1974: October to December

October 1974 began with another undying classic from King Crimson. Earlier in the year they had already released one album called Starless and Bible Black which contained little to be excited about. Another try became an overwhelming success. The dark nature of Red, out on the 5th, is already evident from the mostly black cover. It opens with the title track, a killer instrumental that is obviously a necessary addition to the list of unmissable tracks of the year.

But an even greater song was the closing track Starless, which I placed third on the Top 20 Long Prog Masterpieces list. You can read more about that right here. This impressive work of art served as the ending for this incarnation of King Crimson, just like Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part 1 had served as its beginning the previous year. Robert Fripp decided to disband King Crimson once again, and this time the recording hiatus would take all of seven years. Perhaps Bill Bruford shouldn't have quit Yes so hastily, after all.

14 October, and it was time for Jethro Tull to say goodbye to prog and the long song format. The new album War Child comprised of shorter songs that weren't particularly proggy. Unfortunately, this also meant that the end result was clearly inferior to a couple of its predecessors, but in any case I took a liking to three songs. Two of them represented the more acoustic end of the Tull spectrum: Ladies and Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day both relied on melody and were not particularly rocking tracks. But perhaps my number one favorite was the title track.

Three other October releases were also great: two of them were albums, one was a single. In their case, I haven't found out the exact release dates, so let's discuss them in alphabetical order. For the first time in this blog we mention French-British Gong, one of the most eccentric prog groups of the 1970's. They had been making music quite obviously inspired by marihuana since the beginning of the decade, and even though I didn't point it out at the time, Angel's Egg (1973) was already a pretty decent record.

The October 1974 album, called You, completed their Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy that had been started with The Flying Teapot (also 1973). It contained an incredible first eleven and a half minutes that immediately secured the group's place among the greatest prog bands of the seventies. These comprise the first track of the CD version of the album, although actually there are four separately named songs contained within that single track. They are called Thoughts for Naught, A P.H.P's Advice, Magick Mother Invocation and Master Builder (in case you are wondering, a P.H.P. means a pot head pixie). There are no pauses between the songs, and together they form one hell of an unmissable track! Please do check it out below.

Next up is Man, the Welsh group we already mentioned in connection with The Bystanders in 1968. Their October 1974 album was called Slow Motion and there was one certain track on it that I thought was an instant classic. Grasshopper is a marvelous, bittersweet song about the end of a relationship that is considered by many to be the highlight of the group's entire career. Apologies for the silly image in the background of the YouTube video below; someone has been in a playful mood but the song itself should be taken quite seriously.

And finally, there is the single. It was the last moment of greatness for Mott the Hoople, the group we have mentioned several times before. On their new single, they chose to reminisce the times when they were still at the beginning of their career, playing in small clubs and other similar venues on Saturday evenings. Saturday Gigs is, in my opinion, easily the second best song they ever recorded, immediately following the unbeatable classic All the Young Dudes. Listen to it below, and then we say our goodbyes to the group. They made some great songs in a limited time period. The video below has been made by a fan.

Following this, we move on to November. Sparks did not simply decide to rest on their laurels. Instead, they released another album during the same year. Again, I don't have an exact release date. Propaganda wasn't quite as unforgettable as Kimono My House, but a truly fine piece of work nevertheless. Album standouts include At Home, at Work, at Play; Thanks But No Thanks, and particularly one unmissable track called Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth.

The end of the month saw one more standoff between prog favorites Yes and Genesis. Yes had selected the Swiss keyboard player Patrick Moraz to replace Rick Wakeman while he concentrated on his solo career. On 28 November, the new lineup released a new album called Relayer in the UK. The US release followed on 5 December. The album remains the group's most challenging and was definitely a huge improvement over the fiasco that was Tales from Topographic Oceans.

The unbelievable opening track, over 20-minute anti-war orgy The Gates of Delirium was discussed at more length over here, back when it took the ninth place on the list of the Top 20 Long Prog Masterpieces last year. And, like I mentioned already back then, the album was actually a commercial hit which seems incredible considering that its content was pretty difficult even compared to the rest of Yes's output.

Only one day after Relayer's UK release, Genesis struck back. 29 November was the big day for their new double album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, a recording that is once again considered by many to be a classic, but which I have some serious problems with. The magnum opus is based on an incomprehensible storyline by Peter Gabriel, about a New York street punk that has a strange, surreal trip inside his own head. This is not, however, the real problem with the album, although it does make it seem a bit artificial to begin with.

The real problem is that Genesis doesn't have enough musical ideas to carry a full length double album. The first two album sides are mostly very good but following that we encounter problems. Side three is hit and miss, and side four is completely useless. Overall, the final Peter Gabriel album doesn't live up to its potential. Exhausted after the tour that followed, Gabriel decided to depart in 1975, leaving the group's future to question. How would the remaining four members be able to replace their figurehead?

The title track embedded above is in any case an outstanding piece of work and definitely an unmissable track of this year. Other highlights include Fly on a Windshield, Broadway Melody of 1974, Cuckoo Cocoon, Hairless Heart, Counting Out Time, The Carpet Crawlers, Lilywhite Lilith and Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats. The high number of good tracks should already indicate that while there is a lot to complain about the album, there is also plenty of reason for praise.

December saw only one further significant album release that concludes the music year 1974. The second album by the British singer David Essex was self titled and successful enough to make it to #2 on the British Christmas album chart. This was largely due to the extremely popular single hit Gonna Make You a Star that opens the album.

However, the truly great song was the second track on the album that also served as the B side of the single. Window is an unbelievable thing: a genuine, scary horror story that not only tries to horrify the listener but actually ends with children screaming at the top of their lungs. I don't think this would be considered very politically correct nowadays. A great song that really fueled my young imagination: at age eleven and a half, I was unable to fully understand the lyrics, yet understood what they meant.

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR:
Mike Oldfield: Hergest Ridge
Sparks: Kimono My House

UNMISSABLE TRACKS OF THE YEAR:
10cc: The Wall Street Shuffle
David Essex: Window
Electric Light Orchestra: Can't Get it Out of My Head
Electric Light Orchestra: Eldorado
Focus: Hamburger Concerto
Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Gong: Thoughts for Naught / A P.H.P's Advice / Magick Mother Invocation / Master Builder
John Lennon: #9 Dream
King Crimson: Red
King Crimson: Starless
Man: Grasshopper
Mike Oldfield: Hergest Ridge, Part 1
Mike Oldfield: Hergest Ridge, Part 2
Mike Oldfield: Mike Oldfield's Single
Mott the Hoople: Saturday Gigs
Sparks: Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth
Sparks: Thank God It's Not Christmas
Sparks: This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us
Yes: The Gates of Delirium

1974: July to September

Even Roxy Music wasn't quite enough for Bryan Ferry. He went on to release a solo album called Another Time, Another Place on 5 July, 1974. It was actually his second, following previous year's cover song compilation These Foolish Things. My favorite song of the summer was also a cover; the opening track of this new release called The 'In' Crowd that Ferry and his band were able to inject with plenty of fun and energy.

Also in July, I found an unexpected favorite from Eric Clapton. Obviously, I knew who he was and had heard Layla too many times on the radio already some years earlier. But still, the new album 461 Ocean Boulevard came as a small surprise. Let it Grow was another July favorite. I had to make do with these two until late August, at which point school had already started. I started my eight years in Kesämäki then, a bigger school where it was a bit easier to disappear, thus escaping the attention of the bullies. Fifth grade. Still lots of free time to stay home and discover new music.

On 28 August, the second full length album by Mike Oldfield was released, and oh yes, it was quite an album. Following the example of the successful debut Tubular Bells, the new masterpiece Hergest Ridge also contained one continuous instrumental composition that was divided in two parts only because of the limitations dictated by the vinyl disc. But this time the composer's inspiration carried all the way through both parts. Even Part 2 had no weak moments.

Unfortunately, like Mike Oldfield's Single that we discussed in the previous blog entry, Hergest Ridge has also been tampered with by the artist himself later on, so you need to be aware which version you are listening to. The version embedded above is the correct one: the original 1974 mix. Since then, Oldfield decided that there were too many instruments on it, so he removed many of them and then released this neutered version on CD. For a long time, there was no acceptable version of the album available at all!

Luckily, in 2010, a CD version was released that contained both mixes, and that's the one you have to get if CD is your preferred format. I have already discussed this at length previously over here and that is where you can find the long story, so let's not get into it now in any further depth. Suffice to say that this is the best album of the year, easily, just like Mike Oldfield's Single was the best single release. 1974 was Oldfield's year. He was head and shoulders above everyone else.

On 6 September, it was time for the space rock group Hawkwind to amaze me. Their new album Hall of the Mountain Grill contained some really decent tunes, like the title track embedded above. You would never have guessed that it could be their recording, had someone been able to play it back for you earlier the same year. Another favorite of mine is the rocking opening track The Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear in Smoke). Now there's a cool song title as well!

September also saw the eagerly awaited release of Eldorado by Electric Light Orchestra, although only in the US. In their home country, the UK, their fans had to wait until November. The group's fourth album was a "symphony". The Who had already made two "rock operas". Do I detect a pattern? Can't Get it Out of My Head met its match in the immensely lovely title track, but otherwise the songwriting was, perhaps surprisingly, only OK. Even though production values were now very good, the music itself didn't quite match On the Third Day, with the obvious exception of the two great songs already mentioned. They represented the very best that ELO had so far offered.

On 20 September, it was time for Gentle Giant to release already their sixth studio album in only five years. The Power and the Glory boasted a really cool album cover - one of my favorites at the time - and the music was now better than it was on the previous record In a Glass House, but we weren't still anywhere near the level of Acquiring the Taste, Three Friends or Octopus.

The album's cynical storyline about the corruption of individuals by their powerful positions was far from uplifting and the group backed it up with an exceptionally clinical, lifeless soundscape. Some of the songs seemed almost pointless in their lack of melody or genuine atmosphere. And still, there were some terrific moments as well. The repeating electric guitar chords in Playing the Game give sudden life to the proceedings; although cold, Aspirations is also quite beautiful; and no "Best of Gentle Giant" collection would be complete without the opening track Proclamation.

One more September release before the next break. When discussing Mind Games (1973) by John Lennon, I already mentioned that the following year he would go on to record something even more amazing than that song. He did, and on 26 September, the end result was made public. On that date, Lennon's new solo album Walls and Bridges was released in the US. The British audiences had to wait until 4 October.

The B side of Walls and Bridges opens, in my opinion, with the greatest achievement of Lennon's entire career - even taking the Beatles output into account. #9 Dream is one of those songs that still leave me equally stunned as they did back when they were brand new. One of the most unmissable tracks of the year, and even the full decade. And considering that this is overall the best decade in rock history, that is no small achievement.

Somebody has even designed a nice amateur video for this masterpiece. Someone else in YouTube calls it, in the headline of his or her own link to it, "most beautiful song ever written".

1974: January to June

Even though the headline reads January to June, there is no reason to worry. 1974 was also an excellent year for music that will most likely need to be divided into three blog entries, like 1973. As it has been for several years now, the beginning of the year always seems to be a little slower than its end. Hence, more months now and fewer later.

In January 1974 there was only one new album release worth mentioning, but it was quite a release. Brian Eno began his impressive solo career by releasing his debut album Here Come the Warm Jets. The artist was obviously still looking for his own voice, given the disparity between the songs contained on the record. There was variance from beautiful melodies and instrumentals to aggressive noise such as Blank Frank above, where you can hear Robert Fripp really overdo it with his electric guitar.

Ian Gillan's departure from Deep Purple was big news at the time. On the new album Burn, out on 15 February, he had been replaced with David Coverdale, an extremely talented hard rock singer in his own right. The title track became one of my winter favorites.

For me, another departure from progressive rock was the American duo Steely Dan. Their version of rock sounded as if it belonged into a night club rather than a concert stage. With their polished production values, they always sounded somewhat sterile but in spite of that their third album Pretzel Logic contained several songs that I enjoyed. The album was out on 20 February and its opener Rikki Don't Lose That Number became a classic.

On 1 March, it was time for Camel to release their second album Mirage, and what an album it was. Even though their debut showed some promise, this was something that I surely wasn't prepared for. An uncompromising approach to their brand of progressive rock produced an end result that you really needed to concentrate on to get most out of it. Typically, in these days artists created music that was best to listen to with headphones, as opposed to in a noisy clubs or restaurants like today.

Again, my favorite songFreefall represents the easier end of the album, but do check out the more challenging tracks as well. I like them too. Below, you can listen to the entire album if you like. Please concentrate, use headphones if it helps. Freefall is the opening track.

I already mentioned Strawbs earlier. Following Rick Wakeman's departure, they continued their recording career and its pinnacle is, in my opinion, Hero and Heroine that was released some time early in the year. I haven't found out even the month, let alone an exact date, but the release must have taken place in late winter or early spring because album recording was completed already in November, 1973. Songs like the title track, Autumn and Sad Young Man are among the very best in the group's output.

And then, spring was coming. The Dutch prog group Focus, mentioned already a couple of times before, released their magnum opus Hamburger Concerto in April. The title track was already discussed last year when it reached #20 on the Top 20 Long Prog Masterpieces list. You can read about it here and listen to it below.

May 1974 became quite a stunner for me. Around my eleventh birthday, two albums were released by artists that have not been mentioned in this blog before. Both of these albums were very good, and more importantly they both contained one song that immediately hooked me. Let's begin with the one that was slightly less significant to me at the time.

The British pop/rock group 10cc had already released their self titled debut album in 1973. While I did like Rubber Bullets, that album was not that impressive to me. The second album Sheet Music, however was and its opener The Wall Street Shuffle was one of the most important tracks of the whole year. It also became a moderate hit as a single and helped the group break through.

But the ultimate experience in quality music came from America. Sparks sounded very un-Californian; in fact, at the time I thought they were British. Their style seemed to originate more from there than from the West Coast. The Mael brothers Ron and Russell had already released two albums previously, but they had gone largely unnoticed - which is hardly surprising since they are quite uninspired efforts. Kimono My House, however, was something totally different. It came to the rock music scene with a bang and guaranteed that from then on, Sparks was a household name.

The song that immediately hooked me was the opening track, masterful This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us. It is far from being the only great song on the album. Amateur Hour, Thank God It's Not Christmas, Hasta Mañana Monsieur and particularly Here in Heaven were all among the greatest art rock tracks of the year. Below, you can enjoy a "live" performance: the group is performing on stage but the music is coming from tape.

June saw the release of three interesting singles but no albums. Mott the Hoople made one more single that wouldn't be contained on their next (and final as Mott the Hoople) album, due out later the same year. Foxy, Foxy was yet another decent song from the group that would proceed to release another single a little later. We will get back to it at the appropriate time: it would briefly get the group back to master class.

The other two June single releases were both among the best of the year. Electric Light Orchestra was now preparing to publish their fourth album. To pique their audience's interest, they released the first single taken from it, and as you can hear below, it was a magnificent piece of work. Can't Get it Out of My Head represents seventies popular music at its most beautiful. The album Eldorado followed a little later, let's get back to it then.

And finally, on 28 June, a most unbelievable single was released. Mike Oldfield had been problematic for radio stations because he recorded no singles that could be given radio play. Yet the man was a megastar following Tubular Bells and its exposure in the film The Exorcist. It seems that his record company pressed him to create a short composition for release as a single. In addition to getting radio play, another reason for this may have been the upcoming second album, for which there was a need for raising public awareness.

However, Oldfield did not compose anything new for a single, or pick a snippet from the upcoming next album. Instead, he revisited the weaker Part 2 of Tubular Bells and completely rearranged one of its less memorable sequences, slowing it down at the same time. The end result became an instant classic and, dare I write this, in my opinion the best thing that Oldfield ever did!

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE. The video above plays the only correct version of Mike Oldfield's Single - the original 1974 mix. To have it preserved like this represents an important work in upholding our cultural legacy. Since 1974, Oldfield has included it in at least one collection, which you can find for example behind this link but where he has tampered with it by unnecessarily adding guitars and most likely some other minor changes as well. Please avoid that version - although now that it is in Spotify, it is most likely becoming the "definitive" version of this beautiful composition which is just plain wrong.

1973: October to December

Once thought to replace Greg Lake as the new singer for King Crimson, Elton John released his new album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road on 5 October. The album still remains as the singer's biggest worldwide hit, having sold well over 30 million copies. While I did like the Marilyn Monroe tribute Candle in the Wind to a certain extent, the only truly memorable song for me is the title track that opens the B side of the first disc on this double vinyl release. You can listen to it below.

On the same date with Elton John, Caravan released their fifth and best album For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night. Since I mentioned their first two albums in 1968 and 1970, they had released a couple more, both quite disappointing. This was their return to form. There is no single song on the album that clearly stands out, but the overall quality of songwriting is excellent.

Exactly one week later, on 12 October, it was time for Genesis to release their fifth album Selling England by the Pound, but unlike Caravan's effort, it was far from their best. In fact, Selling England was the weakest Genesis record since their debut From Genesis to Revelation. Like I mentioned earlier, the initial single release I Know What I Like lacked depth and complexity; the rest of the album had more of both but nowhere near as much as Trespass or Nursery Cryme.

And still there was the opening track Dancing With the Moonlit Knight that immediately secured its place among the early seventies greatest prog songs. The exception to the overall rule. Please go ahead and check it out above: the rest of the album has nothing as good to offer. The 12-minute progfest The Cinema Show on B side is also very good. Most of the rest of the album is OK but forgettable. And then there is The Battle of Epping Forest, which combines two of Genesis's most irritating qualities. It tries to be both humorous and political at the same time but succeeds only in being truly annoying.

One more week later, on 19 October, The Who released another of their best albums called Quadrophenia. The double vinyl LP brings us to our third occurrence of twin masterworks: two truly great songs that appear on an album that is, in my opinion, otherwise just OK. At the time of the release, my absolute favorite song on the album was The Punk and the Godfather that you can hear below.

Another great song on Quadrophenia is of course its closing track Love Reign O'er Me that I suppose is even more famous than my personal favorite. And I can only agree: it is a great song that combines high quality rock and roll with some classical influences. There is pathos, sure, but what else can you expect from the closing track to a rock opera that has been spread to four album sides?

The Beatles may have disbanded three years earlier but at the end of 1973, its primary songwriters both showed promise that their solo careers might also be able to produce fantastic results. First one out was John Lennon, whose album Mind Games was released on 29 October. The title track blew my mind as soon as I heard it. Little did I know that in less than a year, Lennon would publish something even more mind blowing. For now, here is the brilliant Mind Games, accompanied by a music video of sorts.

November 1973 saw three interesting album releases. In May, I had already noticed the Scottish hard rock group Nazareth who at that point released a promising album called Razamanaz. Now, only six months later, they already had a new album out. Loud 'n' Proud contained an outstanding cover of Joni Mitchell's This Flight Tonight. It became one of my absolute favorite songs now that winter was coming. I didn't even know at the time that the song was a cover.

But whereas Nazareth was just plain rock and roll, lots of fun but not too complicated, the debut album of Steve Harley's Cockney Rebel contained something way more accomplished. The album was called The Human Menagerie; its greatest song was called Sebastian. And it really came from out of nowhere: an exceptionally brilliant song in its combination of pop and rock with classical music. There is even a real orchestra playing in the background, as you can hear below. One of the truly unmissable tracks of the year.

Finally, November also saw Electric Light Orchestra to truly start their climb towards genuine greatness. Their first two albums have been mentioned here earlier, and while they were both really good, it wasn't until their third one that their exceptional talent really started to shine. The A side of On the Third Day continued in the vein of the first two albums: perfectly fine, but nothing great. It was the B side that really hit the listener on the head.

The masterful instrumental Daybreaker; the hard rock single hit Ma-Ma-Ma Belle; the astounding prog influenced Dreaming of 4000; and the rock and roll version of Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King were more than enough to make one believe in the group's undeniable talent and start waiting for their next album in eager anticipation. And no disappointment was to arrive in 1974. In the mean time, here is my number one favorite track from On The Third Day.

On 5 December, Paul McCartney released a massive hit album with his group Wings. Band on the Run stayed on album charts for months. You could draw an amusing comparison with that album and ELO's On the Third Day. Band on the Run contained a song called Bluebird. On the Third Day contained a song called Bluebird is Dead.

The song that I really liked at this point was track number two, Jet. An impeccable rock song: easy to remember, difficult to forget, and one that had an immensely enjoyable overall feeling to it that I cannot thoroughly explain. This song has FUN written all over it, with capital letters, and is additional proof to McCartney's talent as a songwriter - if indeed any more proof was necessary at this point.

On 14 December, Yes released a new double album called Tales from Topographic Oceans. This was the date of the UK release. In the US, the album didn't come out until 9 January, 1974. The album contained only four approximately 20 minute long tracks, and was a huge disappointment following the masterworks that preceded it.

Two of the tracks were OK, although still slightly disappointing. The Remembering was dominated by Rick Wakeman's keyboards and managed to create some atmospheric moments; The Ancient, dominated by Steve Howe's guitars, did the same. Don't even bother with the other two tracks. The overall mediocrity of the album made me question if Yes had any future, and Rick Wakeman's departure from the group next year raised even more questions of that nature. On the positive side, the album cover was the most impressive ever.

And then it was Christmas. Around this time, the British singer David Essex released his debut album Rock on, whose title track became yet another favorite of mine. Because of its release very late in the year, it didn't make it to single charts until early 1974. I really, really enjoyed the simple song's ominous atmosphere, which was something that Essex also injected into some of his other songs. He perfected said style the following year on his second album. Let's get back to it in due time. Meanwhile, here is Rock on, and Essex performing it in a piece that I actually saw in Finnish television at the time.

In conclusion, the title of Best Album of 1973 belongs to Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon. While it has several fine competitors, none of them show such steady high quality from one track to the next.

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR:
Alice Cooper: Billion Dollar Babies
Electric Light Orchestra: On the Third Day
Jethro Tull: A Passion Play
John Cale: Paris 1919
Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells
Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon

UNMISSABLE TRACKS OF THE YEAR:
Alice Cooper: Hello Hooray
Cockney Rebel: Sebastian
Genesis: Dancing With the Moonlit Knight
Gentle Giant: An Inmate's Lullaby
Jethro Tull: A Passion Play, Part 1
John Cale: Paris 1919
John Lennon: Mind Games
King Crimson: Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part 1
Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells, Part 1
Pink Floyd: Time
Procol Harum: Grand Hotel

1973: April to September

This time, let's begin with an album whose exact release date I haven't been able to find out. All I know is the year, which is obviously 1973. But it would stand to reason that the album release must have taken place some time early in the year because we are talking about a soundtrack album to a television documentary that aired already in 1972.

The documentary in question is French and called L’Apocalypse des Animaux. Directed by Frédéric Rossif, it brought to attention a talented Greek composer Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou, these days better known as Vangelis. At this point, Vangelis already had experience in music scene, having been a member of some Greek pop bands since the early sixties, and even a progressive rock group Aphrodite's Child since 1968.

Vangelis had already released two solo albums in 1970 and 1972 but they went largely unnoticed. L'Apocalypse des Animaux did not. The beautiful soundtrack to a nature documentary garnered attention also from abroad. So much attention in fact, that in July 1974 when Rick Wakeman had left Yes, that group's singer Jon Anderson visited Vangelis to talk about him taking over Wakeman's duties. This never happened, but Vangelis became friends with Anderson and the two later collaborated on several recordings.

On 17 April, one more slightly interesting American band called Eagles released their second album called Desperado. I remember liking the title track, which got some radio play. Their self titled debut had come out the previous year, and they were destined for great success.

The same could be said about Mike Oldfield, who simply astounded the music world by releasing a classic album on first attempt. Tubular Bells, out four days after my tenth birthday on 25 May, was a surprisingly mature recording from a shy and slightly reclusive multi instrumentalist. A melodic composition consisted of two roughly 20 minute long parts, one on each side of the vinyl disc.

I need to add a personal note. While Tubular Bells was brilliant, I think its greatest achievement was its groundbreaking format and not the composition itself. In my opinion, Oldfield's next two albums were both better than his first! As you can hear above, the first part is flawless but I have serious problems with the second part where the composer seems to run out of good ideas, yet continues playing to force himself closer to the 20 minute mark. The Piltdown Man sequence is downright ridiculous.

Oldfield got some further attention when the opening sequence of Tubular Bells was heard on the soundtrack of the mainstream horror sensation The Exorcist. The American film got its wide release on 26 December, so a significant number of people didn't see it, and hear Oldfield's contribution to it, until 1974. By then, Oldfield had already withdrawn from the public, as if scared of his unexpected huge success, to work on his ultimate masterpiece Hergest Ridge in peace.

On the exact same date with Tubular Bells, Mott the Hoople released their follow-up single to their breakthrough song from last year, All the Young Dudes. The new song Honaloochie Boogie had been written by the band frontman Ian Hunter and it was actually pretty good. It would also be included on their next album a couple of months later. Above, you can already see a sneak peek of that forthcoming album's cover, in addition to hearing the song.

Then, onward to another slightly interesting American band besides Eagles. Chicago seemed to like to release their albums around midsummer. Last year's Chicago V was released on 10 July; this year's Chicago VI on 25 June. Like the previous album, this one also contained two songs that I immediately liked: the opening song Critic's Choice and the reflective Something in This City Changes People that opened the B side.

When discussing the first half of 1972, I already mentioned that I have always thought A Passion Play to be a better Jethro Tull album than Thick as a Brick. A Passion Play came out on 13 July and continued Tull's courting with progressive rock by containing only one single song that was spread over both sides of the vinyl LP.

One cannot help but wonder if Ian Anderson decided to move away from the long format, and progressive rock style in general, due to the scathing reviews that the album received. Even though Jethro Tull made some fine albums also later on, things were really not the same following A Passion Play. First they started moving towards hard rock, then back to folk and, finally, more technical eighties rock with a rather sterile sound.

I have already written about A Passion Play when discussing the Top 20 Long Prog Masterpieces. You can find that blog entry over here. Below, you can check out the song.

On 20 July, the new album by Mott the Hoople arrived. It was called simply Mott, and those who expected something like last year's All the Young Dudes probably were a little disappointed - although probably not completely surprised. In addition to Honaloochie Boogie, there was another single release called All the Way from Memphis which got a lot of radio play even in the US. A decent song, but I felt like it was again a little weaker than its predecessor.

I got similar feelings when Genesis released a new single on 3 August. I Know What I Like was a song from their forthcoming fifth album. A simple song that was pretty easy to like on the first few listens, then grow bored with it due to its lack of depth and complexity. Luckily, there was a much more interesting song on the B side, which gave me some hope. I didn't of course know then that Twilight Alehouse wouldn't be included on the new album. Apologies for the Spanish subtitles below.

The song above had a somehow autumnal feel, and alas, then it was autumn. September saw the biggest disappointment in a long time, when Gentle Giant released their fifth studio album In a Glass House. Eager anticipation has rarely turned into such a huge disappointment. It seems exceptional, that the drop in quality between two albums could be so enormous. Octopus had been one of the most essential albums of last year, and had been preceded by another fine work Three Friends. Compared to them, In a Glass House seemed like a complete waste of listening time... no, wait.

There was this one good track. All the others sounded like they had been made under contractual obligation, without any artistic inspiration. But track number two, An Inmate's Lullaby sounded like it should have been included on Octopus already. A brilliant song. One unmissable track among several instantly forgettable ones. Please note that, when you listen to the track below, it doesn't begin until at 9 seconds. The sounds you hear before that belong to the end of the previous track on the album. Apparently the track change on the CD this has been taken from hasn't been exactly in the right place.

We began this blog entry with an album whose exact release date was unknown to me. Let's now end it the same way. I have no idea when exactly the Dutch progressive rock band Kayak released their debut album See See the Sun, but since its recording was completed in June, it would most likely have been around September.

Kayak doesn't seem to command too much respect in prog fan circles, and agreed, their music was never very accomplished. Especially on their debut they sound a bit clumsy, as if struggling not to miss a beat. Also, singing is not their strong suit, as you can hear below. But some of their musical ideas were actually very, very impressive for a group at the beginning of their recording career.

See See the Sun contains two excellent tracks and I guess they are the second good example of twin masterworks: two great tracks on an album that is otherwise just OK. I wouldn't quite dare call these two unmissable tracks of the year, but they are both very fine music nonetheless. Below you have the whole album: please check out at least the outstanding melodic pathos of Lovely Luna (15:30 - 23:48), and fully enjoy the album's best track Forever is a Lonely Thought (35:16 - 40:42).

Kayak's recording career continued, and they did write some additional fine songs. However, I don't think they ever quite equalled Lovely Luna or, in particular, Forever is a Lonely Thought which remain their most outstanding efforts to this day.

1973: January to March

The last date mentioned in the previous blog entry was the release date of Seventh Sojourn, by the Moody Blues. 20 December, 1972 was also the date that my family moved to our new house in another part of Lappeenranta. This changed my life significantly in that, since I was now away from my old friends, I had even more time to dedicate to discovering new music. The bullies in my new school didn't want to know me, nor I them, so this meant more time alone.

Hence, a much larger number of discoveries this year. So large in fact, that for the first time we need to divide a year into not only two but three parts. This first part has an equal number of great songs and albums as the previous entries, yet we will manage to cover only the first three months of the year! This is of course not solely because I was lonely and had ample time to find new music: 1973 was also a truly golden year for progressive rock. Or, quality rock music in general, as exemplified below.

In January, neither one of my two favorites represented progressive rock genre. Instead, both were released by British hard rock bands. I had paid some attention to Free already in 1970, when you could hear their anthem All Right Now just about everywhere. Their new song Wishing Well from their final album Heartbreaker worked even better for me. You can check it out above.

And below, you can listen to the first track from Deep Purple's new album Who Do We Think We Are that came out on 26 January. It is called Woman from Tokyo and it still remains one of my absolute favorites from the group's output. Other songs from that album did not excite me as much, and to my understanding, the actual Purple fans prefer Machine Head and In Rock.

ELO 2, released in February, still didn't represent a clear breakthrough for Electric Light Orchestra. However, it became a significant album in two ways. First, it gave the group a single hit in Roll Over Beethoven. I never liked it much, but apparently it struck a chord in countless others. Second, it indicated that the group had potential to become one of the greatest art rock bands of the time.

This was due to the stunning From the Sun to the World, which would have been the single greatest piece of music in many a year since, but which in 1973 was only the greatest piece of music in... well, the first two months, actually. Running a little over eight minutes, the song is apparently timed to match the time it takes light from the sun to travel to the earth (8 minutes and 19 seconds, to be precise). Brilliant piano work by group newcomer Richard Tandy and a great composition.

February also saw the release of an important debut album. The British progressive rock outfit Camel was formed already in 1971 and were able to publish their self titled first album now. It is not one of my favorites in their discography. It is less proggy and more regular rock sounding than their following albums. However, even this record contains a standout song Never Let Go, which is absolutely worth checking out.

Paradoxically, towards the end of the month I was again preferring regular rock music to prog. On 25 February, Alice Cooper released the hard rock classic Billion Dollar Babies, the greatness of which was one of the very few things that I could agree on with the bullies in my class. At this point, Alice Cooper was really a band effort and not a solo artist. The group would go on to release one more album after this, and then Alice would continue solo.

It is hard to pick only one track from an almost flawless album, but I guess the greatest piece on it is the opening track Hello Hooray, which actually was not an original Alice Cooper song but a new version of a previously recorded one. Note Bob Ezrin's grandiose sounding production that gave the entire album an operatic feel.

And then there was March 1973. Probably the most amazing month in music so far, even beating November of 1971 that seemed so unbeatable at the time. Let's begin with the least important new release, which is not saying much since it is also very recommendable.

Roy Wood had by now quit Electric Light Orchestra, although he did play strings and bass on two of the tracks on ELO 2; one of them was From the Sun to the World embedded above. Now, he had a group of his own called Wizzard and their debut album Brew was released in March. I particularly recommend the magnificent closing track Wear a Fast Gun. In addition to Brew, the group also released a pretty good single called Angel Fingers, and Wood even released a single called Forever using his own name. These two singles were probably not released in March but some time in 1973 anyway, so we might as well mention them now.

And that's it. Brew was only a good album. The other four March releases are all undying classics that should be launched into space to prove to all aliens that mankind was once able to create music that deserved to live forever, and the whole universe should be allowed to hear.

First of all, there was John Cale. The Welsh musician had started his career already in the sixties but nothing he had done previously quite prepared me for the masterpiece that was Paris 1919. When I first heard the title track above, I was simply dumbfounded. It sounded like the best song I had ever heard so far. And I had already lived for almost ten years!

But what's even better is that this album is not one great song and lots of mediocre ones. In addition to the title track, you should check out at least the lovely Hanky Panky Nohow; the obviously autobiographical Child's Christmas in Wales; the immensely beautiful The Endless Plain of Fortune. And... oh, I give up. Please check out the entire album! It is an incredible songwriting achievement. The downside of it is that Cale would never be able to top it, even though he has had a long career since and has written plenty of outstanding music also during the following decades.

And then there was Procol Harum. They have already been mentioned several times before, but it wasn't until March 1973 that they released their greatest album that also contained their greatest ever song. John Cale did the exact same thing, and they seemed to follow suit by making the title track their best. But, just like it was with Paris 1919, do not stop there, check out the entire album. There are several brilliant songs there. My second most favorite must be Fires (Which Burnt Brightly), coincidentally reminiscent of the French theme that was also present on Cale's album.

A particular pinnacle in March was the 23rd which saw the release of two prog classics on the same day. Robert Fripp had completely rearranged King Crimson since the failure of Islands (1971) and the new lineup released their "debut" album Larks' Tongues in Aspic. The drummer was Bill Bruford, who had by now left Yes. The end result, while a bit uneven, was a huge improvement to Islands. The opening track alone was one of the greatest prog tracks ever recorded. I have placed Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part 1 on the tenth place in my Top 20 Long Prog Masterpieces list. You can read more about it right here and listen to the entire track below.

On the exact same date with King Crimson, Pink Floyd released a little something called The Dark Side of the Moon. The rest is history. We are now dealing with a work of art that is considered one of the greatest in rock history and that stayed on some album lists for not only weeks, or months, or even years, but decades. I don't think I will be able to say anything about it that hasn't already been said - except maybe to mention the slightly embarrassing fact that it peaked at #10 on the Finnish album chart. This seems a bit lame, shame on us!

It is kind of hard to pick a sample from an ageless classic, but I guess the one below summarizes its essence. For me, the best part of the album has always been the opening, and the sample below nicely concludes with Time, which at the time and still now remains my favorite track on the phenomenal The Dark Side of the Moon.

1972: Another great year end

Oops...! My plan was to write several new blog entries during this week at the summer cottage, but bad luck intervened. I forgot to take my laptop computer with me! So, I had to find some other means of spending time, and now that I'm back, we can finally have a look at the rest of 1972.

I had already noticed the British rock group Mott the Hoople previously, but had not paid too much attention after concluding that in spite of some art rock tendencies, they seemed to belong to the glam rock movement. Nothing wrong with that, but not much to pique my interest either. When both album and song All the Young Dudes were released in July, they came as an extremely pleasant surprise for me. This classic song from the classic album of same title is one of the most essential rock song of the entire decade.

The songwriter behind this masterpiece was not, however, anyone in the group, but David Bowie. For some strange reason, one of the great stars of the time had decided to give one of this best songs for another group altogether to record, and make famous - and become superstars in the process of doing so. Bowie's excellent song is one of the best he wrote in the seventies. There will be a similar occurrence later on, at the end of the decade, when another great songwriter gives one of this best tunes to another group for them to record. I will remind you of this when we get there.

As great as All the Young Dudes was, it was almost overshadowed by another release in the same month. The dutch band Focus that I have already mentioned earlier released a double LP called simply Focus III. It contained an undying classic instrumental Sylvia. Along with All the Young Dudes, they were my absolute favorites during this last happy summer for me in a while. Other songs worth mentioning on Focus III are also strikingly beautiful instrumentals called Love Remembered and the medieval themed House of the King.

Other two songs worth mentioning by another artist altogether are Metal Guru and Telegram Sam, by Marc Bolan's T. Rex, which was one of the most interesting glam rock groups at the time. These two tracks were from their new album The Slider, out on 21 July. While they were both exceptionally enjoyable rock songs, they didn't come close to the classics that were embedded above.

And that was it for the summer. At the end of August, I entered third grade and in September, I got excited about a song on the new album by folk group Steeleye Span called Gaudete. The album was called Below the Salt, and while I didn't particularly care for the other tracks, this beautiful song sung in Latin blew my young and fragile mind.

Speaking of fragile, it was also time for Yes to release their new album and see if they could beat Genesis this year. Their follow-up to Fragile came out on 13 September and was called Close to the Edge. And as it happened, it was to be their last album with their current lineup. Drummer Bill Bruford would leave in its wake to join King Crimson. Also, another crucial change would take place  a year later.

I have already raved about the title track here and overall, the album is a great achievement for Yes and progressive rock in general. The only problem for me was that I wasn't too excited about the closing track Siberian Khatru which left some room for Genesis to improve upon. But in any case, at this particular point, the fifth album by Yes seemed like a really strong contender for best album of the year.

I only had to wait until 6 October for the response by Genesis. Their fourth studio album Foxtrot was released on that date, and it contained their magnum opus Supper's Ready which nearly filled the B side. I have written about this 23-minute masterpiece previously here. You can listen to the entire album below.

Had it been a question about Supper's Ready alone, Yes would have been in trouble. However, there was little else to get excited about on Foxtrot. Watcher of the Skies, with its marvellous mellotron opening sequence was great, sure. Even Time Table was a beautiful song, although if it contained no creative surprises.

But what else was there? The Steve Hackett solo instrumental Horizons as well as the side A closing track Can-Utility and the Coastliners were both very routine numbers. And worst of all, Get 'em Out by Friday was downright awful, proving that Genesis could be really annoying not only when they tried to  be humorous, but also when they tried to be political. Conclusion: the Yes album of 1972 was better than the corresponding Genesis album. Unless something revolutionary were to suddenly emerge, Close to the Edge would be the best album of the year.

In November, the West German experimental rock group Can released their follow-up to Tago Mago, which I was really excited about in early 1971. The new album was their fourth, and called Ege Bamyasi. Overall, it was pretty much like its predecessor. This time, I found only one song instead of two that I really enjoyed. Sing Swan Song is an enjoyably atmospheric piece that easily fits the top of this year's songwriting, but hardly lifts the entire album to successfully compete with either Yes or Genesis who were both at the top of their form.

The only real challenge came on 1 December. Gentle Giant released their fourth studio album; their second during this same year. This masterwork was called Octopus, and it came very close to matching their earlier masterpiece Acquiring the Taste. Just like that album, it also suffered from a weak closing track, but was otherwise near perfect. Just listen to Knots below; rarely has a rock group been so far ahead of its time.

However, after careful comparison, in my opinion even Gentle Giant was no match for Yes this year. Close to the Edge remains the best album of 1972, thus breaking the winning streak of Genesis. The last album of this year still worth mentioning is Seventh Sojourn by the Moody Blues, released on 20 December. Again, I wasn't particularly excited about the album as a whole, but found one favorite song on it that serves as an excellent closing for this blog entry. Here you go: I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band).

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR:
Gentle Giant: Octopus
Yes: Close to the Edge

UNMISSABLE TRACKS OF THE YEAR:
Can: Sing Swan Song
David Bowie: Starman
Focus: Sylvia
Genesis: Supper's Ready
Gentle Giant: Knots
Gentle Giant: Schooldays
Moody Blues: I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)
Mott the Hoople: All the Young Dudes
Roxy Music: Virginia Plain
Uriah Heep: Easy Livin'
Yes: Close to the Edge

The first half of 1972

Following the stunning year end of 1971, early 1972 was a little quieter. I took a little break from prog and started listening to Neil Young, whose album Harvest was released on Valentine's Day, 14 February. I particularly liked the song Old Man, and am glad that it has become the classic I always thought it deserved to be.

Another non-prog favorite of mine was released in March. I had already been a bit interested in the development of British hard rock band Deep Purple, and it was their album Machine Head that finally convinced me. The most famous tune on this album is of course Smoke on the Water, with its memorable sequence of guitar chords, but another one that I also enjoyed was the opening track Highway Star. Quality rock and roll at its best, full of energy, and with some embarrassingly stupid lyrics to boot.

Around the same time, Jethro Tull started changing their style again. They had started as a pretty straightforward blues rock outfit with This Was (1968) and Stand Up (1969), then corrected their course towards more folk rock oriented sound with Benefit (1970) and Aqualung (1971). With their fifth album, released on 10 March, they suddenly started to gravitate towards progressive rock, although their folk rock roots were still easily audible. This would turn out to be a rather temporary diversion for Ian Anderson and the guys, but here it was in any case.

Thick as a Brick contains only one song, a lengthy composed poem that runs all the way through both sides of the vinyl album. Nowadays, it is considered the band's greatest work. Personally, I have always had minor problems with the B side (Part Two), which doesn't bring much new to the mix. The first part is a masterpiece, agreed. As a whole, I have always preferred next year's A Passion Play which doesn't have the repetition problem. Below, you can hear the whole thing.

Another month, another memorable album. Wish it were like this in the 2010's. On 14 April, Gentle Giant released their third album Three Friends, and while it didn't quite live up to the expectations set by the amazing Acquiring the Taste, it was still a pretty damn fine album. This time, the guys went the theme album route, telling the heartbreaking story of three childhood friends who swore to always stay friends, but who were inevitably separated when they grew up to completely different directions, to become men with little common ground between them.

The childhood part called Schooldays is almost certainly the single best song I have ever heard about childhood. Don't even mention Marillion. Even the composition completely supports the lyrics, giving the work a feel of nostalgia; of young lives happily lived before they transformed into something else altogether. An unmissable track for this year. A fan favorite Peel the Paint opens the B side, and the title track that closes the album is an immensely beautiful summary of the storyline. Of lives started together and separated later.

Another month went by, and Uriah Heep released their (probably) best known album Demons and Wizards on 19 May - only two days before my ninth birthday. It contained the group's biggest hit Easy Livin' which became an instant rock classic. I had almost forgotten about the group since Come Away, Melinda, but now they returned in a big way. There were also other quality rock songs on the album, but everyone else's favorite was also mine. Even my mother, who in general hated rock music, liked Easy Livin'.

Less than three weeks later, on 6 June an even bigger favorite of mine emerged. David Bowie's release of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars didn't otherwise connect to me in a major way, but its single hit Starman did. During this summer, my family was building a house and I specifically remember listening to Starman whenever possible while we were at the construction site. My absolute favorite song of the year at age nine.

Another song from summer of 1972 that I felt was catchy as hell, was the opening track from a self titled album by a new, rising talent. Roxy Music was already then and would also be later, like a set where Bryan Ferry performed but the original lineup also featured my future favorite Brian Eno. I never became a big fan, but oh boy, isn't Virginia Plain just about perfect when it comes to rock/pop songs? The album's release date was 16 June.

Precisely one week later, right on the eve of Midsummer, it was time for Jethro Tull to release yet another album, this time a double vinyl LP. However, they weren't really working themselves to death. Living in the Past was a compilation of sorts. One of the four album sides was a live recording, some songs had already appeared on other albums but were now released in an alternate version.

The title track was a single from May 1969 which I suppose should have been mentioned already when discussing that year. There were also some outtakes from earlier albums and an excellent Life is a Long Song EP, the title track of which is one of the prettiest songs Jethro Tull ever recorded. This EP had been released already in 1971 - another unintended omission from an earlier blog entry. Let's try to make up for it by embedding the title track right here.

Before we take a short summer break, let's mention one more interesting album release. I had already been keeping an eye on the American jazz influenced rock group Chicago, who had before 1972 already released three double LP's (!) as well as a box set of live material.  They called their new album Chicago V even though it was actually only their fourth studio recording. Also, it was their first single disc release. It came out at the height of summer, on 10 July.

This album is notable for at least a couple of excellent tracks. On side A, the highlight was the two part song Dialogue. I particularly liked the second part which, even though it was recorded in an expensive studio with high production values, sounded like a genuinely enjoyable, spontaneous jam session. Another favorite was Saturday in the Park, strangely hidden to its second place on B side. Very sunny and positive music perfectly fitting my summer holiday from school.

Following the break, we will continue with the rest of 1972. Overall, it seems that for a third year in a row, the second half outdoes the first part, as good as the first half also was. There are still albums coming out from two time "album of the year" winner Genesis, as well as their main competitor Yes, and another one during the same year from Gentle Giant. So stay tuned for more!

1971: An avalanche of classics

In October 1971, several other fine recordings were released in addition to Teaser and the Firecat mentioned in the previous blog entry. Let's begin with Moving Waves, the second studio album of the Dutch band Focus. Their previous effort In and Out of Focus (1970) hadn't made any particular impression on me and even this second effort was mostly just OK. But the opening track Hocus Pocus was something that I immediately enjoyed, and it did become the group's best known song.

October also saw the release of the fourth album by Van der Graaf Generator. The British group represented the more challenging end of the prog rock spectrum, and Pawn Hearts was their ultimate masterpiece. So masterful in fact, that it led to a four year hiatus for them. Their temporary breakup felt as if they had thrown in the towel in despair: how could we possibly ever improve on this achievement? Luckily, in 1975 they found the courage to continue trying. I have written about the B side filler A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers last year, when it ended up on the fifth place on the Top 20 Long Prog Masterpieces list. You can check that out right here.

On 11 October, Harry Nilsson astounded me with his new single release Without You. Previously, he was familiar to me from the song Everybody's Talkin' that appeared on Midnight Cowboy soundtrack a couple of years earlier. Now, I was impressed with the depth of feeling he displayed on this new single. Even though the whole performance was a bit pathetic, granted, I could still easily believe in the depth of feeling on display. And believability is enough. In November, Nilsson released his new album Nilsson Schmilsson, where Without You was also contained.

When Pink Floyd released Meddle on 30 October, it seemed that it would conclude an unbeatable month. Could someone ever have anticipated that November was going to be even more incredible? Hard to say afterwards. Since Ummagumma, Pink Floyd had done some more film soundtrack work and failed spectacularly with last year's Atom Heart Mother. Meddle, although a bit uneven, began their return to world class.

Everyone has heard the album's opening track, classic One of These Days. I have personally lauded the B side filler Echoes in Top 20 Long Prog Masterpieces over here. There are three slightly blues oriented tracks on side A that aren't particularly good. This leaves us with the second track of the album, A Pillow of Winds, which has always felt like a forgotten, overlooked classic in the group's discography. Let's listen to it now.

Then, after this quite excellent October, came the unbelievable November 1971. We are talking about three heavyweight album releases of such caliber, that these days it seems virtually impossible to believe that there has been a time when they've come out in less than a month. In present day, you would need to wait for several years to just get one. But here they are, all three, released in the space of three weeks. Music audience was so enlightened back then compared to what they are now.

The first one out was the rock and roll legend Led Zeppelin, whose fourth album was self titled but which came to be called Led Zeppelin IV. Its release date was 8 November. From prog point of view there was not much to marvel, but looking at the album as a collection of pure rock songs, its creativity never fails to astound. Stairway to Heaven has been selected as the ultimate rock track by an endless array of different polls, and for good reason. Everyone has heard it before, but there's no reason not to hear it once more - particularly by kids of today, who have grown up listening to Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj and their ilk. Hello children! Did you know that rock and roll can be a genuine art form?

But as great as Led Zeppelin IV was, it got beaten only four days later. On 12 November, Genesis responded to The Yes Album with their third LP and succeeded beyond any and all expectations. I immediately recognized that Nursery Cryme was the best album of the year, an accolade now won by the British group for a second year in a row. This made them now the clear frontrunners of the progressive rock movement.

On Trespass, artistic values had already been of the absolute highest order. That album had been lacking only in the precision of its execution. No more. Nursery Cryme was as flawlessly executed as it was artistically ambitious. You could hardly tell that between these two albums, there had been not one but two lineup changes. Drummer John Mayhew had been replaced with Phil Collins, and guitarist Anthony Phillips with Steve Hackett.

Yet, as perfect as Nursery Cryme sounded to me at the time, there was still one small problem with the album. It became only more evident upon repeats. While otherwise just about perfect, Genesis were already now, and would be in the future, slightly annoying when they tried to be humorous. On this album, this problem applied to the A side closing track The Return of the Giant Hogweed. It is the only track on an otherwise perfect album that is clearly below par.

Precisely two weeks after Nursery Cryme, on 26 November, Yes struck back with already their fourth album Fragile. And what a momentous strike that was. If The Yes Album had not yet convinced the prog audiences, this time there was no other option but start believing. Fragile is also a nearly flawless album, and the first undying classic on that group's career.

For Yes, there had also been one lineup change since the last album. Keyboardist Rick Wakeman, previously of Strawbs, had replaced organ player Tony Kaye who had been unwilling to extend his repertoire to other keyboards. This had already given the group' sound a more varying feel. And, like Genesis, Yes was at this point also in the height of their artistic creativity. The result was, like Nursery Cryme, a motherlode of endless invention.

At the time, it must have seemed like this incredible string of classic albums would continue on 3 December when King Crimson were due to release their fourth album. However, this was not to be: only November were to be magic this year. Islands turned out to be a huge disappointment and by far King Crimson's weakest album to date.

One of the main reasons for failure was Robert Fripp's decision to appoint a friend of his to sing and play bass guitar on the album, when the friend in question was not able, let alone skilled enough, to do either of the tasks. You can clearly hear this from the end result. In addition to this, Fripp was at the time courting with classical influences in a way that made the album sound distinctly uncool. The reason we are discussing this album at all is that it still contains one minor classic, an instrumental piece.

The album opens with a song called Formentera Lady, which isn't very interesting to begin with, and which the amateurish singer soon ruins completely. However, the song runs over 10 minutes and during the second half he keeps his mouth shut. This latter half actually sounds kind of interesting, and the skillful way it segues into track number two, Sailor's Tale, never fails to give me chills. And then we are into the magnificient Sailor's Tale, which is the classic I was referring to. After hearing it, you might as well stop playing the album. There is nothing more on offer worth your attention.

December also saw the debut of a new art rock outfit. Electric Light Orchestra rose out of the ashes of the British pop-rock band The Move. Their self titled debut album was quite an achievement, combining the talents of Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood for one final time before Wood quit the group to form a band of his own called Wizzard. There are not too many weak tracks on the album, but their true classics were made some years later after some further artistic development.

And finally, only one week before Christmas, on 17 December David Bowie released his new album Hunky Dory that contained one of the year's classic songs Life on Mars? By now, it was obvious even to me that Bowie was a talent to watch for, and who had permanently joined the art rock elite. And guess who is playing the piano? It is Rick Wakeman once again, of Strawbs and Yes fame.

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR:
Genesis: Nursery Cryme
Gentle Giant: Acquiring the Taste
Yes: Fragile

UNMISSABLE TRACKS OF THE YEAR:
Can: Mushroom
Can: Oh Yeah
David Bowie: Life on Mars?
Electric Light Orchestra: 10538 Overture
Genesis: The Musical Box
Genesis: The Fountain of Salmacis
King Crimson: Sailor's Tale
Pink Floyd: A Pillow of Winds
Pink Floyd: Echoes
Procol Harum: Broken Barricades
Van der Graaf Generator: A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers

1971: Introduction of twin masterworks

1971 is another year that we will have to divide in two. The exceptionally great releases are even more unevenly spread throughout the year than they were in 1970. This time, the first part of the story extends from New Year all the way to early October, and the second one covers the remaining under three months - and yet both have an equal number of entries. The end of this year is amazing.

We will start with an important February release. Prior to this, the West German experimental rock group Can had already made two albums: Monster Movie (1969) and Soundtracks (1970). On their third outing they really started making an impression. Tago Mago was a double LP that also marked a change in the group's lineup. The original singer Malcolm Mooney had left Can after suffering a nervous breakdown in 1970. The new singer Damo Suzuki had a zany style which seemed perfectly fitting to what has been described as Can's most extreme recording in terms of sound and structure.

I wasn't particularly impressed with everything the group saw fit to experiment with, but two of the tracks on the album just blew me away. And this marks the beginning of a peculiar phenomenon which I could for example call twin masterworks. In chronological order, the second and third tracks of Tago Mago represent the first occurrence of two unbelievably great tracks placed in sequence on an album that is otherwise just OK. There are going to be several other examples of this in the future.

Tago Mago opens with Paperhouse, which is just fine, but the next two tracks are in my opinion the defining moments of the group's career. There, they achieve greatness for the first time. The second track Mushroom you can listen to above, and the third track Oh Yeah is a direct continuation to it. There is no pause between the songs, nor should there be. Here, we will begin a tradition: whenever we encounter twin masterworks, we embed them both here, one after another, on the same page. Here comes Oh Yeah, play them both in succession and enjoy:

Tago Mago was not the only significant album to come out in February 1971. On the 19th, Yes released their third one, The Yes Album. This was no longer just an OK album like their two previous ones. This one meant business. An artistic breakthrough, it contained an early classic after early classic and presented a truly formidable challenge to Genesis who had so effortlessly beat them last year with the masterful Trespass. It is difficult to choose an example track, but let's go with the most obvious choice: I've Seen All Good People.

Four weeks later, another classic arrived in record stores. On 19 March, Jethro Tull released their fourth album Aqualung. While I had noticed the development of this British group, this is something I did not anticipate following the lukewarm Benefit (1970). Suddenly, they kicked ass! This applies in particular to the title track which opens the album and remains its most perfect song, even though most of the others are really good too.

The recording cycles of the groups and solo artists in the early seventies were something completely different. In April, it was time for Procol Harum to release yet another album, even if it was only a short time since their last one. The fifth studio recording was called Broken Barricades and once again it contained one undying classic. It was, like on Aqualung, the title track. Otherwise, the album sounded like a small step backwards compared to A Salty Dog and Home, as there weren't too many great moments in addition to the memorable number two track of the A side:

One more spring release is worth mentioning. I haven't found out exactly when the Strawbs album From the Witchwood came out, but since its recording was completed in March, it must have been either late spring or early summer. It is a very recommendable album with several lovely tracks bordering folk as well as progressive rock, and also interesting in that it was what Rick Wakeman was doing before joining Yes later this same year. On Strawbs' recording career, in my personal opinion there is one album that is even better, but this one is also excellent. We will get to their absolute pinnacle a little later.

Then, it was summer. I had turned eight years old, completed first grade, and earned a well deserved summer holiday in Voisalmi. A couple of weeks into that holiday, Emerson Lake & Palmer completed their second studio album Tarkus which came out on 14 June. Here, their descent already began. While the 20-minute, vinyl A side filling title track was pretty neat, there was little else to enjoy. As was typical to the group also later on, they alternated serious music making with juvenile, unfunny humor. A good example is Are You Ready Eddy? that must have been the stupidest recorded work in prog genre during this whole year.

One month later, another sophomore album came out that was way out of ELP's league. Gentle Giant's 16 July release of Acquiring the Taste was a nearly flawless collection of prog rock songs, let down only by a noticeably weak last track. Above, I am embedding the opening track Pantagruel's Nativity which has always been my favorite, but be sure to check out the entire album. Filled with greatest music of its time, it was easily one of the year's best. Other songs not to be missed at any cost include Edge of Twilight and The Moon is Down.

Following Acquiring the Taste, there was a quieter period of three months that saw no masterpieces but some significant albums or songs in any case. We again take a little breather from prog and remind ourselves that The Who's masterwork Who's Next is a true classic regardless of genre. It was released on 14 August in the US and 25 August in the UK. In addition to Won't Get Fooled Again, please be sure to check out at least Baba O'Riley, The Song is Over and Behind Blue Eyes.

I already mentioned Cat Stevens when discussing 1970. On 1 October, his new album Teaser and the Firecat came out and contained one of my absolute favorite songs of the time. At age eight, I was under the impression that Morning Has Broken was written by Stevens himself but this is not the case. The composition itself is traditional, and the lyrics have been written by someone else. Great work, in any case.

Finally, we close this first part of 1971 with yet another Finnish song. I haven't been able to find out when exactly Wigwam released their third studio album Fairyport, but I have reason to believe that it must have taken place during the second half of the year, so let's get shortly into it right now. On the whole, the album itself was not of very much interest, but its second track is one of the most memorable on the group's career. Lost Without a Trace is one of those songs that are so beautiful that in certain circumstances it is more than enough to bring a tear to one's eye.

For some reason, I am once again unable to embed a link to YouTube, so here is a link to Spotify instead. Wigwam seems to have some kind of curse in this respect. Please listen and enjoy.