Esoteric’s approach to reissuing albums on vinyl seems as canny as picking names out of a hat; it’s impossible to predict what they’ll choose next. With stablemates Van der Graaf Generator, Esoteric have selected two rather opposite entries from the…
View More Van der Graaf Generator – Still Life [Remastered]
In the past, I’ve been critical of Nektar’s merits and made anything I actually liked by the group seem like some sort of a guilty pleasure. The snide remarks stop here. Loosely hanging my expectations on the albums’ ProgArchives ranking,…
View More Nektar – Recycled [5CD Remastered Boxset]
Quoting myself from my review of Greg Lake’s Magical career retrospective box set: “I’ve never listened to the Emerson, Lake & Powell album for much the same reason I’ve never listened to any of Lake or Emerson’s solo stuff before,…
View More Emerson, Lake & Powell – The Complete Collection [3CD Boxset]
When it comes to finding the artists that were the foundation of progressive rock – shifting experimental psychedelia to something more focused and sophisticated – one cannot overlook Colosseum, founded by seminal drummer Jon Hiseman after a trip to Rome.…
View More Colosseum – Elegy: The Recordings 1968-1971 [6CD Box Set]
Having recently enjoyed the 3CD Beatles covers box set We Can Work it Out, I decided to give Patterns on the Window – which is presented in a very similar format – a try. The subtitle is The British Progressive…
View More Various Artists – Patterns on the Window: The British Progressive Pop Sounds of 1974 [3CD Boxset]
Back in 2017, Esoteric reissued all of Tim Blake’s existing studio albums and I was there to review all of them… except one. I loved Crystal Machine and Blake’s New Jerusalem, found The Tide of the Century to be lacking…
View More Tim Blake – Crystal Presence [3CD Boxset]
As a drummer, it’s rather embarrassing to admit that I had never listened to Ginger Baker in my life before I began reviewing this release. I had never listened to any music by Cream or Blind Faith and didn’t even…
View More The Baker Gurvitz Army – Neon Lights [5 Disc Boxset]
The liner notes for this new reissue of Family’s 1973 album It’s Only A Movie begins with this sentence: “Whenever a reissue series covers a highly respected band […] there is always an awareness of when the releases stop, and…
View More Family – It’s Only A Movie
As a reviewer, wrapping your head around new music and finding the words to explain it can be exhausting, especially if the music in question is no bueno. It helps when there are already some assurances of quality, and this…
View More Various Artists – We Can Work It Out: Covers of the Beatles, 1962 – 1966 [3CD Box Set]
I think we’re all guilty of procrastinating on checking out certain books, TV shows, films and – yes – music that we know we’d probably like if we gave it half a chance, but simply haven’t because we either don’t…
View More The Move – Shazam (Remastered Vinyl Edition)