Lard Free

With the possible exception of Richard Pinhas' Heldon, Gilbert Artman's Lard Free was probably the premier French progressive group of the '70s. The prolific Heldon might win in terms of amount of material, but the three near-perfect albums by Lard Free (despite the truly wretched band name) probably have them beat in terms of overall quality. Although Artman, a drummer who also dabbles in synthesizers and piano, called Lard Free a group, he was the only constant member; all three albums have different lineups. 1973's Lard Free consists of relatively short pieces with prominent piano and saxophone parts, and as such is the most jazz-oriented of the three. The following year's I'm Around About Midnight consists of three long pieces with much more synthesizer; at times, it sounds almost like early (pre-ambient) Tangerine Dream, or perhaps Clear Light, the French collective Artman and the then-current lineup of Lard Free occasionally worked with around this time. 1977's Lard Free III, also known as Spirale Malax, is Artman's best work, a pair of side-long experiments that combine space music, jazz, and King Crimson-style heavy progressive rock better than many groups (including King Crimson) could ever hope to manage.

Supernatural Fairy Tales: The Progressive Rock Era is a 5-CD compilation of progressive rock from around the world. It was curated by Archie Patterson of Eurock, and released by Rhino Records in 1996. The cover art is by Roger Dean, longtime cover artist for the genre. Reviews of the set generally note the difficulty of summarizing such a broad and far-reaching genre, as well as the obvious omission of several big-name bands whose music could not be licensed for inclusion. However, several lesser-known tracks from a broad variety of bands make the set an interesting listen.

Supernatural Fairy Tales: The Progressive Rock Era is a 5-CD compilation of progressive rock from around the world. It was curated by Archie Patterson of Eurock, and released by Rhino Records in 1996. The cover art is by Roger Dean, longtime cover artist for the genre. Reviews of the set generally note the difficulty of summarizing such a broad and far-reaching genre, as well as the obvious omission of several big-name bands whose music could not be licensed for inclusion. However, several lesser-known tracks from a broad variety of bands make the set an interesting listen.