Born in Forlì (Italy) in 1951, Riccardo Zappa is widely recognized as the greatest Italian acoustic guitarist. For five consecutive years he was voted the best in the poll promoted by the famous monthly magazine "Guitar Club". After that, he was declared to be no longer eligible for nomination. His music is in fact quite unique in the whole Italian prog scene; not can many other comparisons be found outside Italy, except perhaps Mike Oldfield, for his long, acoustic-based instrumental compositions.
His unmistakable trademark is the "Ovation" guitar, an instrument with a striking nasal sound, very suited to being handled with special effects. His first work, "Auhlela & Zappa" was recorded in 1974 as a duo, with lyrics and vocals by Klaus Auhlela and music by Riccardo Zappa himself…

Johnny Shines was far from predictable. Though he recorded his share of inspired electric dates, he had no problem turning around and delivering a stripped-down, all-acoustic Delta blues session like Too Wet to Plow. Recorded in Edmonton, Canada in 1975, Too Wet to Plow finds Shines in excellent form. His solid accompaniment includes harmonica player Sugar Blue and bassist Ron Rault, as well as guitarist/singer Louisiana Red (a superb bluesman who isn't nearly as well known as he should be), and Shines clearly has a strong rapport with them on "Red Sun," "Traveling Back Home," and other highly personal originals. Although Shines' own songs are dominant, one of the album's high points is an interpretation of Robert Johnson's "Hot Tamale."

Despite a standard line-up (keyboards, guitar-vocals, bass & drums-percussions), Tantra played elaborated and beautifully built and arranged Progressive songs in Portuguese, which figured at the same creative level as the best English composers (Yes, Gentle Giant, Camel…) but with a distinct character. Without a question Tantra's "Misterios e Maravilhas" is a classic and rightfully considered by this progressive rock fan as one of those albums which you must own if you are a lover of 70's Prog rock. Songs are truly wonderfully written and performed with the greatest of precision and emotion. Instrumentation is full with heavy analog keyboard/piano flavours and dreamy - chocolate layered symphonic landscapes, guitars both acoustic and electric and just dripping with expression and cloud soaring aspects…

Foreigner - Foreigner (1977). Blissful feelings arise at the mere mention of 70s arena rock. It gives listeners the permission to have fun, sing along to aircraft-hangar-size choruses, play air guitar solos, forget about any troubles, recall the experience of a first kiss, and quite simply, rock out. Few albums better instill these pleasures than Foreigner’s 1977 self-titled debut album, a five-times platinum blockbuster chock full of salacious riffs, soaring vocals, edgy beats, and lyrics that practically demand to be shouted.
Spearheaded by guitar hero Mick Jones, fresh off success with Spooky Tooth, Foreigner rallied around a talented collective pulled from the U.S. and U.K…

Tal Farlow was one of the finest guitarists to emerge during the 1950s. The exciting trio he performs with during this record (which was recorded in a friend's apartment) also features pianst Eddie Costa and bassist Vinnie Burke. The recording quality is generally quite good and the lengthy performances of the four standards never loses their momentum, except when the tape ran out during "Let's Do It." These boppish performances (with plenty of impressive interplay by the musicians) will certainly please straightahead jazz fans.

Magic Is a Child was released in 1977, the debut for new Nektar guitarist Dave Nelson. Carrying on, though, from where their last set left off, Nektar's fascination with shorter, punchier songs continued unabated, even while the keyboards continued to swell and the guitars shifted ever more toward the symphonic. Nektar's brightening vistas were new, however, and a fatal flaw as far as their fans were concerned. They didn't want breezy pop, and breezy pop fans didn't want Nektar, while the band's new label, Polydor, apparently didn't care either way. The art department did spring for the 13-year-old Brooke Shields to appear on the front cover, but that was it in terms of promotion. Thematically, too, little about Magic Is a Child recalls Nektar's days as prog darlings…

When Norman Connors made the transition from jazz albums to commercially successful R&B-oriented dates, the drummer found himself being lambasted repeatedly in jazz press (something Roy Ayers, Patrice Rushen, George Duke and George Benson could also relate to). Myopic jazz critics trashed Romantic Journey simply because it contains so much R&B/pop, as opposed to judging its merits as an R&B/pop-oriented album. Though not as strong as its predecessor, You Are My Starship, this decent offering has its strong points, including Philip Mitchell's vocal on the haunting "Destination Moon" and Eleanore Mills' performance on a likable cover of the Stylistics' "You Are Everything."

Rumours is the kind of album that transcends its origins and reputation, entering the realm of legend – it's an album that simply exists outside of criticism and outside of its time, even if it thoroughly captures its era. Prior to this LP, Fleetwood Mac were moderately successful, but here they turned into a full-fledged phenomenon, with Rumours becoming the biggest-selling pop album to date. While its chart success was historic, much of the legend surrounding the record is born from the group's internal turmoil. Unlike most bands, Fleetwood Mac in the mid-'70s were professionally and romantically intertwined, with no less than two couples in the band, but as their professional career took off, the personal side unraveled.

The confidence that ex-Muddy Waters sideman Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson exudes on his contemporary albums wasn't quite there in abundance yet when the French Black & Blue imprint produced this album in 1977 with the rest of his Waters bandmates in tow. A few too many hoary covers ("Sweet Home Chicago," "Mother-In-Law Blues") also grate. But as his first solo album, it's an important chapter in his development.

Streetmark was founded 1968 in Düsseldorf, when Dorothea Raukes, who had studied Classical Music and played keyboards, met the Brothers Thomas and Bernd Schreiber, both guitarists. Dorothea and Thomas formed the nucleus of the band. In the beginning Streetmark played mainly covers of The Beatles, Jon Mayall and Deep Purple. In 1969 they refused a proposal for a record deal. In the following five years Streetmark developed their own style mainly based on the compositions of Dorothea and Thomas, influenced by Procol Harum, Focus and ELP. Finally in 1975 Streetmark recorded their debut record "Nordland" for Sky.
"Nordland" was a brillant debut record, the band had taken the time to play the compositions live and to work them out. ..

After losing founding vocalist David Byron in 1976, many hard rock fans thought Uriah Heep had reached the end of the line. However, the group bounced back in 1977 with Firefly, an album that pursued a stripped-down sound harking back to the group's early-'70s successes. They also boasted a new singer in John Lawton, a vocalist who had made his fame working with artsy German hard rockers Lucifer's Friend. Although he lacked the multi-octave range of David Byron, Lawton boasted an impressive and emotionally rich hard rock voice that instantly jelled with the Uriah Heep sound. An ideal example of this new synergy was provided by the opening track, "The Hanging Tree," which featured Lawton dramatically delivering a narrative about an outlaw on the run over a spooky musical track that blended echo-drenched synthesizers with some typically gutsy guitar riffs from Mick Box.

On this album, the band focuses on the glam rock sound of the mid- to late-'70s (swirling guitars, high-pitched harmonies) on tracks like "Dear Jean (I'm Nervous)" and "The Man Who Ate His Car," but City Boy maintains its soft rock sound with light keyboard touches and soft vocals on songs such as "One After Two" and the title track. Young Men Gone West has an interesting, albeit uneven, mix of songs that doesn't have the same quirky, eclectic feel of the first two albums - but it is a worthy effort nonetheless.