Category Progressive
1974 COUNTDOWN | #10 — #6
#10 BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS — NATTY DREAD If, like your correspondent, you have tended to be a bit puzzled by reggae and respectfully bewildered by the deification of Robert Nesta Marley, may I recommend Natty Dread? This is Marley’s first album after parting company with Peter Tosh and you can almost hear him […]
1974 COUNTDOWN | #20 — #16
#20 STEELEYE SPAN — NOW WE ARE SIX This is the LP where the British folk-rockers really emphasised the latter. Now We Are Six rocks! “Thomas the Rhymer” bolts out of the gate at a gallop, and the pace and energy are maintained through the hilarious “Two Magicians” and mythic “Seven Hundred Elves”. Indeed, common […]
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A buzzing, industrial sound, a bass pulse, somewhere in the distance a noise, a scream. Distorted guitars offer a grinding melody that rolls like a broad dark river cluttered with storm flotsam. The tune evokes “Oh Shenandoah”, a classic American folk song. After a couple of minutes, when the melody is kicked up an octave, […]
1974 COUNTDOWN | #25 — #21
#25 SANTANA — LOTUS Given that they announced themselves to the world via their performance at Woodstock, it is surprising that this was Santana’s first live album. Recorded during a 1973 tour of Japan and released in May ’74, it is the pinnacle of the band’s jazz-rock phase. Musically, Lotus is a tour-de-force of mind-blowing […]
1974 COUNTDOWN | #35 — #31
#35 EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER — WELCOME BACK MY FRIENDS… Being a fan of keyboard-driven progressive music there was never any doubt about acquiring EL&P’s document of the Brain Salad Surgery tour, released in August 1974. In one sense it is an overblown example of the live record plugging the previous studio album: every song from BSS is here. […]
1974 COUNTDOWN | #40 — #36
#40 ROBIN TROWER — BRIDGE OF SIGHS English guitarist Robin Trower channels the spirit of Jimi Hendrix better than anyone. Never simply in thrall to the Hendrix legend, Trower uses his considerable talents to craft his own psychedelic-infused blues rock, and does it very well. This is his second solo album and a fine power-trio […]
1974 COUNTDOWN | #49 — #45
#49 JETHRO TULL — WARCHILD After Thick As A Brick and A Passion Play, some Jethro Tull fans were no doubt relieved that the band had moved back to standard song lengths and un-concept albums. Some of the songs do seem a little pedestrian, but the hits are irrefutable evidence that Ian Anderson and the […]
1974 COUNTDOWN | #54 — #50
#54 GRATEFUL DEAD — FROM THE MARS HOTEL Given their penchant for live albums, it was a forgivable error to assume From The Mars Hotel was another; perhaps a one night stand at a seedy spaced-themed Las Vegas bar? But no, this is a studio album. Although the single “U.S. Blues” failed to chart, From […]
1974 COUNTDOWN | FIVE MORE LIVE
Five more 1974 live albums, including two appearances by a British organist and two with ‘oblivion’ in the titles. What are the chances? * VELVET UNDERGROUND — 1969 Released in September 1974 when Lou Reed was a star (if that’s the right word), this rambling double-LP live album is really rather a delight for Velvet […]
1974 COUNTDOWN | #59 — #55
#59 DAN FOGELBERG — SOUVENIRS With Joe Walsh on guitars, Don Henley and Glen Frey guesting, plus backing vocals from Graham Nash, you could be forgiven for thinking Dan Fogelberg was a cut-price one-man Eagles. Except Souvenirs is no mark-down album, offering great songs in a melodic country-rock vein. This is an LP I taped […]
1974 COUNTDOWN | FIVE LIVE
Although several ‘in concert’ recordings have made it into the 74 FROM ’74 Countdown, there are lots that didn’t. Here are a handful. * BIRTHCONTROL — LIVE Almost a quintessential 70s prog rock band, Birthcontrol released this live double album to please their many German fans. It is energetic, with familiar songs getting extended treatments […]
1974 COUNTDOWN | #64 — #60
#64 STEVIE WONDER — FULFILLINGNESS’ FIRST FINALE Compared to the sharp-edged focus of Innervisions, FFF is a mellow affair. Working pretty much on his own, Wonder delivers a selection of fine songs which are broadly about relationships and the journey of connection. “Boogie on reggae woman” and “You ain’t done nothin’” are obvious standouts; surely […]
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