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, […]
#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 […]
#30 STEELY DAN — PRETZEL LOGIC What is the difference between a VG and an EX Steely Dan album? Countdown To Ecstasy from 1973 came in at #21 on the 73 FROM ’73 COUNTDOWN while Pretzel Logic sits at a more modest (but still creditable) #30. There’s something here about expectations, of course, but that […]
A selection of compilation albums from 1974. * YES — YESTERDAYS Released in late 1974 in the USA and early 1975 in the UK, Yesterdays was the first Yes compilation. As it only covers the first two LPs, the main attractions for Yes fans are the inclusion of their cover version of Simon and Garfunkel’s […]
#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. […]
#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 […]
The 1981 Genesis album abacab was released with four variants of the same basic cover design. GYMC – Grey/Yellow/Magenta/Cyan Cover CORG – Cyan/Orange/Red/Green Cover YRGG – Yellow/Red/Grey/Green Cover RBYG – Red/Blue/Yellow/Grey Cover Original design by Bill Smith. Feature image: 7″ single of “abacab”. abacab was a #1 album in the UK and France, top ten […]
There are four movie soundtrack LPs from 1974 in the Vinyl Connection collection. None are essential but each is interesting in its own way. * HARRY NILSSON — SON OF DRACULA The movie poster’s slug line was “The First Rock-and-Roll Dracula movie” and it teamed Harry Nilsson with mate Ringo Starr as a totally believable […]
#44 QUEEN SHEER — HEART ATTACK If Queen II announced their arrival as an exciting rock band, Sheer Heart Attack was the band’s breakthrough. The irresistible single “Killer Queen” introduced the world to the theatrical camp of Freddie Mercury and propelled them up to #2 in the UK charts. There are still little progressive flourishes […]
One of the prompts during a recent Instagram vinyl ‘challenge’ was In these shoes?, the title of an excellent Kirsty MacColl song. It was a difficult choice for Vinyl Connection, selecting just one cover. So I thought, why not share the other contenders? Please, walk 1.6km in my shoes. * And finally, three that have […]
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