It has been a bit of a while since my last blog, so for my first one back I thought I would try to entertain you with tales of the albums that kept me partially sane during the darkest days of the Covid Lockdown.

Now there were of course many varied albums spanning a myriad of weird and wonderful genres. Honourable mentions must go to (amongst others) The Grateful Dead, Ozric Tentacles, Led Zeppelin and Pere Ubu (I feel The Modern Dance is one of the most perfect things ever to be created by humanity and also happens to be a great recording to boot). But the top five groovy spiral slices of vinyl loveliness went to…

No. 5 - You by Gong

For the final instalment of the wonderfully named Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy, band leader Daevid Allen assembled an all star bunch of hippy virtuoso musicnauts, intent on crashing their spaceship in to the deepest inner space. With help from the main protagonist, Zero the Hero, along with assorted members of Pothead Pixies, Octave Doctors and Flying Teapots.

For me the standout track is the beautifully titled “A Sprinkling of Clouds”. The track starts off slowly with synthesiser and glissando guitar panning from speaker to speaker, taking on momentum and building to a breathtaking crescendo of guitar, saxophone, bass guitar and drums that really will put your hi-fi system to the test. Only the best will hold this together and keep the whole band tightly locked in their hash-haze freak out!

No. 4 - Brain Salad Surgery by Emerson, Lake and Palmer

The artwork of this album alone ascends it above most of its peers. The fact that the music happens to be one of Prog Rock’s highest watermarks pushes it even further into the realms of the stellar. Packed with Prog-Rock excess, this power trio took the cake and the serving platter: Keith Emerson's keyboard showroom; Carl Palmer's motorised, rotating behemoth drum kit; sports-arena gigs with full orchestra and choir, etc. But here, they masterfully balanced the bombast and brilliance. Opening in full-tilt, English-poetic-visionary style with a soaring arrangement of William Blake's Jerusalem. On to one of my all time favourite demonstration tracks Still…You Turn Me On, which is a real work out for your loudspeakers!. Next up is Emerson's virtuoso riff on a piano concerto Toccata by 20th Century Argentine composer, Alberto Ginastera. Finally we have the nearly 30 minute long and multi-part dystopian fantasy Karn Evil 9, in which intoxicating entertainments (a sideshow where a Gypsy queen/In a glaze of Vaseline/Will perform on a guillotine) distract us from evil computer intelligence and modern surveillance-era interweb. Prescient and pretty damn rocking. Totally essential listening.

No. 3 - The Snow Goose by Camel

This one is just so incredibly gorgeous that I almost don’t know have the words to describe it. Have you ever found yourself listening to a piece of music that you totally get lost in and float away with? That is what this is! Quite possibly some of the best keyboard playing you will ever hear. And if you ask me, definitely one of rock musics juiciest guitar solos can be found on Rhayader Goes to Town. It's like it takes a scoop of David Gilmour and adds a dash of Robin Trower for good measure. Not an overly long album but crammed full of inventive loveliness. It is also another great recording that on a great system will let you hear all around and even behind the instruments, almost like you've been transported right in to the recording studio.

No. 2 - Relayer by Yes

This one is a little more complicated. This is the sound of a band pulling out all the stops. Rick Wakeman has been replaced by Patrick Moraz which some feel gave them an extra jolt of power. This can really be laid bare on a system that has great separation and mid-range detail. The full on power moments are tempered by the more delicate songs such as Soon, which is served like some sort of sorbet palette cleanser after the wildness that is The Gates Of Delirium and To Be Over which does the same after Sound Chaser. With amazing Sci-Fi artwork courtesy of Roger Dean adding to the already powerful vibe. This one may not be their best high fidelity recording, but played on a nice system you will hear a band at the peak of their powers and some absolutely stunning lead guitar work by Steve Howe.

No. 1 - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway by Genesis

This has to be my all favourite Prog-Rock album. It is one that reveals more and more every time I spin it. A surreal , beguiling, elaborate and strangely rewarding listening experience. It contains within its double vinyl grooves some of the most powerful Prog-Rock moments of all time ever. Fact! Just take in the moment on Fly on a Windshield, when the band all come in together just after Peter Gabriel has sung the line “And I’m hovering in the air waiting for the windshield on the freeway”. That is proper power and just about as dark, dirty and evil as genesis ever got. This stands alone in their canon of work head and shoulders above all the others. The lyrics are just poetry and at times the music is truly breathtaking. It's all killer and no filler. For proper full on power and bass slam just try the afore mentioned Fly on a Windshield. If you don’t get goosebumps, your Hi-Fi just ain’t up to the job I'm afraid, simple as that.

These were the albums that crept towards the front of my vinyl play pile during the strange days of the Covid Lockdown. I hope this little blog inspires you to try them out and if by some chance you would like to make them all sound even better perhaps we can help you with an upgrade of one sort or another to your Hi-Fi system. Feel free to bring in some of your own Lockdown favourites to play as well but please call us on 01242 583960 to make an appointment first.

Andy, Jon and Farid. Cheltenham.

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