I get asked to recommend albums all the time. Usually records that people have somehow missed down the years that rarely get played on the radio. Not desperately obscure, but not mainstream either. The sort of albums that I proudly carried to school to play at lunchtime. And come to think of it, you can stream anything but how do you know something even exists to look it up?
There are, of course, dozens of fantastic albums I could recommend but I’ve gone only for albums that I still play, 50+ years since I first heard them and it’s just a random 5 in no particular order.
Mountain Live; The Road Goes Ever On
This charted at #21 in the UK, their best ever. The band was splitting up and Windfall, the band’s label, raided the archive for some live material. "Long Red" and "Waiting to Take You Away" were from the August 16, 1969, performance at Woodstock, "Nantucket Sleighride" from the December 14, 1971, show at the Academy of Music in New York City, and "Crossroader" from the January 29, 1972 was recorded from an appearance at the Rainbow Theatre in London. I think it’s their best live album. Side two is all an absolutely indispensable Nantucket Sleighride. Leslie West’s Les Paul Junior sounds like a wild animal, screaming and growling as Corky Laing drives on with a thunderous rhythm. It’s totally untamed and heavy rock at its finest.
Gentle Giant; Playing The Fool
Recorded in 1977 at Düsseldorf, Paris, Brussels and Munich. This live album acts as a good ‘Best Of’ the previous six albums. The best word to sum it up is ‘eclectic’ Parts are prog rock, parts are complex harmonies, some bits are medieval and just odd. The band all swap instruments for each song. There’s even a gorgeous seni-nallad ‘Funny Ways’ which is delicate and has a lovely melody. It requires the listener to have an open mind but no other band were like them and with numbers like the awesome technicality of ‘The Advent of Panurge’ it makes life just better every time you play it.
Soft Machine; Bundles
I could have gone with any record with Allan Holdsworth on. But this has long been a favourite. Side one’s 20-minute Hazard Profile Parts 1-5 is the real business with a hypnotic guitar figure performed with an ambient sort of backing. It’s classic mid-70s fusion which just goes to places other music doesn't. “Four Gongs Two Drums” is exactly that in a mad free jazz sort of way. Quite bonkers. And the cover is great too. In 1975 when this was released it was a real departure for the band who didn’t normally do guitar. Later Holdsworth returned for another superb record “Land of Cockayne”
Todd Rundgren and Utopia : Ra
Todd’s proggy phase from 75-78 produced some stunning and ambitious music. Ra is at the more accessible end compared to the 36-minutes of A Treatise On Cosmic Fire on Initiation. The songs are intense. Communion With The Sun is an example of how he crafted a song out of a superb riff. Hiroshima includes a nuclear explosion and Singring and the Glass Guitar is an ‘electrified fairy tale’ which shouldn’t work but is nonetheless charming. There are so many ideas on this record that it leaves you breathless. Couldn’t be anyone else.
Man; Maximum Darkness
One of my great loves that I’ve played to death. ‘71-71-551’ is a timeless song with swirling guitar that somehow all synch’s together. Though it feels semi improvised. Likewise the 13-minute ‘Many Are Called’ is a real sonic journey. John Cippolina is around for the ride. Recorded at the Roundhouse where they virtually lived, it isn't the sort of record you’d hear today but it actually made #25 in 2 weeks on the chart. If you like short, tightly performed songs, this isn’t for you but if like me you enjoy a band stretching out, this is a classic of a genre they were one of the leading lights of.
Five more you might like
Quicksilver Messenger Service - self-titled debut record
Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mounting Flame
Home - The Alchemist
Isotope - self-titled debut
Caravan - If I Could Do It All Over Again, I’d Do It All Over You
