Growing up there are pivotal musical moments in our lives. I loved the poppy side of the sixties, The Beatles and much that went before, then comes the development of your own taste. For me, initially it was early Bowie,…
View More Junior’s Eyes – Battersea Power Station
When I heard that Esoteric Recordings, those wonderful curators of Rock’s Rich Tapestry, were re-releasing the self-titled album by Leicester band Spring, an obscure bunch of very early prog rockers, conversely well known in the world of record collecting, my…
View More Spring – Spring
Composer, electronics innovator and guitarist Richard Pinhas is one of France’s most important experimental musicians and a pivotal figure in the integration of rock music with electronica. He continues to take huge strides forward, confounding expectations and astonishing his listeners,…
View More Richard Pinhas – Chronolyse
Procol Harum played a significant role in the early days of progressive rock and A Salty Dog, released in 1969, may not be as well known as contemporary albums from such luminaries as King Crimson, VDGG, Yes and Pink Floyd,…
View More Procol Harum – A Salty Dog (Deluxe Edition)
With all of the brilliant new Classic Rock albums and re-issues released in 2015, it has taken me a while to get back to reviewing the newly packaged reissue of Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe from Esoteric Recordings. Yet, after watching…
View More Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe – Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe
Audience – Audience Esoteric Recordings, go to label of choice for the rock history connoisseur, continue mining the rich seam of underground music from the end of the 60s and the early 70s with these two fine albums from the…
View More Audience – Audience / Friend’s Friend’s Friend
Kestrel and their eponymous debut album were, in the words of Dave Black, to suffer a series of disappointing ‘ifs’ and ‘what ifs’ and ultimately the blame for the lack of success of the band lay firmly with their inept…
View More Kestrel – Kestrel
Where were you in 1970/71? Musically the Top 20 gave you the choice of Mungo Jerry, Norman Greenbaum or the England World Cup Squad. The Beatles broke up. Tull, Crimson, VdGG and ELP all released albums and child actor Phil…
View More Stone The Crows – Stone The Crows | Ode To John Law
Procol Harum Firstly, a caveat – the copy we have for review is the single CD edition, but for the fan there is a 2-CD version available that includes a further 23 tracks of alternate takes and radio sessions. I…
View More Procol Harum – Procol Harum / Shine On Brightly
At the end of last year I reviewed the first two fruits of Esoteric’s remastered reissues series of the complete works of Sky, the Anglo-Aussie classical/rock crossover band formed in 1978 by classical guitar maestro John Williams. Probably the zenith…
View More Sky – Sky 3 / Sky 4: Forthcoming / Sky Five Live / Cadmium / The Great Balloon Race / Mozart