Tag Archives: 70s

URIAH HEEP – Return To Fantasy

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After releasing three fantastic albums in ‘Demons and Wizards’, ‘Magician’s Birthday’ and ‘Sweet Freedom’ as well as a classic live document in a little over a year between May 1972 to September 1973, it’s no wonder Uriah Heep sounded less inspired on their 1974 LP ‘Wonderworld’. Although not a document from a creatively spent band, the album included absolutely nothing memorable in the long term. Bizarrely, the best track dating from those sessions,’Stone’s Throw’, was never completed. Released in demo form on an expanded reissue of ‘Wonderworld’ in 1996, it knocks the entire album into a cocked hat. Following bassist Gary Thain being electrocuted during a show in Texas on that tour, 1974 could very much be considered the end of the band’s “imperial phase”.

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JOHN MELLENCAMP – Johnny Cougar: The Mainman Recordings 1976-1977

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As far as many people in the UK are concerned, John Mellencamp burst onto the music scene in 1982 with his radio hit ‘Jack & Diane’, but by the time that was loved by the masses and its parent album ‘American Fool’ was a success on both sides of the Atlantic, Bloomington’s most famous export had been building a career for several years. Previous albums ‘John Cougar’ (1979) and ‘Nothing Matters & What If It Did’ had seen some success stateside, but Mellencamp’s musical roots actually stretch back even further. In the mid 70s, he signed with the management company Mainman (a company who had David Bowie and Mick Ronson on their books) and recorded three albums’ worth of material in a very short period that, over the years, has been somewhat overlooked.

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CAMEL – Earthrise: Live At The Marquee 1974

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In 2023, Universal Music released the ultimate in Camel box sets. ‘Air Born: The Decca Recordings 1973-1984’ brought together all of the band’s official releases from their most commercially successful period, and combined them with a wealth of rare and unreleased material. For the fan who must have everything, it appeared to be a beautiful item – especially with new blu ray audio content and surround mixes bringing a new dimension to some much loved tunes.

As is often the case with such a set, a huge price tag would prove a sticking point for those fans without deep pockets. Consolation would soon come from Cherry Red Records, however, who reissued ‘Camel’, ‘Mirage’ and ‘Music Inspired By The Snow Goose’ as deluxe editions (complete with the blu ray content) a relatively short time later.

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VARIOUS ARTISTS – So High I’ve Been: A European Rock Anthology 1967-1973

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When it comes to compilations, the UK rock scene of the late 1960s/early 1970s has been covered extensively – to the point of absolute overkill. It’s easy to feel that this is a part of musical history that no longer needs revisiting, just as many “new” articles on The Beatles, the Stones and Queen now border on being digital landfill. With that in mind, it’s always far more interesting when attentions are turned to overseas acts. Cherry Red’s rather excellent set ‘Living On The Hill’ promised “a Danish underground trip” upon its release in 2020 and subsequently did exactly what it said on the tin, giving the keener rock fan three discs’ worth of genuinely unfamiliar sounds from the North, with Blast Furnace being the compilation’s nearest to a “known” name.

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THE REAL GONE ADVENT CALENDAR 2025

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It seems unbelievable that we’ve reached December already. It was only Easter a few weeks ago. Nevertheless, the end of the year is fast approaching and, as is traditional, we’ll be counting down the days to Xmas with the Real Gone advent calendar!

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