Bad 24bit

Whether he gets (enough) credit or not from jazz heads, guitarist George Benson certainly created the template for smooth jazz , with 1975's Good King Bad a perfect example of the style in its infant stages. Benson combines his classy, Wes Montgomery-inspired guitar style with funky material ("Hold On I'm Coming"), yearning balladry ("Cast Your Fate To the Wind"), plush arrangements, and, on one song, buttery vocals for a classic slice of easygoing jazz.

Cut straight on the heels of Bad Company’s 1974 debut — just a matter of three months later; not quite long enough to know how big a success the first LP would be — Straight Shooter is seemingly cut from the same cloth as its predecessor.

Originally considered a pet project of Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant and his new label, Swan Song, it took no time for Bad Company to find their own niche in the rock pantheon. The very first album on the label, Bad Company, shot straight to the top of the album charts and has since eclipsed five times platinum, becoming one of the top fifty best selling albums of the seventies along the way. These accomplishments were due to the basic and raw approach to rock and roll, which really struck a chord with mainstream listeners. While hardly visionary, Bad Company‘s sound is distinct, with each of the four players given the space to reach the listener individually and collectively.

Like the sublimely seedy roadside joints of America’s rural South — where you can shoot pool, buy fishing worms and have your lawnmower repaired all in the same room — Fetchin Bones are dedicated to the sort of unexpected variety that somehow seems to work. On their debut album, the North Carolina quintet peddles an exciting mix of revved-up rock, country twang, folk, blues and swing, driving it all home with unrestrained energy and unpolished charm. The crazed quaver in singer Hope Nicholls’ voice provides the heart of the Bones’ sound; three songs without her lead vocals are the album’s weakest cuts. Producer Don Dixon admirably translates the group’s wild-eyed persona to vinyl, but this is a band that must be seen live for a full grasp of their eclectic frenzy. Delightfully different graduates of the R.E.M.-inspired school of Southern pop. (The CD and cassette add three tracks.)

Essential: a masterpiece of Rock music
Who would have thought old Phil Mogg, Pete Way and Co. would be responsible for one the greatest psychedelic long players ever released?, but yes folks this record called “UFO 2/Flying” is a head trip of the highest order that every space rock freak MUST own!!!
UFO started out in 1968 and were at one time known as The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, they later called themselves Acid finally settling on UFO which was a tribute to the legendary UK nightclub. The group cut their teeth playing covers by people like The Yardbirds, Kinks, John Lennon and The Small Faces among others, somehow they got the attention of Equals guitarist Eddy Grant who was branching out into production and talent procurement, Grant invited the group to record at Orange Studios and the group managed to land a recording deal with the tiny Beacon imprint. A debut album “UFO 1” was issued in 1970 to little fanfare ( though it has been reported UK DJ Jon Peel thought highly of the group.)

Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection
I consider this album to be the most sentimental one from Steve Hackett, and it is also among his best ones. It has some similitudes with the previous one “Spectral mornings”, but I find the sound of “Defector” more mature, more refined. The “Steppes” track, in the beginning, is a bit long and repetitive, but the combination of the floating keyboards and the extremely sustained guitar notes at the end, like on the “Spectral Mornings” and “Every day” tracks, produces a very rich, powerful, intense and moving soundscape. Like the on “Spectral mornings” album, “Defector” contains some ordinary moments, like the “Please don’t touch-esque” “Time to get out” and the insipid “Slogans”. Fortunately, there are more good tracks than bad ones, and Hackett goes into sentimental moods here, like on the peaceful “Leaving”.

Essential: a masterpiece of Rock music
Having barely managed to coexist for even half a decade at the tail end of the post-Beatles rock explosion, there is little wonder that the delightfully obscure work of New York’s Sir Lord Baltimore is yet a question mark for the vast majority of heavy metal’s legions. But for those who have experienced both albums, that question mark most surely has been replaced by an exclamation point; the other bands of that era and hemisphere like Iron Butterfly, Blue Cheer, and Mountain barely hold a candle to the SLB’s raging wildfire take on rock ‘n’ roll extremity.