The Creak by The Stair

Of all Robert Cray albums, over a career that has now spanned 20 years, this is the one I keep coming back to time and time again. I Was Warned is not one of Robert Cray's more critically acclaimed or commercially successful albums, yet for me it's a handsome, undemanding record that is full of great songs and superb playing. As a practitioner of the blues, Cray has been instrumental in it's re-emergence as a popular art-form in the 80's and 90's, however he has never considered himself to be a 'bluesman' - preferring to call his sound a blues/soul/rock hybrid. I Was Warned tends towards soul and rock. There is a definite feel-good factor to 'Just A Loser' and 'I'm A Good Man', both carry an irresistable groove and Cray clearly revels in his everyman tales of love and life. 'The Price I Pay' is a meditation on fading love, it is one of Cray's finest ballads - a side of his music that seems to get overlooked. 'On The Road Down' is blisteringly good also and showcases some fine guitar-work.

If Colin Blunstone had only recorded the hits by the Zombies (such as "Tell Her No," "Time of the Season," and "She's Not There") he should and would be a household name. However, Blunstone had an equally impressive solo career. This collection documents his excellent Epic/CBS sides, especially those from his exquisite One Year album. Tracks from that include "Say You Don't Mind," a suburb song written by Denny Lane (ex-Moody Blues, future Wings), as well as Blunstone's original "Caroline Goodbye," which very well may be the finest record of 1970. Add to this the impressive tracks from albums like Ennismore and others, and you have the real voice of the 1970s that was sadly under-appreciated and certainly under-heard. Like a gossamer cloth, it sweeps elegant.

The Pineapple Thief’s 1999 debut album given a 2017 Kscope label reissue under its original name, Abducted At Birth. When the album was first released, the name was changed to Abducting The Unicorn by the label, Cyclops Records, in order to create a connection with the previous band headed by TPT's frontman Bruce Soord - Vulgar Unicorn. Featuring strong melodies and powerful choruses, this early post-Progressive album offers a gripping insight in to Soord's songwriting talent and the birth of one of the UK's leading Progressive bands. Remastered by TPT keyboardist Steve Kitch and available as a CD in digipak with 4-page booklet. The cover and booklet art has been completely updated, using fan submitted photography to explore the theme of Abducted At Birth, to startling effect.

The Troggs were one of the toughest and most gloriously unpolished bands to emerge from the U.K. during the British Invasion era - the leering, monolithic pound of "Wild Thing" and "I Can't Control Myself" was about the closest thing to the Stooges that emerged on vinyl before James Osterberg reinvented himself as Iggy Pop, and lead singer Reg Presley all but defined the word "lascivious" with his guttural howls and moans on their best recordings. The Troggs had dropped off the charts by the end of the '60s, but they were the sort of band that simply didn't believe in giving up, and in 1975 they returned to the studio to cut their first album in five years. Simply called The Troggs, the album found the group updating their sound just a bit, with the results at times suggesting a cross between Status Quo-style boogie and blue collar glam in the manner of Slade, especially on the honest self-celebration of "Full Blooded Band"…