Ur Musig (1993) Cyrill Schläpfer, Rees Gwerder, Jakob Alder, Jakob Duesel

This double CD is a true gift to hardcore fans, offering previously unseen glimpses of Jethro Tull when the group was at its absolute peak. Anyone else, however, may find the album rough going, for while the group was never tighter or more productive, the material isn't even second-rate. Essentially, Nightcap is Jethro Tull's version of the Beatles' Anthology releases. The first disc consists of tracks that the band started to record during 1973 – the best parts of this material ended up being rewritten and incorporated into what became A Passion Play. These outtakes are pretty at times, but also unformed and distinctly unfinished – Anderson takes a gorgeous classical guitar solo on "First Post," but then the song drifts off, and "Tiger Toon" is an early version of the principal theme from "A Passion Play," not altered too much except in tempo.

This release had been recorded live by ABC-TV on 6th April 1974 at the Ontario Speedway near Los Angeles, California. First released in 1981 on VHS-Video in the UK on BBC Video. First time released on CD and on Compact Cassette in the UK in June 1996 by EMI Premier. Released in the US 1996 on BMG/Mausoleum Classix/King Biscuit Ent. with different release title: "Live at the California Jam". Another later reissue was released in the UK in 2003 on Purple Records, titled "Just Might Take Your Life". All mentioned releases have different cover-artworks!

Minstrel in the Gallery was Tull's most artistically successful and elaborately produced album since Thick as a Brick and harkened back to that album with the inclusion of a 17-minute extended piece ("Baker Street Muse"). Although English folk elements abound, this is really a hard rock showcase on a par with – and perhaps even more aggressive than – anything on Aqualung. The title track is a superb showcase for the group, freely mixing folk melodies, lilting flute passages, and archaic, pre-Elizabethan feel, and the fiercest electric rock in the group's history – parts of it do recall phrases from A Passion Play, but all of it is more successful than anything on War Child.

Progressive rock bands like Camel have to be creative in their touring schedules, often traveling to Europe in order to find a substantial concentration of fans in a single place. So it was that Camel arrived with their 20th anniversary tour at Enschede, Holland. After their tenth anniversary tour (which found them promoting The Single Factor), few would have predicted a 20th, but the release of Dust and Dreams in 1991 suggested the band had found a second creative wind (or at least tapped into the original breeze last felt on Nude). Never Let Go confirms the point that Camel has plenty of life left in it. Spread out across two discs (the untangling of which is like disassembling a child's toy, a problem common to two-disc sets), this live show features two distinct sets.

Phenomena is a rock concept around a supergroup formed by record producer Tom Galley, Metalhammer magazine founder Wilfried Rimensberger and Tom's brother, Whitesnake guitarist Mel Galley. Contributors were leading rock musicians such as Glenn Hughes, Brian May, Tony Martin and John Wetton amongst others. Phenomena released three albums in the 1980s and early 1990s, and had a number one hit single in South America with "Did It All For Love", while the album charted across Europe, in Japan and Brazil. More albums followed without the involvement of Rimensberger and released under the branding of 'Tom Galley, the creator of Phenomena'. The latest, Awakening, was released in March 2012. Whilst all were well received, they were not comparable to the original Phenomena.

Page began his career as a studio session musician in London and, by the mid-1960s, alongside Big Jim Sullivan, was one of the most sought-after session guitarists in Britain. He was a member of the Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968. In late 1968, he founded Led Zeppelin. Page is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Rolling Stone magazine has described Page as "the pontiff of power riffing" and ranked him number 3 in their list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". In 2010, he was ranked number two in Gibson's list of "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time" and, in 2007, number four on Classic Rock's "100 Wildest Guitar Heroes". He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice; once as a member of the Yardbirds (1992) and once as a member of Led Zeppelin (1995). Page has been described by Uncut as "rock's greatest and most mysterious guitar hero".

Jethro Tull was very much a blues band on their debut album, vaguely reminiscent of the Graham Bond Organization only more cohesive, and with greater commercial sense. The revelations about the group's roots on This Was – which was recorded during the summer of 1968 – can be astonishing, even 30 years after the fact. Original lead guitarist Mick Abrahams contributed to the songwriting and the singing, and his presence as a serious bluesman is felt throughout, often for the better: "Some Day the Sun Won't Shine for You," an Ian Anderson original that could just as easily be credited to Big Bill Broonzy or Robert Johnson; "Cat's Squirrel," Abrahams' big showcase, where he ventures into Eric Clapton territory; and "It's Breaking Me Up," which also features some pretty hot guitar from Abrahams.

Neo-prog band Pendragon formed in London during the heady days of punk, but didn't coalesce until 1983, when the band began playing around London and earned a small spot at that year's Reading Festival. The lineup stabilized, after the 1985 album Jewel, around vocalist/guitarist Nick Barrett, bassist Peter Gee, drummer Fudge Smith and keyboard player Clive Nolan. Pendragon recorded the live album 9:15 in 1986 and began to establish a continental fan base the following year. European audiences proved enthusiastic, spawning a contract with the French M.S.I. label; nevertheless, the group was forced to form its own Toff label just to release material in England.

The French equivalent of prog-rock bands Yes and Genesis, Atoll recorded four albums in the mid- to late '70s with a lineup that stabilized by the time of the group's second album. L'Araignee Mal (1975) included vocalist/percussionist André Balzer, guitarist Christian Beya, bassist Jean-Luc Thillot, keyboard player Michel Taillet, and drummer Alain Gozzo. Gradually commercializing its sound beginning with third album Tertio, Atoll released only one more studio album Rock Puzzle before breaking up. In the late '80s, however, a new, pop-oriented version appeared. Including only Beya from the previous lineup, the band released L'Ocean and the live album Tokyo C'est Fini (both 1989).