Thick as a Brick but done seriously without the intentional irony. The material as it was created and worked out, seemed to have a common theme around how different animals could be related to human behavior, but due to the material ultimately not convincingly coalescing into a final product, perhaps partly due to challenges with food-based illness for some members of the band at the recording venue, the Château d’Hérouville recording studio about 21 miles north north-northeast of central Paris, the material was essentially shelved with only a small portion being leveraged when the band resumed their work in the UK at Morgan Studios, with a general agreement to start anew. Due to upcoming tour dates, the band was left with little time, with that limited time forcing them to work intensely, putting in long hours at the studio, sometimes late into the night. Ian Anderson later expressed his dislike around the mechanics of the sax, an instrument he used generously on the album, and mentioned the awkwardness of dealing with reeds, which became soggy and chaffed his lips, as well as his lack of training, practice, and lack of affinity for the instrument.
Seems to me that it was a combination of circumstances that collectively insured that A Passion Play fell short of the quality established by Thick as a Brick, quite a high bar for any group to expect to clear twice in succession. Fortunately for us, the material from that French chateau recordings was partly or even mostly preserved and made available to us on the first CD of the 1993 Nightcap album and on the 2014 Steven Wilson’s 2 CD remix of A Passion Play with the second disc containing these Château d’Hérouville tracks. It is understandable why the band hit an impasse with the original material, or fell slightly short in their rushed second attempt, yet included in A Passion Play is some exceptionally good music. It makes one wonder whether if the band had had some additional time and had deviated from the common prog-rock approach of creating an album by a generally accretive compositional approach but instead had pruned and sculpted the sum of all the material created in the two studios between the end of 1972 and early 1973 into a single LP, the result might have been the finest Jethro Tull album ever. This was not meant to be, but at least what we have with A Passion Play is an album containing mostly exciting and satisfying musical material, that, though not setting any standards for musical cohesiveness, is incredibly enjoyable and withstands repeated listening and the test of time.
Released sometime in July 1973, Steely Dan’s follows up their excellent first album with an equally strong second album — this time with all lead vocals handled by Donald Fagan. Some of the songs, such as “Bodhisattva”, a simple blues-progression, rock and roll tune, take on special life through the selective use of substitution chords and imaginative, quality soloing, while some other songs work well by seamlessly combining great music with inventive, imaginative, or memorable lyrics. My favorite is the final track, “King of the World”, which I first heard, for the first, second, third, fourth time, and perhaps fifth time at the 1974 California Jam, from a lengthy mixtape played from the very latest hours of the evening prior to the concert (many of us arrived the night before to get a seat close to the front) until well into the next morning, a few minutes before the start of the first act. Wowed by both music and lyrics, as well as the wonderful, straightforward synth solo, this song has had a place in my heart ever since. The lyrics, how they unfold, portray and characterize the persona, in this case the individual reaching out on the ham radio, and the economy of word usage and choice, are well-suited for study by any beginning lyricist. Of course, the album itself should be of interest to any music lover.
Genesis: Genesis Live
Released in the UK on July 20, 1973, this historically important album contains some of the material recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour in February 1973. Genesis’s record label, Charisma, advised the band it was in everyone’s interest to release this material prior on a budget album that could readily be sold at local stores like Woolworths and bookseller/music retailer WH Smith. This was agreed on by the band providing the album was not released in the US, due to concerns from Peter Gabriel over the quality of the recordings. Soon after Selling England by the Pound was released in the US, the Genesis Live album showed up as a low priced album ($2.99) in our local record stores, and so I eagerly purchased a copy.
Maybe the recording quality wasn’t up to the standards wished for by Gabriel, but it provides a great document of a amazingly proficient and creative group capturing them at their artistic best. The material was remastered in 1994, but doesn’t contain “Supper’s Ready”, also captured as part of the 1973 recordings — however, this was eventually released in 2009 as a bonus track on the Live at the Rainbow, . What this live album does include is amazing, particularly this 1973 live version of “The Return of the Giant Hogweed” with its baroque-like counterpoint, creative handling of meter and harmonic progressions, and concert-hall demands on the performers.
Queen: Queen
Released on July 13, 1973 in the UK and in early September in the U.S., this was an album I bought after getting all the earlier Queen albums soon after hearing tracks from Queen’s third album, Killer Queen and the just released fourth album, Night At the Opera from a cassette played in the car stereo of the friends of my good friend from next door. As I bought albums in reverse order until I got to the first Queen album, I was able to get a sense of how the group progressed and was pleasantly surprised how good that first album was. Of course, I later learned that the group really had been together since 1970, giving them ample time crafting and improving that material for that first album.
What makes the album immediately appealing is the effortless blend of hard rock, prog rock, and prog-folk elements, the vocal harmonies, the dramatic expressiveness, May’s distinctive guitar, and Mercury’s quality vocals. From the first track, already branded indelibly with Queen’s signature sound, to the short instrumental that ends the album, the album has enough of the later Queen energy and cleverness to make it mandatory listening for those of us that love the creativity and musical singularities of this group.
