Frantic - Conception (1971 U.s. Hard rock-heavy psych)

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Tentacle - The Angel of Death (70/71 scotland - hard prog)

Excelent and obscure band of Heavy Psych.from Scothland. Similar to Morly Grey, Dark, T2. The album was recorded in 1970/71. Really Cool !!!!!!!

Wonderfully morose scottish rock with some flowery, folk-derived electric guitar work and heavy bits that don't get too loutish.  Wholeheartedly recommended to fans of T2's first album, Dark, Parameter, Janus...

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Zipper - Zipper (1973 - hard rock U.S.)

Pre Dead Moon band with Fred Cole. Not just "with" but I think it was his band 'cause he wrote all the tracks. Amazing stuff on this platter, from hardrock, to rockandroll and ballads. The "feel" is exactly like the Dead Moon records, but with a different sound. Some stupid people think this is influenced by Led Zeppelin, wich is no good reference to me, but I like this. A lot. A new genre is introduced; garagehardrock!!!!

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Racing Cars - Downtown Tonight (1976 uk soft rock)

I loved this album when I first heard it in the Seventies. Very west coast sound, maybe a softer edged version of the Doobies or a slightly more funky Eagles.
I came across it again recently and was a little disappointed. It sounds very dated and the individual tracks are a little too eclectic. It doesn't really gel as an album.
Some great moments though. "They Shoot Horses Don't They" is a beautiful ballad written I assume as a tribute to the film of the same name. There are also a couple of really good funky instrumentals.

from rateyourmusic

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VERVERT TURNER GROUP-S/T (1972)

Vi posto questo disco che sicuramente vi piacerà! Non ve lo sa definire bene ma si può parlare di psych&hard rock (forse però è riduttivo)!

Si vocifera che questo tizio che vedete in foto e Jimi Hendrix fossero amici e progettassero un power trio...non so se è vero ma sta di fatto che il cantato di Ververt Turner lascerà ai più molto interdetti, perchè sembra effettivamente Hendrix al microfono!Anche io al primo ascolto sono stato parecchio disorientato!

Come intuirete la tecnica chitarristica è molto buona (ma non ai livelli di Hendrix!) e il disco è molto piacevole!dunque le song consigliate sono "Excuse Me,Gentlemen", "Scarlet Warrior","Madonna (of seventh moon)"( forse è la più bella), e "Strangely Neww"!

Come al solito ascoltate e non ve ne pentirete!

Ci sentiamo presto e fatemi gli in bocca al lupo x il mattone d'esame che vo' affrontando!!!!

review

Velvert Turner was apparently a friend of Jimi Hendrix's, and the Hendrix vibe on the album Velvert Turner Group is almost overpowering, right down to the fish-eye photo on the back cover. Turner's got great guitar tone and a playing style quite similar to Jimi. The songs are also similar to later-period Hendrix, circa First Rays of the New Rising Sun, but with some keyboards added. In fact, "Three O'Clock Train" starts out with a riff very close to "Izabella," then sounds more like "51st Anniversary" in the body of the tune. The really shocking thing, though, is how much Turner's voice sounds like Jimi. It's jarring, right down to the same vocal inflections. But it doesn't sound like imitation, it just sounds like they came from the same places. The songs are good, although not the equal of Hendrix's, but some of the guitar playing is great, with some good feedback and panning effects to boot. It's certainly derivative, but Jimi left so few official albums that this will be a welcome sound to Hendrix fans.

fonte: www.allmusic.com

(i suggest the song "Strangely Neww", "excuse me gentleman" and "scarlet warrior""madonna(of the seventh moon)" ...take a listen!)

bye

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Gagalactyca-Gagalactyca (1975 heavy psych)

Disco molto particolare, quando l'ho sentito la prima volta sono rimasto sorpreso ed annoiato e non mi sono spinto più in la delle prime tracce ma al secondo ascolto, superata la prima song che a mio avviso è noiosa, sono stato preso dal sound che diviene, via via che trascorre il disco, molto più "acido" e assume caratteri psych molto più forti...!ve lo consiglio!

http://lix.in/1db647

Progres 2 - Treti Kniha Dzungli(czech-prog 1982)

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AGAIN PSYCH !!
VALHALLA - VALHALLA

(u.s.-1969)

Il disco che vi propongo oggi è un ottimo disco di musica psych (qualcuno parla di heavy psych ma non sono molto daccordo...) Secondo la mia opinione è un ottimo disco da ascoltare con piacere anche se potevano fare qualcosina in più!
Mi sento di consigliarvi le canzoni "Hard times","overseas symphony", la strana "Deacon" che mi ricorda la canzone della pubblicità della valleverde (ovviamente non ricordo assolutamente il titolo!) e anche "Roof top man". La particolarità di questo disco è un graduale aumento della complessità nella stuttura delle canzoni fino al top di "overseas symphony" bove si ha un vero effetto sinfonico...beh...che state aspettando?! Ascoltate!!!!

Early psych-simp.prog from a one record (1969) band. Songs start out rather simple and turn into massive fusion-psych-hard rock jams (take a listen to "Overseas symphony"and "Hard times" and "deacon")! Very good album!

Enjoy it!

review by www.allmusic.com

Valhalla's only album was a rather haphazard mix of end-of-the-'60s psychedelic and heavy rock influences. Even if it's not particularly outstanding or original, however, it has its enjoyable aspects, especially for those who enjoy late-'60s combinations of bluesy hard organ and bluesy hard rock guitar. In its slightly overreaching, over-serious feel with a hint of religious pomposity, it's often slightly reminiscent of early Deep Purple and — more distantly, especially in the fairly penetrating organ — the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Graham Bond, and Lee Michaels. Throw in some more guitar-oriented hard rock with songwriting and riffs reminiscent of Cream and the "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago"-era Yardbirds, and it's a little surprising to learn that this band came from Long Island, not Britain. At times, too, the record takes strange right turns into more orchestrated, skewed pop and jazzy tempos, as if they were trying to get a little more mainstream but couldn't quite iron out their more uncommercial aspirations. Some faint symphonic pretensions both add and detract in some ways, but there are some pretty commanding lead vocals and organ, which put it a notch above many other secondary psychedelic albums of this kind.

band info:

Valhalla is a symphonic rock band who recorded one record for United Artists. Mark Mangold, now a celebrated AOR figure, played keyboards with this Long Island unit who performed local gigs until management pushed the group to compose original material to ensnare a recording contract. Here the young Mangold honed his songwriting chops while developing a love for synths and mellotons which he would carry into his next band, American Tears. American Tears evolved into Touch and Mangold also formed Drive, She Said and has worked with Aldo Nova, Randy Jackson, and many others. He wrote Cher's faux metal smash "I Found Someone" with Michael Bolton.

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White Witch - White Witch (1972 uk psych prog glam hard rock)

I really enjoy this album. It might be the fact that it was one of the first psychedelic/hard rock albums that I heard in my youth and because it contains a fun pop sensibility,it was easy for me to get into at the time. I can understand how the cover might be a turn off(a bad makeup job which has not aged well) .I am also not a fan of "It's So Nice To Be Stoned"..it could be one of the worst weed oriented rock songs of the 60's/70's.
Every other song on here is OK to great..the somewhat more pedestrian numbers at least made interesting by Ronn Goedert's feminine/witchy vocal stylings.
The warm and flowing moog melodies are certainly another highlight and add to the mystical feeling of the record. A much better album than the sophomore release, "A Spiritual Greeting",which is chock full of forgettable songs. As far as this debut goes, "Help Me Lord" and "Don't Close Your Mind" are my favorite tracks.

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Smockin willie - s/t (1970 great heavy psych)

Ammazza quanto è heavy questo disco! siamo di fronte ad un disco (per altro ottimo!!!!) pieno di suoni molto carichi,dalle chitarre iperdistorte fino ad un roboante hammon (ma non quello tipico del genere prog!)...mi sembrano i blue cheer moltopiù heavy!!!Consigliatissimo!


This is probably one of the of the oddest albums we've ever released. Smokin' Willie and his sidekicks Jim Sarvis and Ron Frye deliver a sound and a take on some hits of the day the likes of which you won't have heard before. The trio blasts its way through two original numbers and its own singular versions of 'Whiter Shade Of Pale', 'Evil Ways', 'Get Ready' and the most unbelievable 'House Of The Rising Sun' you're ever likely to hear. There's lots of Hammond, up-front fuzz guitar, a truly thunderous rhythm section and howling vocals and as times it is hard to imagine this much sound being produced by only three musicians. Originally released in 1970 on the Ulrich Studios label (Ulrich Studio 3999) as a private pressing, the biker trio's budget only ran to 500 copies most of which were eagerly snapped up by the good folks of southern Indiana where the band enjoyed considerable local support.

Link: http://lix.in/eef47b

Dice - Four Riders of the Apocalypse(1977 syn.prog)

Sweden has always seemed to be a bastion of progressive music. Dice were a top-notch symphonic rock group from the 1970’s with virtuosic musicianship and compositional skills, occasionally marred by less-than perfect vocals, but still an outstanding group. The story of their albums’ release dates are kind of convoluted, but since their all available on CD for good (hopefully), it’s probably fair to treat them as sequential.

The first work they did was The Four Riders of the Apocalypse, an all-instrumental opus based on the biblical prophesy and Albrecht Durer’s engravings. The two shorter pieces (around 8 minutes each) are complex and fusiony, but surprisingly upbeat for such a dire themed album. The star of the show is one Orjan Strandberg who plays lightning fast but very melodic lines that are essentially just very complex riffs, around which the tracks seem to be based. Keyboardist Leif Larsson provides sturdy accompinament on organ, mellotron, and synthesizers. The two longer pieces are around 11 minutes long and are the highlights, in my opinion at least, as they go through a wide range of styles but still flow together nicely. Some people have complained about a few of the many sections like the part that sounds like “Larks Tongues in Aspic, part Two” (there is a section that sounds very much like that piece, but it only occurs briefly, so it’s more of an homage than a ripoff, and I have to admit that I didn’t even notice the similarity the first several times I listened to it since the rhythm is commonly used in a lot of prog music) or the quote from an old big band jazz piece that I can’t identify (I actually really like this part as it’s so unexpected). In spite of those brief controversial parts, the rest of the two long tracks are full-fledged masterpieces of symphonic rock that push all the right buttons and do a pretty good job of depicting the apocalyptic situations dictated by the concept. One of the great obscure masterpieces of 1970’s European progrock.

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Dice - Dice(1978)

The album Dice featured a decent but somewhat distracting vocalist, but is a little more polished than The Four Riders… There’s still the same mix between upbeat major-key ditties, lush symphonic epics, and dissonant ostinatos. All of the tracks are very strong, but I find the instrumental breaks on “The Utopian Suntan,” the Focus-like instrumental “Annika,” and the glorious mellotron dirge “Esther” to be exceptional. The 22-minute suite “Follies” is an interesting look at schizophrenia. The lyrics are often poorly written but still well-sung and they suit the music pretty well. As is often the case, this album sounds more professional but less distinctive than the rawer predecessor. A lot of the songs are based very much on chord sequences or academic-sounding melodic patterns without a lot else going on. That doesn’t bother me, but it seems to strike others as being bland and unmemorable and more like exercises than well-developed compositions. I think they’re great though.

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Mandalaband - Mandalaband(1975 prog)

This mythic & heroic progressive rock album is surprisingly excellent! On side 1, It has TONS of BEAUTIFUL, poignant, intense and religious male & female choir parts. The heroic floating and symphonic keyboards are quite intense and anthemic. The keyboards and choir clearly remind Rick Wakeman's work in the 70's. The omnipresent electric guitar sometimes sounds like Steve Hackett's one of the Genesis' "Selling England by the pound" album. There are a few weird psychedelic parts, but fortunately they do not last for a long time.

On side 1, The OUTSTANDING & epic "Om mani padme hum" contains impressive jazzy piano parts a la Keith Emerson or Eddie Jobson; there is a brilliant, exciting & melodic tubular bells part; the symphonic & anthemic keyboards are just memorable. The electric guitar near the end, despite its hard rock tendency, does not kill the grandeur of this long track.

The other side is different and less good. The tracks are shorter and they often have a more straightforward loaded rock/hard rock tendency, without the flamboyant choirs and keyboards present on the first side. "Determination" contains dirty rhythmic organs, wah-wah hard rock electric guitars and fast & complex drums, a bit like on the first Camel's album. "Song for a king" is more like the first side: the beautiful and melodic track is absolutely memorable with the catchy and addictive lead vocals, refined keyboards arrangements and Hackett-like guitar solos. The very good "Roof of the world" takes a rather fast and aggressive mood: it has fast and restless drums, hard rock guitar solos, floating mellotron and catchy lead vocals: there is again a mythic & heroic mood present on this track. The last track has mellow Fender Rhodes notes: combined with the tender voice, it reminds me the Gentle Giant's "Aspirations" track.

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Mandalaband - The Eye of Wendor: Prophecies (1978)

In 1992 German record company Line meritoriously re-released the classic second Mandalaband album The Eye Of Wendor: Prophecies, which was recorded between 1976 and 1978. All four members of Barclay James Harvest, all four members of the original 10cc, Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues, Maddy Prior of Steeleye Span, Noel Redding (ex-The Jimi Hendrix Experience) plus lots of other musicians were involved, although leader of the pack was David Rohl, who wrote and produced the album and played the master of the keyboards.

Melodic art rock in the just established tradition of The Alan Parsons Project with beautiful kitschy bombastic tunes galore.

A lengthy piece named "Om Mani Padme Hum", which originally made up one half of the first Mandalaband output, was added to fill up the CD.

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Cleves - Cleves(1971v.good aussie psych prog)

Buon disco di musica psych/prog proveniente dlla terra dei canguri!mi è piaciuto perchè c'è una certa dose di cattiveria unita con la bravura dei musicisti...ottime chitarre ottimo organo ottimo cantato(sia maschile che femminile)...inoltre mi sembra che la 5 o 6 traccia sia una sorta di "Stop" revisited (la famosa e stupenda "stop" di Al Kooper E M.Blomfield presente su "supersession") Consigliato!

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