La Liceale The Teasers (1975)

"The Carpenters" (originally released as "Horizon") is the sixth consecutive platinum-certified album by American musical duo Carpenters. It was particularly successful in the United Kingdom and Japan, topping the charts and becoming one of the best-selling albums of 1975 in those countries. Horizon also reached no. 3 in New Zealand, no. 4 in Canada and no. 5 in Norway. An American duo consisting of sister Karen Carpenter and brother Richard Carpenter. Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to as "The Carpenters", their name on official releases and press materials was "Carpenters". During a period in the 1970s when louder and wilder rock was in great demand, Richard and Karen produced a distinctively soft musical style that made them among the best-selling music artists of all time. No fewer than ten of their singles went on to become million-sellers, and by 2005 combined worldwide sales of albums and singles well exceeded 100 million units.

Released in the summer of 1975, in the down period between Mick Taylor's departure and as the Stones were auditioning guitarists during the recording of 1976's Black and Blue (coincidentally, the '60s rarities comp Metamorphosis also came out in the summer of 1975), Made in the Shade offers a perfunctory summary of the Stones' records from the first half of the '70s…

Following on the heels of an album where he repudiated his past with his greatest backing band, Blood on the Tracks finds Bob Dylan, in a way, retreating to the past, recording a largely quiet, acoustic-based album. But this is hardly nostalgia – this is the sound of an artist returning to his strengths, what feels most familiar, as he accepts a traumatic situation, namely the breakdown of his marriage…

Electric Light Orchestra's more modest follow-up to Eldorado is a very solid album, if not as bold or unified. It was also their first recorded at Musicland in Munich, which became Jeff Lynne's preferred venue for cutting records. At the time, he was also generating songs at a breakneck pace and had perfected the majestic, quasi-Beatles-type style (sort of high-wattage Magical Mystery Tour) introduced two albums earlier. The sound is stripped down a bit on Face the Music, Louis Clark's orchestral contributions generally more subdued than on Eldorado, even when they compete with the band, as on "Strange Magic." The soulful "Evil Woman" was one of the most respectable chart hits of its era, and one of the best songs that Lynne ever wrote (reportedly in 30 minutes), while "Strange Magic" showed off his writing in a more ethereal vein.

Recorded while the band was evolving slowly into the Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Trying to Burn the Sun is the third and final release from Elf, the band that finally earned Ronnie James Dio the attention he had been seeking since the late '50s. After writing and recording a few singles for Blackmore, Dio and Elf were solidly moving in a heavier musical direction, no doubt influenced by Deep Purple and the British supergroup's lead guitarist. Standout cuts include "Wonderworld" and "Streetwalker," two cuts that were somehow placed at the tail end of the record, despite their strong melodies and musicianship. Because the Rainbow debut was released during the same year, this record was slightly overlooked, even though the band had established a small amount of momentum in Europe and Japan especially. So while only available as an import CD in the U.S., Trying to Burn the Sun is a great listen for fans of '70s rock, not just Dio/Rainbow fans.

Pleasures takes us back to the live album of that name culled from two evenings of concerts in Hamburg in August 1975 and is a reissue of that album together with five extra cuts from the same sets (three of which duplicate songs featured earlier in alternate performances). This is definitive mid-70s Chapman, here featured first in solo acoustic mode then from track five onwards with a band (Keef Hartley, Steffi Stephen and Achim Reichel), arguably at the zenith of the soulful-rockin’ phase of his career.

.When Ritchie Blackmore departed Deep Purple in the mid-'70s and formed Rainbow (which featured Ronnie James Dio), his replacement was Tommy Bolin. To be sure, Blackmore was a darn tough act to follow, but Bolin proved himself to be a fine guitarist in his own right on Come Taste the Band, his first album with Deep Purple. But unfortunately, Bolin didn't have exceptional material to work with – decent and likable, but hardly exceptional..

This 1975 slab by drummer Redd Holt was his second outing after the disintegration of the Young-Holt Unlimited rhythm team. Tighter and more adventurous than Isaac, Isaac, Isaac, its predecessor, Holt goes for the heart of rhythm here, letting it flower over the top of all the other arrangements. As a way of signifying this, he opens the set with a short but deeply funky and soulful rendition of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff." With less than two-and-a-half minutes of clock time, it's get out and go or nothing and Holt makes his tom-toms pop like snares, keeping only the slamming guitaristry of Randy Ford on top with him. Elsewhere, as on "Gimme Some Mo," Holt intertwines with keyboardist Eugene Curry to allow bassist Jose Holmes to cut the groove fast and deep, popping it all over the sonic spectrum like Bootsy Collins but with more finesse…