Free Classic Album

This instalment of the popular 'NOW 100 Hits' series comprises a number of guitar-filled anthems, ranging from Meat Loaf's 'Bat Out of Hell' and Rainbow's 'Since You Been Gone', to Rod Stewart's 'Maggie May' and The Clash's 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go'.

Following Paul Rodgers' unsuccessful project titled Peace and Andy Fraser's ill-fated Toby, Free rebuilt themselves and released Free at Last in the summer of 1972. The band went right back to what they knew best, with Rodgers baring his blues-rock soul to Kossof's moody electric guitar. Tracks like "Sail On," "Soldier Boy," and "Travelling Man" come out on top as some of the band's most emotive material, proving that their breakup in 1971 had no real effect on their chemistry. "Little Bit of Love" was released as a single in the U.K., peaking at number 13, while the album itself broke the Top Ten there, stalling at number 69 in the U.S. The band's mixture of laid-back blues and gritty, bare-boned rock & roll is as poignant and as expressive as it was on Tons of Sobs or Fire and Water, even though Paul Kossof's problems with drugs were beginning to be more and more evident…

Reuben Wilson - Set Us Free (1971) {Blue Note Rare Groove Series}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 212 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 76 Mb
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© 1971, 2008 Blue Note / Capitol / EMI | Rare Groove Series | 50999 5 22378 2 9
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Jazz Funk / Organ Hammond B-3

Set Us Free, Reuben Wilson's final album for Blue Note, was issued in 1971. Since that time it has become an immortal and much sought classic by beatheads for a single track: "We're in Love." DJ Premier sampled it liberally – for its Hammond B-3 vamps, backing vocals, and decorative percussion – for use on rapper Nas' smash "Memory Lane." Hip-hop fans suddenly had to hear more, and as a result not only is Wilson active again on the circuit, but there has also been terrific interest in his catalog.

Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers - Free For All (1964) {Blue Note Japan SHM-CD UCCQ-5047 rel 2014} (24-192 remaster)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 332 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 107 Mb
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© 1964, 2014 Universal Japan / Blue Note | BN 75th The Masterworks | UCCQ-5047
Jazz / Hard Bop

Features the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (compatible with standard CD player) and the latest 24bit 192kHz remastering. Hardly a free for all at all – as the album's a masterpiece of focus and direction, and a classic set from the sextet lineup of the Jazz Messengers! The album's a real feather in the mid-60s cap of Art Blakey –and features an expanded sound from the quintet era of his group – with a sublime horn lineup that features Wayne Shorter on tenor, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, and Curtis Fuller on trombone – all gliding along these soaring piano lines from Cedar Walton! Reggie Workman works some real magic on bass, too – and the tracks are all very long – with titles that include "Free For All" and "Hammer Head" – both written by Shorter – plus "The Core", by Hubbard, and a beautiful version of Clare Fischer's "Pensativa".

Although Free was never destined to scrape the same skies as Led Zeppelin, when they first burst out of the traps in 1968, close to a year ahead of Jimmy Page and company, they set the world of British blues-rock firmly on its head, a blistering combination of youth, ambition, and, despite those tender years, experience that, across the course of their debut album, did indeed lay the groundwork for all that Zeppelin would embrace…

A fabulous collection of rock numbers from Eddie Cochran to Wheatus by way of Status Quo and Black Sabbath that will appeal not only to the air guitarists among us, but to everyone who finds great rock music exhilarating and enjoyable. Whether you're giving the grand solo performance in the privacy of you own home or hammering down the motorway with the wind in your (remaining) hair this double album hits the spot. The exhausted will feel reinvigorated and the depressed can hardly fail to feel somewhat more cheerful after sampling a few of these tracks. A second volume is promised and I will be one of the first in line when it is released. A treat - don't miss it!

The Top 100 '60s Rock Albums represent the moment when popular music came of age. In the earliest part of the decade, bands were still regularly referencing earlier sounds and themes. By the middle, something powerful and distinct was happening, which is why the latter part of the '60s weighs so heavily on our list. A number of bands evolved alongside fast-emerging trends of blues rock, folk rock, psychedelia and hard rock, adding new complexities to the music even as the songs themselves became more topical. If there's a thread running through the Top 100 '60s Rock Albums and this period of intense change, it has to do with the forward-thinking artists who managed to echo and, in some cases, advance the zeitgeist. Along the way, legends were made.

Howard McGhee - Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries (1956) {2014 Japanese Bethlehem Album Collection 1000 CDSOL-6134}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 124 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 86 Mb
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© 1956, 2014 Solid Records / Bethlehem | CDSOL-6134 | LP BCP-61 | Mono
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Trumpet

Quite an unusual album for trumpeter Howard McGhee – one that has the famous bop trumpeter working in a sweet "with strings" format – ala similar 50s sessions on Verve! Frank Hunter handles the larger group here – working the strings with some nice touches that go way past just sleepy orchestrations – into a realm of playful passages that help coax some quite unfamiliar sounds from Howard's horn! The approach is quite different than some of McGhee's more seminal sides, but is also a great illustration of this under-acknowledge side of his talents – and a voice that definitely seems to echo some of his personal struggles at the time. Titles include "Sonny Boy", "The Thrill Is Gone", "The Best Things In Life Are Free", "Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries", and "My Sin".