Like the armour-plated tank/armadillo hybrid that graced their album, Tarkus, ELP for a short period bestrode the earth, destroying all in their wake. To young ears it probably now seems impossible that a three mere mortals could have wielded such power, but this was the early 70s.

Returning to the studio after a 14-year layoff, Emerson, Lake & Palmer stripped down their sound and amped up their attack for 1992's BLACK MOON. Its closest sonic cousin is the mid-'80s album Emerson and Lake recorded with drummer Cozy Powell. Sharp digital electronics replace Keith Emerson's classic analog synthesizer sounds, and the fanciful, classical-influenced prog-rock epics of yore are streamlined into a more accessible mainstream rock format, though some traces of the trio's vintage flash still pop up.

Dream Theater finally released their first official live album, the double-disc Once in a LIVEtime (recorded June 1998 in Paris). Granted, the 1995 release A Change of Seasons contained a wealth of live material, but they were all cover songs, and 1994's Live at the Marquee was only available as a European import. With material spanning their entire career, the many die-hard Dream Theater fans will love Once in a LIVEtime, but it won't win over disbelievers to their highly technical, sometimes cold style. There's no denying that the band's musicianship is top-notch, but the songs often get repetitious and start sounding similar. But Once in a LIVEtime may be a breath of fresh air if you've had it with smug alterna-wannabes who can hardly play, or if you long for the glory days of Yes or ELP (in other words, the music punk rock tried to annihilate). Highlights include their instrumental tour de force "Ytse Jam," as well as the fan favorites "Pull Me Under," "Lie," "Metropolis," and certain portions of their lengthy "A Change of Seasons" composition. Also released in conjunction with Once in a LIVEtime was the home video Five Years in a LIVEtime.

Jefferson Starship were among the most successful arena rock bands of the 1970s and early '80s. Guitarist Paul Kantner and singer Grace Slick started Jefferson Starship after the disbandment of Jefferson Airplane, adding former Airplane vocalist Marty Balin not much later. Red Octopus, the group's second album, established Jefferson Starship as a mainstream rock powerhouse. It topped Billboard's Top 200 and its smooth single "Miracles" gave the band a number three hit that crossed over to the adult contemporary charts.

Recorded Live at the Fillmore West, San Francisco, California, USA 29th April 1970

The 90 minute recording has twenty-one minutes from the November 27th, 1970 show in Hannover, thirty minutes from the November 14th show in Hamburg, and forty-one minutes from the Münster concert on February 24th, 1971.

There are some nights when the energy flows within Crimso and this gig is certainly one of those. Vrooom though to Dinosaur seem to be possessed of a glowering intensity that one wonders how they will be able to sustain such power. The answer is to dial things down a little with the inclusion of an elegant rendition of One Time.
B’Boom and Thrak reconnect Crim to some tumultuous forces including Adrian’s patented power-drill noise generator, Levin’s prowling bass and a brief but nonetheless laser-guided solo from Trey Gunn of the kind he would throw about during ProjeKct 2. Within the space of only a few minutes all kinds of musical landscapes are created and regenerated amidst the ever-changing turbulence.

More information: By 1984, Oldfield had ventured into new musical territories with the releases of Five Miles Out (1982) and Crises (1983), blending his signature instrumental compositions with more accessible, pop-oriented tracks. His 1984 album Discovery continued this shift, incorporating rock and electronic elements with a focus on catchy melodies and synthesiser-driven arrangements. The album featured the hit single “To France”, a track that became a fan favourite and highlighted Oldfield's growing ability to cross musical boundaries.

Crimson is proud to present the ultimate reissue of the Yardbirds' 1966 album Yardbirds, (often known as 'Roger the engineer'.) recorded by the classic line up of Jeff Beck, Keith relf, Jim McCarthy, Chris dream and Paul samwell-smith, the band began exploring new sonic territories, pushing their blues-rock sound into the realms of the avant-garde, psychedelia and Indian music. Using original tapes, this Super deluxe edition features new and definitive remastering by Phil kinrade at alchemy mastering at air, overseen by original album producer Paul samwell-smith. "Mastering this album has been a Joy.

Captain Beefheart Born Don Vliet, Captain Beefheart was one of modern music's true innovators. The owner of a remarkable four-and-a-half-octave vocal range, he employed idiosyncratic rhythms, absurdist lyrics, and an unholy alliance of free jazz, Delta blues, latter-day classical music, and rock & roll to create a singular body of work virtually unrivaled in its daring and fluid creativity.

The Rolling Stones are, quite simply, one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time, with more than 60 years spent helping to define the sound, image, and feeling of what rock music is. As the self-consciously dangerous alternative to the bouncy Merseybeat of the Beatles in the British Invasion, the Stones had pioneered the gritty, hard-driving blues-based rock & roll that came to define hard rock. With his preening machismo and latent maliciousness, Mick Jagger became the prototypical rock frontman, tempering his macho showmanship with a detached, campy irony while Keith Richards and Brian Jones wrote the blueprint for sinewy, interlocking rhythm guitars. Backed by the strong yet subtly swinging rhythm section of bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts, the Stones became the breakout band of the British blues scene, eclipsing such contemporaries as the Animals and Them. Over the course of their career, the Stones never really abandoned blues, but as soon as they gained popularity in the U.K., they began experimenting musically, incorporating the British pop of contemporaries like the Beatles, the Kinks, and the Who into their sound.

Japan-only release of the full concert at L'Olympia, Paris, 1995.07.03.

Released in time for the 21st anniversary of the Rolling Stones' 1995 live album Stripped, Eagle Rock's Totally Stripped package focuses on the visual element. At its simplest, it's a CD/DVD set, with the DVD containing a documentary following the Stones through studio sessions and rehearsals for their club shows in London, Amsterdam, and Paris, while a super deluxe set contains Blu-rays of the full concerts of each of these gigs. In each incarnation, the CD cherry-picks highlights from these live shows, presenting 13 previously unheard performances plus recycling a "Street Fighting Man" initially released on Stripped. That 1995 album didn't rely strictly on hits: the Stones emphasized their roots, covering Buddy Holly, Willie Dixon, and Robert Johnson, while also finding space for country-rock and such rarely played '60s gems as "The Spider and the Fly" and "I'm Free." Comparatively, the CD on Totally Stripped plays it fairly straight, concentrating on hits and live staples. The curve balls are "Faraway Eyes," the Voodoo Lounge single "I Go Wild," and a cover of "Like a Rolling Stone" that was designed as the emphasis track for the Stripped project. So, there may not be a lot of surprises here, but this particular disc retains the same appeal as the original album. Moving from stadiums to theaters reinvigorated the Stones, letting them reconnect with their lithe essence. Charlie Watts drives these performances, giving them a big, hard swing; Keith Richards and Ron Wood weave their guitars with audible glee; and Mick Jagger doesn't toss off the songs, he sings them with the precision his words deserve. The Stones wound up touring for another 20-plus years but this marks a point when they begin to ease into their veteran status, getting more out of revisiting the old tunes than pushing the new ones.

Released in the fall of 1989, To Kingdom Come is a double-disc set that purports to be "The Definitive Collection" and, in a sense, it does provide a good overview of the band's career. Over the course of 31 songs, the collection works its way through the hits and album tracks, adding such rarities as "Get Up Jake," "Back to Memphis," and "Lovin' You Is Sweeter Than Ever," even if it never touches on The Basement Tapes. All the predictable items are here and the album tracks are well-chosen, and it is a good representation of the band, worth the time of listeners who want a smartly assembled anthology. The 2000 Greatest Hits gets the edge for casual fans, since it has 20 tracks on one disc, yet this remains worthwhile for listeners who want a fairly comprehensive, thorough anthology.

The Complete Albums Collection Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Between 1976 and 1987, the Alan Parsons Project released ten studio albums, most of them going at least gold in the U.S., several generating big hit singles, too. This was enough to sustain a vigorous cult audience well into 2014, which is when Legacy boxed all ten of the Alan Parsons Project albums, adding the scrapped 1981 record The Sicilian Defense to bring in the hardcore who already have purchased this catalog several times over, including deluxe editions that contain bonus material nowhere to be found here. Aside from The Sicilian Defense, a tedious exercise in art rock designed to get APP out of their contract with Arista (it's hard not to see why the label asked them to go back in the studio; The Sicilian Defense is all formless instrumentals, lacking the drama of 1980's The Turn of a Friendly Card or the crossover soft rock of 1982's Eye in the Sky), extras aren't the reason to get this set. This is, like so many similar box sets in the 2010s, a tidy and affordable to get a good-sounding, good-looking complete discography from a notable album rock artist, so if you happen to be in the market for a deep dive into the Alan Parsons Project, this is the way to go.