Long Beach 1971

Emerson, Lake & Palmer - The Original Bootleg Series from The Manticore Vaults, Vol. 1 Set 2 (2001) {2CD Castle Music rec 1972}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 549 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 236 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 58 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1972, 2001 Castle Music / Sanctuary Record | CMDDD313 (CMXBX309)
Rock / Art Rock / Progressive Rock

Set 2: "The Iridescent Concubine" - Louisville Town Hall, Kentucky - Apr. 21st 1972. This set and its companion, the eight-CD volume two, display all the strengths that made Emerson, Lake & Palmer one of the world's most popular bands during the '70s, and the weakness that comes with a trio's attempt to play complicated music. Keith Emerson was a virtuoso keyboard player, Greg Lake supplied a pleasant voice and flair for writing melodic songs, and Carl Palmer played drums as though he would perish if he stopped. But the group lacked the depth of fellow progressive rock bands, such as Yes and King Crimson. Those groups supplied multiple lead instrumentalists – Yes with their guitar/keyboard tandem and Crimson with their venerable guitarist, Robert Fripp, and a series of cohorts who played saxophone, violin, or second guitar.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer - The Original Bootleg Series from The Manticore Vaults, Vol. 1 Set 4 (2001) {Castle Music rec 1972}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 428 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 182 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 58 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1972, 2001 Castle Music / Sanctuary Record | CMDDD314 (CMXBX309)
Rock / Art Rock / Progressive Rock

Set 4: "Iconoclastic Madness" - Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, NY, on August 13, 1972. This set and its companion, the eight-CD volume two, display all the strengths that made Emerson, Lake & Palmer one of the world's most popular bands during the '70s, and the weakness that comes with a trio's attempt to play complicated music. Keith Emerson was a virtuoso keyboard player, Greg Lake supplied a pleasant voice and flair for writing melodic songs, and Carl Palmer played drums as though he would perish if he stopped. But the group lacked the depth of fellow progressive rock bands, such as Yes and King Crimson. Those groups supplied multiple lead instrumentalists – Yes with their guitar/keyboard tandem and Crimson with their venerable guitarist, Robert Fripp, and a series of cohorts who played saxophone, violin, or second guitar.

George Duke - My Soul: The Complete MPS Fusion Recordings, 1971-1976 (2008) {4CD BoxSet MPS Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.74 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 688 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 33 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1971-76, 2008 Universal / MPS | 06025 1751504 | 24-bit remaster
Jazz / Fusion / Piano

An amazing package of work from George Duke - 6 of his legendary fusion albums for MPS Records, including the never-reissued double-length set Solus / The Inner Source! That incredible album is worth the price of the package alone - as it begins with some sublime trio work from Duke, rooted in jazz but already stretching out in amazing ways - then moves into some even hipper Latin-styled grooves, with Jerome Richardson on reeds and Luis Gasca on a bit of trumpet! Other albums in the set are equally great - and trace Duke's evolution from straighter jazz into funky freer fusion and soul - an incredible musical shift that's presented on the albums Faces In Reflection, Feel, I Love The Blues She Heard My Cry, The Aura Will Prevail, and Liberated Fantasies - each of them classics in their own right, presented together wonderfully here in this complete MPS package! The set is amazing - with a whopping 64 titles in all, and complete notes on all the music - including some recollections from Duke himself.

Curtiss Maldoon explores a fairly laid-back, folky realm colored by a little early-'70s British hard rock. "I'm waiting for the man from Afghanistan to come, I've got a kilo in the bottom of my suitcase in a cabin trunk" they nonchalantly note on "Man from Afghanistan," setting the late-period hippie tone. Oh, those permissive early '70s! The throat-stretching vocals and organ on "Long Long Time" show a Dylan influence, and perhaps a Gary Brooker/Procol Harum one, too. Madonna obsessives, as unlikely as it seems, might want to track this down for the presence of "Sepheryn," which she worked over into "Ray of Light" in 1998; it's a little more emotional and melodically and lyrically sophisticated than their typical tunes. Steve Howe plays guitar on "Warm on the Ridge; " Howe, Tony Ashton, and Roy Dyke (from Ashton, Gardner & Dyke) play on "Find a Little Peace."