Steppenwolf - The Epic Years 1974-1976 (3 CD, 2023/FLAC)

Continuing where The Dunhill / ABC Years box set had left off last year, the next story from Steppenwolf’s legacy continues in the mid-70s when they reformed and signed to Epic Records when they released three albums from the label (Slow Flux, Hour of the Wolf, and Skullduggery) from 1974 to 1976. The next box set from Esoteric Recordings gives us an insight by giving their time with Epic, the proper recognition it deserves.

On Valentine’s Day 1972, Steppenwolf was put to bed. It was the same day that the Mayor of Los Angeles’ own Sam Yorty officially designated as “Steppenwolf Day”. By this time John Kay embarked on a solo career and released two studio albums from the Dunhill label between ’72 and ’73; Forgotten Songs and Unsung Heroes, and My Sportin’ Life.

Gary Moore- Blues And Beyond (4 CD Limited Edition, 2017) [FLAC]

 

BMG proudly release Gary Moore’s Blues and Beyond, a remarkable collection of his powerful and emotive blues studio recordings. Blues and Beyond is released on double CD, 4 LP and as a box set, which includes unreleased live recordings and the official Gary Moore biography I Can’t Wait Until Tomorrow written by Harry Shapiro.·

 

Mothers of Invention - Absolutely Free (1967) [24/192]

Absolutely Free is the second studio album by American rock band the Mothers of Invention, released on May 26, 1967, by Verve Records. Much like their 1966 debut Freak Out!, the album is a display of complex musical composition with political and social satire. The band had been augmented since Freak Out! by the addition of woodwinds player Bunk Gardner, keyboardist Don Preston, rhythm guitarist Jim Fielder, and drummer Billy Mundi; Fielder quit the group before the album was released, and his name was removed from the album credits. 

• Frank Zappa – guitar, conductor, vocals
• Jimmy Carl Black – drums, vocals
• Ray Collins – vocals, tambourine, harmonica
• Roy Estrada – bass, vocals
• Billy Mundi – drums, percussion
• Don Preston – keyboards
• Jim Fielder (Uncredited) – guitar, piano
• Bunk Gardner – woodwinds

 

Steely Dan - Everything Must Go (2003/2022) [SACD Hi-Res FLAC]

 

Everything Must Go is the ninth studio album by American rock group Steely Dan. It was released on June 10, 2003, by Reprise Records, and was the band's second album following their 20-year studio hiatus spanning 1980 through 2000, when they released Two Against Nature. Everything Must Go is the band's most recent studio album and their last with founding member Walter Becker before his death in 2017. 

 

Elvis Presley - Elvis On Tour (6 CD, 2023) [24/96]

 

Sony are to release a new Elvis Presley box set called Elvis On Tour. This 6CD+blu-ray package follows The King on his 1972 North American tour and includes audio from four of the shows, two rehearsals and the concert film on blu-ray.

The first three CDs in this set feature performances from 9th, 10th and 14th April 1972 respectively; that’s Hampton Roads Coliseum, Virginia; Richmond Coliseum, Virginia; and Greensboro Coliseum, North Carolina. All three are previously unreleased. The fourth CD features the 18th April gig at the Convention Center Arena, San Antonio, Texas, and includes material that was part of 2003’s Elvis: Close-Up box set, however it has been newly remixed for this release.

Tour rehearsals constitute CDs five and six. CD 5 has audio recorded live at RCA Recording Studios in Hollywood, California, on 30th and 31st March 1972. This is mostly unreleased, although some were issued on a couple of the specialist ‘Follow That Dream’ releases in 2001 and 2004 (Elvis On Tour – The Rehearsals and Sunset Boulevard, respectively).

CD 6 is all completely unreleased and offers more of the 31 March rehearsals at RCA and includes unreleased takes on Kris Kristofferson’s ‘For The Good Times’. In total, this Elvis On Tour box set features a total of 145 audio tracks, 91 of which are previously unreleased. 

 

Steppenwolf – ‘Magic Carpet Ride-The Dunhill/ABC Years 1967-1971’ (8 CD, 2021/FLAC)

In the four year period between 1967 and 1971 California based hard rock band Steppenwolf released a series of best selling albums and singles, unique for their social and political commentary, garnering nine gold records and gathering an extremely loyal fan base that remains to this day.

Cherry Red Records has gathered the six studio and two live LP’s, supplemented by twenty six single sides, in a new eight disc box set on the label’s Esoteric Recordings imprint.

CD One: 1968 - Steppenwolf (01:14:29)

CD Two: 1968 - The Second (00:46:33)

CD Three: 1969 - At Your Birthday Party (00:53:30)

CD Four: 1969 - Early Steppenwolf (Live At The Matrix, San Francisco 14th May 1967) (00:43:44)

CD Five: 1969 - Monster (00:44:53)

CD Six: 1970 - Steppenwolf Live (01:18:25)

CD Seven: 1970 - Steppenwolf 7 (00:50:28)

CD Eight: 1971 - For Ladies Only (01:01:13)

 

 

Black Sabbath - Mob Rules (1981/2014) [24-192]

 

After a steady decline in both inspiration, mental stability, and commercial appeal throughout the second half of the '70s, metal icons Black Sabbath were reborn with 1980's Heaven and Hell. The album would be their first with new vocalist Ronnie James Dio, whose passionate, controlled wail broke new ground for the band and helped drive a comeback. 

1981's Mob Rules was a quick follow-up to Heaven and Hell, continuing the momentum of that record's energy as well as its shift away from dark metal to more commercial hard rock.

 

Prince - Transmission Impossible (3 CD, 2017/FLAC)

Despite the tragic passing of Prince, the music world remains as eager as ever to hear previously unreleased material by this genius of composition and performance. 

This triple CD set includes just such material, featuring on Disc One in the set the entire album Purple Rain recorded live at various venues in the years since the original record release in 1984. Including too, as bonus cuts, some of the non-album b-sides of singles taken from PR, this disc gets the set off to a flying start.

 Disc Two includes television appearances made by Prince across the decades, during which he performs numbers relevant to the time or the subject of the appearance. Featuring the great man's musical spots on Saturday Night Live, The Late Show, The VH1 Fashion Awards, Solid Gold, and even a rare 1979 appearance on Soul Train, among numerous others, this collection features the finest and least heard appearances he made throughout his career.

Disc Three concludes the set in style, with a rare small club/aftershow party from 1988, when Prince performed in front of a 'by invitation only' intimate crowd, playing the kind of funk-driven set he would never perform in front of a regular audience. With all tracks and sets throughout featured in fine audio quality, all taken from broadcast recordings, this collection will surely end up among the standard Prince live collections out there.

 

Paul Simon discography 1965-2011 [FLAC]

Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Simon's fame, influence, and commercial success began as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, formed in 1964 with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote nearly all of the pair's songs, including three that reached No. 1 on the U.S. singles charts: "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson", and "Bridge over Troubled Water".

 

The Who - A Quick One (1966/2015) [24/96]

Originally released in 1966, A Quick One is the second studio album by The Who. Featuring songs including "Heat Wave" (a cover), "So Sad About Us", and "Don't Look Away", the album has been ranked at #383 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time and was described by the magazine as "absolutely perfect, poignant pop".

• Roger Daltrey - lead vocals, trombone and bass drum on "Cobwebs and Strange"
• John Entwistle - bass guitar, French horn, trumpet, lead vocals, backing vocals
• Pete Townshend - lead and rhythm guitars, penny-whistle, keyboards, vocals
• Keith Moon - drums, percussion, tuba, vocals

 

Uriah Heep - Chaos & Colour (2023) [Hi-Res FLAC]

Chaos & Colour, the energetic and triumphant 25th studio album from British hard rock legends and progenators Uriah Heep, bristles with explosive classic rock guitars, supreme harmonies, and Heep’s famously generous keyboard foundation. 

Led by founding member Mick Box, it is no surprise that themes of light, love and, ultimately, positivity are constant through the eleven tracks. Opener “Save Me Tonight” shows the band’s weighty yet blistering chops, whilst “One Nation, One Sun” is a journey of soaring balladic contemplation. “Fly Like An Eagle” emanates magic and mystery in a way that the late, great Ronnie James Dio would have heartily approved, and “Closer To Your Dreams” is a battle cry for all rockers to get out there and do it, with Shaw imploring that “So many have tried but slipped away/Now it’s time for you to have your say.” Throughout the album, Bernie Shaw’s timeless vocals are expertly supported by keyboardist Phil Lanzon, bassist Dave Rimmer and Box, with Russell Gilbrook on drums rounding out exceptional performances throughout. Produced at Chapel Studios by Jay Ruston, and engineered by Pieter Rietkirk, Chaos & Colour is a superb album of quality hard rock from the pioneers of the genre who continue to create top class material. Old fans will be reinvigorated whilst new fans will surely find Chaos & Colour an exceptional discovery.

- Bernie Shaw / lead vocals

- Mick Box / lead guitar, vocals

- Phil Lanzon / keyboards, vocals

- Dave Rimmer / bass, vocals

- Russel Gilbrook / drums, percussion

 

The Allman Brothers Band - Midnight Callin - The Broadcast Travelog Volume Two (4 CD, 2021/FLAC)

Five hours of rare/unreleased performances from across their history. Sourced and remastered from the original broadcasts. 

 

 

John Mellencamp - On the Rural Route 7609 (4 CD, 2010/FLAC)

 

On the Rural Route 7609 is a box set by rock singer/songwriter John Mellencamp that was released on June 15, 2010. The first part of the title refers to the song "Rural Route" (which is included in two versions) from his 2007 album Freedom's Road and the fact that Mellencamp's music and lifestyle have always been very rural in nature, and 7609 references that the set spans Mellencamp's entire recording career from 1976 to 2009. Said Mellencamp in the set's liner notes: "I started making records in '76, and the most recent track on the collection was done in '09. So Rural Route 7609; it's like an address. I thought it sounded cool." 

 

The Beach Boys - The Very Best Of The Beach Boys: Sounds Of Summer (Super Deluxe) [3 CD, 2022/FLAC-HD]

Originally released in 2003 with 30 tracks, UMe has updated the classic Sounds Of Summer compilation by The Beach Boys. The Expanded Edition 3 CD set features 80 key tracks from their storied career (all newly remastered) with 24 new stereo mixes, including two first-time stereo mixes.

 

 

Tom Petty - Transmission Impossible [3 CD, 2015] (FLAC + 320)

 

His first album hit the streets in 1976 and initially its arrival caused few heads to turn. Music fans were confused; were these a bunch of punks or 1960s revivalists with a liking for Gene Clark era Byrds? Fortunately, as is so often the case, the UK seemed to 'get it' pretty soon after the record s release there and it reached #24 on the British chart. News traveled West, and a full year after the home turf release Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers entered the Billboard chart. Shortly thereafter second album You're Gonna Get It! was released, and became a hit right away. The rest, as they say, is history. But it s relatively recent history about which any number of books, films and of course superlative albums are readily available for students of this remarkable performer to delve into.



DISC 1 - The Coliseum, Jacksonville, FL, 24th July 1987
DISC 2 - Dean's Dome, Chapel Hill, NC, 13th September 1989
DISC 3 - RARE TV BROADCASTS 1978 - 1994

Grateful Dead - Dave's Picks Vol.45 - 1977-10-01-02 Portland, OR [FLAC]

Dave's Picks Volume 45 is a four-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains two complete concerts recorded on October 1 and 2, 1977 at the Paramount Theatre in Portland, Oregon. It was released on January 27, 2023, in a limited edition of 25,000 copies.

The album is one of many Grateful Dead live releases to feature performances from 1977, widely considered a peak year for the band. Material from the band's October 1977 shows was previously documented on Road Trips Volume 1 Number 2. 

• Jerry Garcia – lead guitar, vocals
• Bob Weir – rhythm guitar, vocals
• Phil Lesh – bass guitar
• Mickey Hart – drums
• Bill Kreutzmann – drums
• Keith Godchaux – piano, keyboards
• Donna Godchaux – vocals

Led Zeppelin - How The West Was Won (Live 1972/2018) [24-96]

 

How the West Was Won is a live triple album by the English rock group Led Zeppelin, released by Atlantic Records on compact disc on 27 May 2003, DVD-Audio on 7 October 2003 and Blu-Ray Audio in 2018. The recordings are taken from two 1972 performances in California during their tour of North America: L.A. Forum (25 June 1972) and Long Beach Arena (27 June 1972). 

B.B. King - His Best: The Electric B.B. King (1968) [24-192]

 His Best — The Electric B.B. King is a 1968 album by B.B. King. Two songs from the album, "The B.B. Jones" and "You Put It on Me", are from the motion picture soundtrack for the film For Love of Ivy.

Recorded March 3, 1965 - August 5, 1968

• B.B. King, vocals, guitar
• Maya Angelou, vocals
• Billy Butler, guitar
• Lawrence Burdine, alto saxophone
• Vernon Slater, tenor saxophone
• Johnny Board, tenor saxophone
• Bobby Forte, tenor saxophone
• Barney Hubert, baritone saxophone
• McKinley Johnson, trumpet
• Carl Adams, trumpet
• Henry Boozier, trumpet
• Hobart Dotson, trumpet
• John Browning, trumpet
• Pluma Davis, trombone
• Duke Jethro, organ, keyboards
• Sonny Freeman, drums

 

The Kinks - Lola Versus Powerman and The Moneygoround, Part One [1970] (Limited Deluxe Edition 3 CD, 2020/FLAC)

“Lola” gave the Kinks an unexpected hit and its crisp, muscular sound, pitched halfway between acoustic folk and hard rock, provided a new style for the band. However, the song only hinted at what its accompanying album Lola Versus the Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One was all about.

Rush - Transmission Impossible (3 CD, 2017/FLAC)

Having formed in 1968, it was not until 1974 that the band proper with Neal Peart joining Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson to create the line-up that has remained in place ever since came to be. And just two weeks after Peart joined the group, Rush began their first US tour. On 26th August 74 the group played at the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland , Ohio, a show recorded and broadcast by WMMS radio, which made it Rush s very first radio broadcast. It is this now legendary gig which forms the first disc of this set, alongside some bonus tracks which were recorded at the same venue a year later. The second disc here is home to an FM broadcast recorded at Holland s Pinkpop Festival in June 1979. Perfomed while the group were promoting their 1978 album Hemispheres, this rarely heard recording is included here on CD for the first time. The final disc in this collection featured the classic 1980 broadcast from the group, recorded at the Kiel Auditorium in St Louis, Missouri, on 13th February as part of their Permanent Waves Tour, and this recording remains arguably one of Rush s very finest live performances.

• August 26th, 1974 - Agora Ballroom, Cleveland, Ohio
• June 4th, 1979 - Burgemeester Damen Sportpark, Geleen, Netherlands
• February 13th, 1980 - Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri