Emanuelle 1974

The latest instalment of Grapefruit’s popular year-by-year overview of the British rock/pop scenes of the 70s. Featuring big hits, intriguing misses and key album tracks from 1974 as well as a clutch of alternative versions and unissued-at-the-time gems. Although 1974 was dominated by the country’s crippling economic woes, the British rock and pop scene continued to flourish. The more creative element of the glam rock spectrum inspired a host of new bands, with Cockney Rebel, Be-Bop Deluxe and Sparks coming through to establish themselves alongside genre heavyweights Roxy Music, T. Rex and Slade. London’s pub rock circuit saw stalwarts Brinsley Schwarz joined by early Ian Dury outfit Kilburn & The High Roads, Ace (who scored a hit single with the timeless ‘How Long’) and Dr. Feelgood, whose aggressive attitude and slashing, guitar-based brand of tough R&B influenced a whole new generation of musicians.

Sparks 1974 compiles Sparks’ two 1974 albums Kimono My House and Propaganda alongside a bonus CD containing demos, unreleased and live takes and B Sides. 1974 saw the group relocate from L.A. to London where they recorded some of their most memorable output. Packaged in a deluxe 7” 3CD fold out card set with an illustrated booklet containing a liner note from Guardian critic Jude Rogers.

The 1974 live recordings celebrates the 50th anniversary of bob dylan’s return to touring that year. Featuring all professionally recorded shows from the artist’s 1974 performances backed by the band, the collection will be available as a deluxe box set across 27 cds. The 1974 live recordings offers fans 417 previously-unreleased bob dylan live tracks – including 133 recordings newly mixed from 16-track tape, and every single surviving soundboard recording – along with new liner notes by journalist and critic elizabeth nelson.

Sparks 1974 compiles Sparks’ two 1974 albums Kimono My House and Propaganda alongside a bonus CD containing demos, unreleased and live takes and B Sides. 1974 saw the group relocate from L.A. to London where they recorded some of their most memorable output. Packaged in a deluxe 7” 3CD fold out card set with an illustrated booklet containing a liner note from Guardian critic Jude Rogers.

Before the Flood is a double live album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and the Band, released in June 1974 on Asylum Records in the United States and Island Records in the United Kingdom. It is the seventeenth album by Dylan and the seventh by The Band, and documents their joint 1974 American tour.

Live In Japan 1974 is the first live album to be released in over 50 years by freewheeling-funk/rock/soul/latin fusion musical outfit WAR that features all seven original band members. This thoughtfully curated 2LP and 2CD release is made up of a compilation of live performances by the band, as they traveled throughout Japan after spending the better half of 1974 touring the US and Europe. This collection of recordings includes classic WAR tracks like “The Cisco Kid”, “The World Is A Ghetto” and “All Day Music”, taken from live shows across Shizuoka, Tokyo, Osaka, and Kobe.

Bridge of Sighs, Robin Trower's sophomore album following his departure from Procol Harum. Lauded critically, commercially a breakthrough, the album saw Robin push his trio's initial concept into exciting new territory. Accompanied by James Dewar on soulful vocal and bass duty and Reg Isidore underpinning their psychedelic blues sound with masterful drumming. Producer and former Procol Harum bandmate Matthew Fisher and Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick take on control room duties to help bring this stunning collection of songs together. This 3CD/1Bluray expanded 50th anniversary edition contains the original remastered album, along with a newly mixed version of the album in Stereo and Atmos. These are unedited versions of tracks from the album, which were originally edited down to fit a side of a vinyl and presented here in full for the first time. Added to this, there are a selection of previously unreleased outtakes and alternative versions and a full live concert from the Record Plant in 1974 across 2 CDs. The Blu-ray contains the full 2024 Unedited Atmos version of the album, hi-res 96/24 version of the original 1974 mix, an instrumental version of the album, Record Plant 1974 and additional outtakes not featured on the CDs. Format: 3 CD/1 Blu-ray housed in a DVD style hardback book, with a 24-page booklet with new interviews conducted by David Sinclair, Robin Trower and producer Matthew Fisher, along with testimonials from Bryan Ferry, Robert Fripp, Steve Lukather, Clive Bunker, Andy Parker and previously unseen photographs.

Joni Mitchell's first live album arrived at the peak of her fame. Recorded a couple months after her breakthrough Court and Spark debuted, the Canadian singer-songwriter documented the California stops on the tour supporting the new LP. Performing an expansive collection of tracks from her 1968 debut Song to a Seagull onward, Miles of Aisles carefully avoided the hits. "No one ever said to Van Gogh, 'Paint a "Starry Night" again, man,'" said Mitchell before playing "Circle Game." In 1991, she revealed to Rolling Stone why she made the comparison: "I never wanted to turn into a human jukebox. I haven't used up all my ideas yet. But I'm working in a pop field, and whether they're going to allow an older woman to do that is an open question. It requires a loyal, interested audience who believes in my talent." Brittany Spanos