Aircraft Illustrated From Vol 05, N 07 From 1972 07

To avoid any and all confusion, this is not the British mod band from the late '60's. This 1972 self-titled CD is the sole effort from the obscure 'heavy rock' five piece that is from Zweibrucken, Germany. In the summer of 1972, Action recorded three tracks for demo purposes at the Kerston studio. Only in 1997, the recordings by chance caught the attention of the small Dortmund label Very Good Records. The label released them as LP together with a live track in an edition of 500 copies on black and 100 copies on green vinyl. At the end of 2008, Action joined together once more for two professionally recorded gigs. The one from 11/22/2008 was now added to the CD as bonus. The tracks from 1972 were drawn from the master tapes, as well as the new ones.

"No Secrets," with its iconic cover image, is Carly Simon's third studio album and her first #1. Released in 1972, the record spent five weeks at the top of the Billboard charts. "No Secrets" blends the best of her pop/jazz/bluesy style and spawned four Top 20 hits including the #1 smash "You're So Vain," her powerhouse diatribe to a smug, conceited ex, featuring the back-up vocals of Mick Jagger. "The Right Thing to Do" was another major single, and one of her most gorgeous ballads ever. No one can mistake that voice, which has become one of the most recognizable and endearing in all of pop music. Richard Perry's simple, elegant production pays particular attention to the vocals that run the gamut of sweet to ferocious. It seems Carly Simon knows, intuitively, how to properly emote the feelings of each song to the listener…

This is a mellotron lovers garden of eden! Lots of great keyboard work here and some incredible musicanship. Like so many great Italian recordings, "Ys" demands the listeners full attention throughout. Although this recording has a true '70's reproduced feel to it, it remains very enjoyable with its underground sound. The guitar work is superb and what really stands out is the use of vocals and harmonies throughout.

If Wishbone Ash can be considered a group who dabbled in the main strains of early-'70s British rock without ever settling on one (were they a prog rock outfit like Yes, a space rock unit like Pink Floyd, a heavy metal ensemble like Led Zeppelin, or just a boogie band like Ten Years After?), the confusion compounded by their relative facelessness and the generic nature of their compositions, Argus, their third album, was the one on which they looked like they finally were going to forge their own unique amalgamation of all those styles into a sound of their own. The album boasted extended compositions, some of them ("Time Was," "Sometime World") actually medleys of different tunes, played with assurance and developing into imaginative explorations of new musical territory and group interaction.

If Wishbone Ash can be considered a group who dabbled in the main strains of early-'70s British rock without ever settling on one (were they a prog rock outfit like Yes, a space rock unit like Pink Floyd, a heavy metal ensemble like Led Zeppelin, or just a boogie band like Ten Years After?), the confusion compounded by their relative facelessness and the generic nature of their compositions, Argus, their third album, was the one on which they looked like they finally were going to forge their own unique amalgamation of all those styles into a sound of their own. The album boasted extended compositions, some of them ("Time Was," "Sometime World") actually medleys of different tunes, played with assurance and developing into imaginative explorations of new musical territory and group interaction.

The first album by the '70s (i.e. Annie Haslam) version of Renaissance is a transitional work, rooted in more standard hard rock sounds (including psychedelia) than what followed. One can spot the difference, which may please some listeners and put others off, in the fairly heavy guitar sound of "Prologue," Rob Hendry's electric instrument playing both lead and rhythm parts prominently at various times behind Annie Haslam's soaring vocals and adjacent to John Tout's piano. "Kiev" may also startle some longtime fans, since Haslam doesn't handle the lead vocals, the male members' singing being much more prominent. The ethereal, flowingly lyrical "Sounds of the Sea" is the cut here that most resembles the music that the group became known for in the years ahead, and shows Haslam singing in the high register for which she would become famous.

As the Soft Machine moved further away from rock on Third and Fourth, drummer/vocalist Robert Wyatt's dissatisfaction with the band's direction grew and, by the time sessions started for Fifth in late 1971, he had left permanently to form Matching Mole. While the instrumental Fourth had forayed deep into jazz-rock territory, Fifth found the Soft Machine working almost completely in the jazz idiom. At the time of Wyatt's departure, keyboardist Mike Ratledge commented that the band's co-founder had "never enjoyed or accepted working in complex time signatures." However, Wyatt's replacement - Phil Howard - didn't prove to be the kind of timekeeper Ratledge and bassist Hugh Hopper had in mind and his free jazz orientation led to his dismissal during the recording of the album…