The Rolling Stones (1974) Fingerprint File‏

A strained Jagger vocal combined with a thick mix of Richard's Wah Wah guitar, Jagger's extremely phased guitar, some quiet synth work from Bill Wyman, Billy Preston on Clavinet, some rhytmic drums from Watts and Mick Taylor shining on a supremely funky bass part in this Sly Stone inspired jam; the only track that recalls the previously funkiness of the preceding Goats Head Soup album and the successive Black and Blue album. 

Kiss (1979) Magic Touch

Off the disco inflected Dynasty album the glam arena act were descending into monotonous dance tracks and a Disney stage show though they still had some decent rockers such as Sure Know  Something written by Paul Stanley who was still the best songwriter by far. Stanley's I Was Made For Loving You overshadowed Magic Touch a hard rocking number filled with Stanley effortless swagger that he has had since Strutter. The best part is the startling falsetto bridge, 80's power ballads that would never sound as good as a solid Paul Stanley tune.

The Jackson Five (1975) Time Explosion

Off their last album for Motown, Moving Violation, an album with a few lost classics such as 'All I Do Is Think of You', it would be the last decent album till 1978's Destiny. This futuristic Donna Summer influenced Disco track starts with the Pink Floyd-esque sound of ticking clocks before a steams of modern (for the time) synths enter before a hard driving track featuring a mix of wah-wah guitars, fuzz guitars  and a variety of synth and vocal lines intermingle similar to 'The Mirrors of my Mind'. It reflects the disco mind of the album's tracks and the use of sound effects like the bull horn that proceeds the title track MV.

Chelsea (1972) Polly Von

This track is from future Kiss drummer Peter Criss's 1972 band Chelsea; it is an understated cover of Polly Von with satanic howl of lead vocals, coruscating viola and darkly dramatic strings swaying to a thick rhythm. The lead singer's operatic wail is purely doom laden, apocalyptic warmongering working up the song into a frenzied fever pitch that works well with the palpable claustrophobia of the production.

 Ironically it's Criss who is one of the least impressive on this effort that would be the one who would ride it out to stardom and fame. Though not on the basis of this record, but with a completely different set-up in Kiss; a set-up of hard rock crunch and none of the dynamics of this challenging progressive, country rock band. In Kiss, he would contribute a fairly rudimentary jazz swing to their bombastic numbers, it would not feature any of Criss's tabla abilities and sturdy marching band beats of this subversive album however.

Lynda Carter (1978) Toto(Don't it Feel Like Paradise)

Wonder Woman star like John Travolta tried to trade in her TV fame into commercial success in Music, having originally started as a singer. The tune is vibrant in this Boz Scaggs styled soft rock hit with Wizard of Oz referenced lyrics that don't necessarily match the sensual, disco nature of the song. But worth a listen to hear her sing 'I Want to Go Home' around 2 minutes it displays a raw emotive soulful element missing form a lot of her work unfortunately. The track and majority of her Portrait (1978) album does lie on the wrong side of being too laidback but the funky Want to Get Beside you is a change of  pace from the album's sleepy Adult Contemporary sound.

Weed (1971) Lonely Ship

Weed is the gaudy moniker of Uriah Heep's Ken Hensley's side project utilizing German band, Virus for the 1971 recording that he allegedly dose no longer recall. A mysterious collaboration that produced an album of high quality prog rock with shades of Heep sounding organs. A tough choice, but I chose the second song on the 1971 album, Lonely Ship, which features some Hensley's crystal clear vocals proposing to a lover alongside some equally clear folk guitars.

Orang-Utan (1971) Magic Playground

Originally a blues outfit called, Hunter, whose album got released without their permission under a new moniker and didn't last long after releasing this incredible slice of fresh hard rock as they had it pulled. An album filled to the brim with Hendrixy guitar licks and late 60's funky rock, the final track Magic Playground finds the right balance of tasteful Hammond organ filtered guitar and tight prog melodies despite lyrics inviting the listener to trip with him to get to 'the magic playground in the skies'.

The Kinks (1977) Jukebox Music

Off their Sleepwalker album, The Kinks decided to embrace more arena mainstream rock and it did'nt really work as there was nothing to make you know this was the Kinks; though the songs such as Stormy Sky and Full Moon are quite good AC songs. Jukebox Music with it's revved up melodic rocker of tablas, a nice groove and slashing guitars has a nice uplifting, heavy pop feel though it along with the rest of the album's polished 70s pop rock has no correlation to the many pioneering works of their 60s work...Ah well, it's only jukebox music.

Fandango (1977) Helpless Heart

Future Rainbow and DP vocalist Joe Lynn Turner first band was an AOR group aiming for Eagles inspired late 70s arena rock and failed till Turner, their guitarist and singer, could spread his wings in a more interesting band. While they had a clutch of songs that the likes of Poco would kill for they lacked the immediate hooks of soft rockers like England Dan and John Ford Colley or lyrical depth of the Eagles. 
Helpless Heart is the most subtle cut off their 1977 debut and their harmonies remind me of another heavy ballad group who also debuted in 1977; Player.

Grannie (1971) Leaving

From the progressive rock outfit Grannie built around guitarist Phil Newton, a cover band in London in the late 60's they grew to produce this a great album. Leaving is the first and most distinctive track it's rhythms feature a sultry King Crimson style flute but is dominated by Newton's terrific hard rock guitar mixing RnB rhythms with sensitive lyrics.

Tyrannosaurus Rex (1970) Lofty Skies‏

From the A Beard of Stars album the fourth and final album from Marc Bolans folk outfit before he went electric. The albums contains some electric guitar and has elements if his 50s turbo charged bop that would strip away the  slight aimlessness of his early tunes. The new addition is percussionist Mickey Finn who no doubt helped reign in the expansive experimentalism of his predecessor Steve Peregrin Took, allegedly not being that accomplished musician Finn kepy the songs more grounded and compact helping pave the way for the future of T Rex's stripped down chug.

 The song, Lofty Skies is the tightest and most melodic track devoid of Bolan's standard foppish diversions and utterly nonsensical lyrics but with a far more serious, enchanting feel. Instead there is a solid understated vocal alongside some moody strumming and some tasteful wah-wah underneath.  There is no indulgence and captures what made the future T Rex singles with their sparse repetitive verses keeping Bolan's airy fairy persona suitably restrained.

Ursa Major (1972) Back to the Land

 A rock trio formed in Michigan by Frost guitarist Dick Wagner that almost included Billy Joel on keyboards before he dropped out. This track features a lot of the spacey prog of the band's debut album with a mixture of hard rock and folk picking . With a dark ominous orchestrated riff that featured strings mixing with lyrics about getting back to the land this was a departure from the Sabbath esque feel of Wagners previous band Frost (more to come on them in a later post).

 Though as it turns out not that huge a departure as Wagner as singer/ guitarist/frontman of Frost and Ursa means the heavy parts of the song between the eastern orchestra motif, which on a sidenote must have been influenced by Friends on side one of Led Zeppelin 3, sounds a lot like his old band and slightly dated 60s rock as we head into the era of big riff based bands like Zeppellin, Sabbath and Purple.

Pluto (1971) Rag A Bone Joe

This has a novelty pop song feel with it's downtrodden title character it contains some melodic good feeling 70s rock. Great lines such as 'the most he can boast is a weekend at the coast' and 'It doesn't matter what you say, I wish I could be that way'. Whether a tribute or a put down of the lead character makes it interesting but the band's 1971 debut album didn't contain enough memorable songs to generate enough interest. But still Pluto remain an underrated, funky hard rock group with some power pop Badfinger vibe that never unfortunately went stratospheric.

Mott The Hoople (1973) I Wish I Was Your Mother

A expressive Ian Hunter vocal about reversal of roles between parent and child, it's got a rebellious Bowie feel to it but with a crystalline mandolin line it has the fresh melodic of mid 70s Mott on what was possibly their finest studio album Mott(1973).

Ace Frehley (1978) What's on your Mind

 From his 1978 Kiss branded solo album, when the theatrical New York quartet cemented their larger than life, Beatles-esque image by having all four members individually create slices of their own musical journey and release them collectively in an incredible marketing campaign. The diverse solo efforts ranged from horn driven soul music to folky ballads to 60s mop top pop through calypso all diverging from their classic sound with mixed results but one thing was certain; Ace Frehley's was the best. Striking the right balance between a new undiscovered inetnsity and more personal flair but also containing some of the familiar Kiss Sound, Frehley set himself a high standard that his later 80s solo career could never catch up to. 

Though New York Groove, a foot stomping classic rock anthem was the single, the true jewel of the album was What's on your Mind with it's pop hook and addictive hard rock melody it worked within Ace's vocal range and enlivened by the use of a jangly 12 string acoustic underneath created an progressive rock sound in it's simple DIY nature a million miles form the polished, one dimensional Kiss anthems, with special credit going to Jimi Hendrix Producer Eddie Kramer who produced this inevitable hit album.

The Carpenters (1976) Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft‏

Starting with a mock transmission of some aliens contacting a corny radio DJ during a call in before Karen Carpenter's delicate voice enters on a cloud of soothing electric piano. Her angelic vocals are on form and the introduction of horns and distorted guitar solo actually work as the song builds to giddying heights; this was a genuine message to visiting extra terrestrial beings.  Despite the pastoral flute and strings and the inclusion of the pitched alien voice it is still an interesting if dated pop gem. It's an interesting notion as there is no more better artist to provide a non- threatening welcome to outer space than The Carpenter's friendly and warm arrangements. 

Hootch (1974) Golden Valley

A trippy anthem with some raw funky waka waka guitar strum from a hard driving RnB act from Wisconsim. Described as a one time thing it is far from a complete album but has some nice exploration of African drumming on one track and arabesque guitar licks on another sought like UK band Kaleidoscope. But low on vocals  means this feels like an unfinished album at 32 minutes in full length. Even Golden Valley features sparse  lyrics though the track Blue Bird is brilliant at dynamics where a howling vocal is contrasted with a progression of gentle guitar strums.

Blue Magic (1974) Welcome to the Club‏

The most underrated gem on the classic Philly Soul group's 1974 debut buried on the second side it has the most unique sound on album that features all the accoutrements of the genre; vibes, horns, strings, piano, falsetto singing. Bobby Electronic Eli shows off his abilities for finding interesting uses for guitars in soul music and his moniker referring to his use of different effects pedals is lived up to here, he makes the combined use of a fuzz tone guitar on wah-wah mode creating a new organic sound similar to a clavinet but with more fluidity and sustain. Its creates a jazzy feel as a bed of smooth fuzz comes in the fills adding a slinky lounge/ nightclub rhythm to the track and mixes well with the slick groove of this 'proto-disco' track. 
Like Look Me Up this features a Latin inflected funk coda with prominent cocktail piano, chicken scratch strumming as well as chiming bells. There are scores of piercing flute like strings and the usual punctuations of gentle vibes and hazey horns that appear in some form in all of their songs.

But despite this its the smooth RnB verses reminiscent of Michael Jackson and Luther Vandross that is the most underrated ingredient before the chorus vocals welcome an ex lover to the titular 'club' of Lonely Hearts after they have in turn been dumped. It captures the first instance of the groups underrated abilities in Disco, rhythmic funk and samba influences that would come to fruition at the end of the 70s on their 1978 album The Message of the Magic.

Jeronimo (1971) Understanding‏

Jeronimo featured a strong Zeppelin sound with thunderous drums and thickly distorted crunch whilst adding progressive rhythms to the mix. One song on their self titled 1971 record, Haguilda, is a rapturous drum solo showcase heavy on the tom toms and mallets fulfilling the Native American spirit their name suggested (not to mention it includes a brief trumpet interlude). Though despite that track their album generally suffers from sounding all too samey like one big long jam with no real change in mood or expression; though I'm sure live they were fire. Often to get some airplay and a following heavy bands would cut commercial friendly singles that did not reflect the bands tastes.The best track is the jaunty acoustic, clear-attempt-at-a-single called Understanding, with it''s repeated verses being a message that 'Understanding is a hard thing to find' Amen to that!  

The Chi-Lites (1974) My Heart Keeps on Breaking‏

The elements of the Lonesome Chi Lites sound included deep echoey harmonica, clanky rhythm guitar, weeping autumnal strings, Eugene Record's sweet falsetto and often carried powerful, specific messages in their long titles. The Chi Lites were from Chicago and while they had the dreamy sound of the Impressions and an aggressive social concious funk intensity from Curtis Mayfield they seemed to have an orchestrated sound closer to a Philly act. The Chi Lites towed a line between Philadelphia soul and Adult Contemporary soft rock formats with sweet soul ballads full of sweeping strings but harmonicas and a laid back, train track guitar strum borrowed more from the country rock scene. 

 Their early 70s hits like Oh Girl, Have You Seen Her and Lonely Man possess a deep melancholic delivery over a very unhurried beat akin to country music superstars like Merle Haggard etc whilst layered with high doo wop harmonies, horns and plenty of mouth organ to make the line between country and soul indistinguishable and give the Chi Lites a unique sound. Both soul and country were big at the time and undoubtedly made them popular during this era of many crossover artists and the lineage isn't ever more clear than on this track with it's use of  rapid acoustic guitar playing and screeching violins along with the Chi Lites mix of bouncy, bass heavy Bubblegum soul. It works with Eugene Record's crystal clear voice adding a pop fervour to the laidback country vibe.