If there ever was an album on which Bill Nelson allowed himself the luxury of being an ‘axe hero’, this would be the one. The latest installment of Esoteric Records' reissuing of the Be Bop Deluxe catalogue in deluxe editions (or should that be 'deluxe Deluxe editions) backtracks a little and alights upon the band's..
BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST – Barclay James Harvest And Other Short Stories Deluxe Edition (Esoteric)
When Barclay James Harvest came to record this, their third album, in 1971, they were under some significant pressure, it must be said. Their previous album, the breakthrough Once Again, had featured two lengthy tracks among its number, including their evergreen and immediately popular Mockingbird. As always when following up a significant success, there was..
FRUUPP – Maid In Ireland: The Best Of Fruupp (Esoteric)
This is music to give your attention to, but it will repay you. Many people at this point may be asking, who the hell are Fruupp, and what on earth is that name all about? Well, I can't answer the second question, but I can help out with the first. Basically, Fruupp were an Irish..
STRAWBS – Burning For You / Heartbreak Hill (Esoteric)
Burning For You is a much better album than its reception at the time indicated ... while Heartbreak Hill is simply essential Strawbs. The very end of the original Strawbs career is covered here with these two Esoteric reissues, covering what was intended to be the last album they recorded in the 1970s, and the..
Anthony Phillips – The Living Room Concert: Remastered & Expanded (Esoteric)
Alternating sections of gentle, fluttering notes and commanding strumming... With thirty-one studio albums, a host of compilations, boxed sets, and a massive amount of library music to his credit, Anthony Phillips is not the type of musician whose catalogue is easy to trim down to an hour's worth of favourites. But 'Ant' was tasked with..
JIM CAPALDI – OPEN YOUR HEART: THE ISLAND RECORDINGS ’72-’76 (Esoteric)
This set is a timely reminder that [Steve] Winwood's bandmates were substantial talents in their own right, and the unheralded drummer perhaps most of all. Another interesting feature of the rock scene in the halcyon days of the 1970s was that, whenever someone left a successful band (or even before they did so), they would..
FISH ON FRIDAY – BLACK RAIN (Cherry Red / Esoteric)
...if you are after a well-crafted, well-produced, melodic rock album which isn't afraid to go for the grandiose jugular when the opportunity arises, you can safely order a helping of this particular seafood Fish. They seem to exert a curious fascination with prog rock, as the piscine influence has intertwined itself with the music for..
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE REISSUES (ESOTERIC)
Long John Silver / Thirty Seconds Over Winterland (Jefferson Airplane)Baron Von Tollbooth And The Chrome Nun (Kantner - Slick- Freiberg) If anyone is unfamiliar with the work the Airplane did in that historical 'no-man's land' between the end of the '60s and the arrival of the Starship they will find this pair of releases enlightening..
ARS NOVA – Fields Of People: The Elektra And Atlantic Recordings 1968-69 (Esoteric)
The first thing to get straightened out before diving into this particular artefact is not the question ‘who are Ars Nova?’, but rather ‘which Ars Nova is this?’ as, strange though it may seem, there have been two bands both laying claim to this fairly unlikely title. The ‘other’ Ars Nova are a Japanese progressive..
Renaissance – Turn Of The Cards (Expanded 2020 edition – Esoteric Antenna)
This isn't the first (and won't be the last) time I've rattled on about the Esoteric label and their powerhouse reissues of classic progressive rock titles, such as their new four-disc expanded edition of the triumphant Renaissance album Turn Of The Cards. Released in 1974 - squarely in the middle of their legendary run of..