Red Garland Red Alert (1977) 320 Kbps

Proof that punk was more about attitude than a raw, guitar-driven sound, Suicide's self-titled debut set the duo apart from the rest of the style's self-proclaimed outsiders. Over the course of seven songs, Martin Rev's dense, unnerving electronics - including a menacing synth bass, a drum machine that sounds like an idling motorcycle, and harshly hypnotic organs - and Alan Vega's ghostly, Gene Vincent-esque vocals defined the group's sound and provided the blueprints for post-punk, synth pop, and industrial rock in the process. Though those seven songs shared the same stripped-down sonic template, they also show Suicide's surprisingly wide range. The exhilarated, rebellious "Ghost Rider" and "Rocket U.S.A." capture the punk era's thrilling nihilism - albeit in an icier way than most groups expressed it - while "Cheree" and "Girl" counter the rest of the album's hard edges with a sensuality that's at once eerie and alluring…

"The big story in the album is '14 Steps To Harlem,' and what my father gave me," the veteran New York singer tells Billboard. "This is kind of a dedication to him, to both my folks, this album. But my father, he gave me a life. He provided the money for me to go to Syracuse [University]. He gave my brother and I what he didn't have. He was a very dutiful guy. I'm sitting here in a nice apartment with my wife, and my daughter when she's home, and I'm very grateful for what I have, and I know that's because of what my father gave me."

The Outsiders - Count For Something: Albums, Demos, Live, Unreleased 1976-1978 (2021) {5CD Set, Raw Edge–Cherry Red}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44.1kHz - Digital Download -> 1.74 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 615 Mb | Cover | 5% repair rar
© 1976-78, 2021 Raw Edge Records / Cherry Red Records
Rock / British Punk / Post Punk / New Wave / Alternative

A huge selection of work from the Outsiders – not the group who recorded famously for Capitol in the late 60s, but an early UK punk combo who features some fantastic vocals and guitar from the young Adrian Borland! The Outsiders definitely have a sound that's in the spirit of 1977 – short, sharp, and very tight – but Borland also has chops on the guitar that most of his contemporaries do not – which means that even in the small space of these cuts, you'll get some guitar solos that link the music both backwards towards some more expansive British work, and the sound of the American scene of the 80s – when early punk groups started to learn their instruments, and solo a bit more.

George Benson's facile post-Wes Montgomery single-line and chord-accented style was well received in his salad days of the mid- to late '60s. Primarily self-taught and ear-trained, he made great strides in a five-year period around his native Pittsburgh, working with organist Jack McDuff on the East Coast chitlin circuit. As the soul-jazz and boogaloo movement was establishing itself, Benson was right in the pocket, as these seminal mid-'60s sessions perfectly illustrate. In tandem with saxophonist Red Holloway, the two Prestige label LPs New Boss Guitar and Hot Barbeque were initially reissued in 1977 on a vinyl two-fer, and now on this single CD. The first two tracks, "Shadow Dancers" and "The Sweet Alice Blues," sans McDuff though toeing the groove line, are the most original and modern numbers…

Featuring some of the finest avant-garde jazz players from Germany and beyond, the United Jazz + Rock Ensemble began life as a loose studio aggregation assembled for a youth-oriented German television show in 1975. Hoping for a contemporary balance between rock and jazz, producer Werner Schretzmeier called upon pianist Wolfgang Dauner, the former leader of Et Cetera, an avant-garde jazz group Schretzmeier had managed until their breakup in 1972. Initially recruiting musicians from his home base of Stuttgart (then a hotbed of avant-garde jazz), Dauner put together a rotating cast of musicians that were at first dubbed the Eleven and a Half Ensemble (after the program's airtime); this group featured guitarist Volker Kriegel (who shared writing and arranging duties with Dauner), drummer Jon Hiseman, trumpeter Ack Van Rooyen, and trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff…

Good fusion, light jazz, and instrumental pop/R&B session from a talented guitarist who's made his living by carefully editing his solos and plugging into funk dates. Gale doesn't cut loose, but shows enough to hold interest, while the arrangements and production are geared for Urban and Adult Contemporary outlets and audiences.

Although best known for the AOR and radio hits from the early 1980s (which included the number ones ‘Keep On Loving You’ and ‘Can’t Fight This Feeling’), R.E.O. Speedwagon’s long history goes way back to their formation in Champaign, Illinois in 1967.