VARIOUS ARTISTS – Ring The Bells & Sing: Progressive Sounds Of 1975

Whenever a new, yearly themed box of prog rock cuts gets released by Esoteric Records, genre fans automatically know they’re in for some great listening. Even when their ‘Underground Sounds’ and ‘Progressive Sounds’ anthologies merely recycle a world of album cuts, these affordable multi-disc sets create something that isn’t just well rounded; when approached in the right mood, they’re compilations which are incredibly absorbing. Whether approaching them from a nostalgic perspective or in the hope of discovering something new – hopefully both – these anthologies supply a huge amount of entertainment.

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Tangerine Dream: Bootleg Box Set Vol. 2 to be reissued in November

Tangerine Dream completists will be well aware of how hard it is to collect everything. Between the re-recorded works, various compilations with minor differences, bounteous live recordings and box sets, their legacy of work literally spans well over a hundred titles.

There’s some good news for the keen collector: On November 25th 2022, Cherry Red Records will be reissuing ‘The Bootleg Box Set, Volume 2’ via their Esoteric Recordings imprint. Not to be confused with “The Official Bootleg Series” (also in the hands of Cherry Red), the original “Bootleg Box Set” releases were issued by Castle Music back in the 00’s and soon became hard to find. The second volume, in particular, was a very short run and over the years has become incredibly sought after, occasionally fetching three figure sums on the rare instances it came up for sale on eBay.

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AFFINITY – Affinity

Back in those pre-internet years, it was often difficult to hear really rare albums. There were a whole world of psych, jazz rock and proto-hard rock LPs that were regularly mentioned in Record Collector magazine that seemed shrouded in mystery. Often issued on the Philips, Deram, Major Minor and Vertigo labels, discs by Head Machine, Elias Hulk, The Open Mind and Second Hand – all now available on CD – were almost the vinyl collector’s equivalent of the Holy Grail.

Another such disc, the one and only album by Affinity, was another highly praised gem from the dawn of the 70s that, at one time, seemed destined to languish in the hazy, distant past. In the mid 90s, a decent vinyl pressing could fetch £40-£50; hardly an impulse purchase, should you stumble across one. A CD repressing from Repertoire Records in 1993 finally meant the album became accessible to an audience who missed the band during their brief lifetime, but a lack of UK release meant this disc was almost as elusive. It wasn’t until 2002 that the Affinity LP was given a long overdue CD release on home turf, but that eagerly awaited edition on Angel Air Records was sourced from under par materials.

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VARIOUS ARTISTS – Breakthrough: The Underground Sounds Of 1971

According to music historian and author David Hepworth, 1971 is “rock’s most exciting year”. There are a lot of music fans of a certain age who would agree with that: those keen record buyers who still treasure well worn copies of Uriah Heep’s ‘Salisbury’, Caravan’s ‘In The Land of Grey & Pink’, Hawkwind’s ‘In Search of Space’ and Rory Gallagher’s ‘Deuce’; people who’d hit their early twenties in time to hear Pink Floyd’s ‘Meddle’ and Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s ‘Tarkus’ with fresh ears when the sounds of those hugely indulgent arrangements sounded like the future; and certainly not forgetting those for whom the first three Black Sabbath albums heralded the arrival of a whole new genre, but arguably hit perfection in ’71. There’s a lot of further weight to be added to the argument that 1971 is musically significant, with lesser known albums by Samurai and Jade Warrior propping up the art-rock scene, The Zombies’ Colin Blunstone delivering an absolutely killer solo debut with ‘One Year’ and Phil Collins making his first major appearance with Genesis. All of that barely scratches the surface, of course, but it’s fair to say there was always far more to 1971 than Led Zeppelin’s monolithic fourth platter and ‘Who’s Next’.

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VINEGAR JOE – The Island Recordings 1972-1973

Formed from the ashes of Dada, a huge jazz/blues rock band featuring guitarist Pete Gage, vocalist Elkie Brooks and (latterly) Robert Palmer, Vinegar Joe rode on the coattails of the British blues movement, releasing three albums in the early 70s. Over the years, their recordings haven’t been the easiest to track down, despite Lemon Records reissuing ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Gypsies’ (1972) and ‘Six Star General’ (1973) on CD in 2003, before giving the 1972 debut the same loving treatment somewhat belatedly in 2008. Bringing the Vinegar Joe legacy back to the masses once again, ‘Finer Things: The Island Recordings (1972-1973)’ rounds up absolutely everything the short-lived band ever recorded in the studio and issues it in one place for the first time. Although they never recorded what you’d call “a perfect album” they came pretty close on two occasions, and this set shows off a great band, even though the studio recordings supposedly never captured the fire of their live shows. There are enough great tracks scattered throughout the three discs to potentially attract a new generation of fans.

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