1, Naivepop or Petitfool

In 1977, after three years' time off working on various solo projects – which were to have culminated with a trio of solo albums – Emerson, Lake & Palmer reunited to release Works, Vol. 1, a double LP containing the best of the solo works plus a side of group-conceived pieces. All in all, it was the most ambitious and wide-ranging body of music they'd ever released, and was followed by the more modestly proportioned but still successful Works, Vol. 2 in November of that year, and a tour that fall and winter; in keeping with the albums that spawned it, the concerts initially featured a 90-piece orchestra supporting the trio…

Magi - Win or Lose CD This north Indiana outfit ruled the roost in the 'Michiana' region in the mid-'70s, attracting huge crowds whenever they played live. Often compared with Led Zeppelin, this 5-piece outfit rocked the area with a tight and raw sound that combined in-your-face hard rock with undisguised psychedelic tendencies and lashings of fuzz. It must be said the boys didn't do themselves any favours by issuing their only known album with a cover reminiscent of a Journey photo shoot, but regardless of their dubious hair and sense of dress, Magi certainly deserved more than the obscurity into which they ultimately lapsed. Win Or Lose, recorded at Uncle Dirty's Sound Machine studios in Michigan in 1976, and which boasts a series of solid songs propelled by a tight rhythm section and some more-than respectable vocals, is always reviewed enthusiastically.

RockaDrome.com

Don Ellis - French Connection 1+2. Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1971, 1975) {2003 FilmScore}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 298 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 128 Mb | Artwork (web)
© 2003 Film Score / 20th Century Fox | FSM 04-06
Jazz / Soundtrack / Pop

Don Ellis was a hot item in 1971. He had done a few big band albums that sounded like Doc Severson plugged into Frank Zappa'a sound system, and was opening a lot of rock shows, back in the era when you could get rock and roll kids to listen to and appreciate jazz. So, Billy Friedkin makes French Connection, and gets Don to score it. Billy must have known he had a hit on his hands, and wanted a big name to put on the composer credit. Ellis does an entire, half hour score for the movie. Not a lot of this music made it into the film: evidently, Billy wanted to have a gritty film with lots of street noises, and, tastefully edited Don's score to bare bones. It works in the movie, but a lot of really good music never saw the light of day.

Limited 29 CD box set. From their debut Just Ear-rings from 1965 till the tribute to their hometown The Hague from 2015 - all 26 studio albums by Holland's most legendary rock band are collected in a monumental box Complete Studio Recordings, augmented with no less than three CD's full of non-album tracks…