There is no doubt about it that Czeslaw Niemen was simply one of the biggest pop icons during communist-era Poland. What’s more surprising was how the government even allowed this music to be made there. West of the Iron Curtain and in North America, we are accustomed to many different record labels (Warner Bros., Atlantic, […] Continue reading →

Klaus Schulze sure played an important role in the world of electronic music and Krautrock. First by being a member of Tangerine Dream and appearing on the album Electronic Meditation (1970), and then moving on to Ash Ra Tempel and appearing on their self-entitled 1971 debut. He left the group shortly thereafter to embark on […] Continue reading →

Julian Jay Savarin is better known as a sci-fi author, but for a short time, he involved himself in music. He first founded a band called Julian’s Treatment, which was a progressive rock band with lots of ’60s psychedelic overtones. They released an album called A Time Before This (which I have reviewed here on […] Continue reading →

Harmonium is highly regarded in progressive rock circles, those that is, those aware of the prog rock scene in Quebec. The band formed in 1973 with Serge Fiori, Michel Normandeu, and Louis Valois (basically handling guitars and vocals, except Valois who was the bassist) and in 1974 released their self-entitled debut, which was largely a […] Continue reading →

Skin Alley was an early progressive rock band that consisted of both British and American bands, but residing in Britain. In 1969, the band released their debut album on CBS and they were sure quick to hop on the progressive rock bandwagon, all in the same year of King Crimson’s In the Court of the […] Continue reading →

Samurai was previously known as Web. Web released three albums, Fully Interlocking (1968), Theraphosa Blondi (1970), and I Spider (1970). The first two featured American singer John L. Watson, and were released on Deram. I Spider was released on Polydor and Watson was replaced by future Greenslade vocalist/keyboardist Dave Lawson. The Deram albums are said […] Continue reading →

The Pentangle sure wasted no time following their great debut with a followup album, in fact, their second album was released later the same year (1968) as their self-entitled debut, and they went way further than you expect a band that barely got started. This second album, Sweet Child was a double album, the first […] Continue reading →

Once Peter Gabriel left Genesis in 1975, the band was in need of looking for a lead singer, after auditioning for countless people, they discovered that Phil Collins himself was able to do the duty. Meanwhile, Steve Hackett decided to embark on a solo career, he often felt that his material was underused in Genesis, […] Continue reading →

When it comes for folk-rock, it was no doubt the late ’60s and early ’70s were prime-time for it. There was Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span, all released their best material at the time. Over in Brittany, an area of France with a strong Celtic presence (not to mention their own language, Breton, which is […] Continue reading →

Amon Düül II is simply one of the greats of Krautrock, and in the early ’70s, made some of the finest albums in Krautrock, like Phallus Dei (1969), Yeti (1970) and Tanz der Lemminge aka Dance of the Lemmings (1971). The band frequently witnessed lineup changes, such as bassist Dave Anderson leaving to join Hawkwind, […] Continue reading →