Hawkwind - Space Ritual (1973) 2xLP United Artists

Space Ritual is the Hawkwind album that most people know as it was recorded live at the highpoint of their existence, with the material mostly coming from 1972's Dorime Fasol Latido and a few new tracks like 'Orgone Accumulator' and 'Born To Go'. It has seen countless represses and even an unedited version , titled, Space Ritual Volume 2 which hit the streets in 1985.

It also features the talents of Lemmy on bass and vocals and overall its a tremendous record, one that should grace any serious record collection. It really shines a light on the completeness of the band at the time, with the light show, Stacia dancing, and poetry thrown into the mix, recited by Calvert. As a live show, it must have been really mind blowing.

The recorded tracks are stellar and the recording quality is also amazing for the time, though some of the overdubs did come after the fact in the studio. It is surprising that Hawkwind's hit single, 'Silver Machine' is absent from this record, but I imagine that as they were falling out with Lemmy at the time, they may have decided to give his song a bit of a back seat.



The LP sleeve itself is a journey - its a six-page foldout with themed panels and poetry by William Blake. The artwork is amazing and just incredible - a very serious undertaking and a perfect way to experience the band.

Back when I was a kid, LP's artwork were really the only window through which to view the band and the packaging and artwork were just as important as the music to give the band an identity. There are so many great LP covers of the day, especially the mid-to-late 1970's output by progressive rock bands, like Yes and Genesis, but this one must take the cake.

This album is a great introduction to the band and after listening to it many, many times, I have yet to find a moment that strays from the pace and intensity this band delivers live. No lengthy song breaks, no awkward on stage banter.

Corrosion Of Conformity - Animosity (1985) LP Death/Metal Blade Records

I'm not sure just how to explain how much I love this record or count how many times I have listened to it. It's a lot. A helluva lot. It may be the most listened to record in my 1000+ lp collection.

I bought this back in 1989, a few years after it was released. I was about 13 and had just gotten into Nuclear Assault, D.R.I., The Misfits, Metallica (Master of Puppets especially), Exodus, Anthrax and a ton of other thrash bands. I bought this LP after seeing a COC shirt on someone from some band I liked, I cant remember who, but the spiked skull with the biohazard logo was just brilliant and I knew the band had to be good.



I was right. This record blew me away. It's relentlessly fast and gruff, a perfect mix of thrash and punk and death metal, back when all those genres were coming into their own. The vocals are harsh and brutal, before low grumbling became the norm, somewhere between James Hetfield and Chuck Scholdinger. Some tracks are also done with some brutal vocal effect, like a screeching distortion, and none are better than 'Prayer'. The songs draw every bit of emotion out of me when I am feeling pissed off, frustrated, and angry - and its had that power over me for the last 20+ years.

Animosity is C.O.C.'s second release, after the Eye For An Eye LP in 1984 and the follow up, Technocracy, is an awesome EP, a perfect continuation of Animosity's great song writing and break neck pace.

Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum (1968) LP Philips Records

Super massive, super fuzzy, and at this point, a landmark recording of an early metal/stoner rock sound - certainly a record that influenced many, many, many musicians. The entire stoner rock and grunge genres probably wouldn't have happened without them and Black Sabbath.



Blue Cheer was part of the San Francisco scene at the end of the 1960's and it must have been mind-blowing to see a band of such raw power playing along side all the hippie jam bands like the Grateful Dead and Big Brother and the Holding Company. Think of the Stooges playing with the Osmonds and you get the idea.

The level of musicianship will not blow you away here - its the song writing and power of their songs that drives this record. It's raw and unapologetic and inspiring.

This is the original Philips LP and pretty easy to find through most shops. There is also a repress available by Sundazed who seem to be right on point with their choices of re-releases.

Hawkwind - Hall Of The Mountain Grill (1974) LP United Artists Records

"For me, this was when the band were at their height. Oh, and I was in the band at the time." - Lemmy (Classic Rock, April 2006 - quote taken from Wiki)

Equal parts space rock and psychadelic theater, Hawkwind are one of few in that genre to have lasted for more than a few years before massive drug induced burnouts. In fact, they have lasted for a mind-boggling 41 years and put out a massive amount of material - but they are probably most notable for their early albums - 1971's X In Search Of Space, 1973's live Space Ritual and this, 1974's Hall Of The Mountain Grill.



This is the fourth studio album by Hawkwind and one that many critics will claim as their best studio album. It's an absolutely exceptional record and the tracks on its range from atmospheric psychedelia - 'Wind Of Change', 'Goat Willow' - to powerful rock tracks - 'The Psychedelic Warlords (Dissapear In Smoke)', 'Lost Johnny' and 'You'd Better Believe it.'

Hall Of The Mountain Grill also happens to be one of the few records on which Lemmy Kilmister (later of Motorhead) appears on and his contributions are certainly felt, especially on 'Lost Johnny', a track he wrote, sings and plays on.

It's a landmark recording for the band and a very impressive work. It's also pretty dense - I'm always suprised by just how much there is going on here - Mellotron, violin, 12-string guitar, keyboards, fuzzy bass, acoustic guitar, horns, and just about evey space sound effect you could imagine. It's just goddamned awesome. It's an album that shows more of itself the louder you turn it up and good headphones are a must if you want to get every last bit.

Early Hawkwind vinyl albums are pretty hard to find, but their catalog seems to keep getting represses and re-releases, especially Space Ritual, which is usually the only album you will regularly find in their bin. This is the only Hawkwind LP I own and its in fantastic shape, with the original liner sleeve and very little cover wear. The vinyl is in mint condition and sounds just bananas on my stereo. Another great find at Laurie's.

Mayall/Clapton - Lonely Years/Bernard Jenkins (1965) reissue 2011 45 Sundazed

Eric Clapton's period with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers was short lived, but spawned such great material that a rare gem like this 45 seeing its own re-release is cause to celebrate.

These two tracks were recorded in 1965 for the producer Mike Vernon's mail-order only Purdah label, shortly before the seminal Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton album with one microphone in the studio room, capturing the Clapton sound in its rawest form.

This re-release of the original Purdah 45 was available on Record Store Day 2011, limited to 1000 copies, and like most of the good stuff, was gone nearly immediately. However, the deluxe version of the Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton album has both tracks on the second CD of the set along with some other great tracks and live versions of favorites.



'Bernard Jenkins' is one of the few Clapton/Mayall songs I keep coming back to and I absolutely dig it. The atmospheric mic picks up a lot of highs and lows and that rawness only highlights the dynamic range and touch of Clapton and his famous Marshall combo.

Don Cherry - Mu Second Part (1969) LP BYG/Actuel

Don Cherry is one of my favorite free jazz musicians - very spiritually expressive and - especially in the late 1960's - very roots oriented. He uses a number of simple sounding instruments, like a pocket trumpet and Ed Blackwell, his only accompaniment on this album, uses percussion in the same sparse way to accent the simple nature of the music.

Taken as a whole, it is still very avant-guarde and would seem more so with more traditional instruments and more complex percussion, but here the spareness lends a light-hearted air to the album. It's alot less demanding of the listener than many free jazz recording made around this time and instead of challenging you, it draws you in. Or at least it does to me.



Later on, Cherry would learn a number of different African instruments and use them pretty frequently on his recordings, but here, its more traditional fare and it feels right at home on the BYG/Actuel label.

This copy was picked up at that haven of jazz - especially any avant-guarde and free jazz recordings - Dusty Groove. It's in fantastic shape, with a little yellowing, but is in excellent shape overall. Like many of the BYG/Actuel releases, this has been reissued on 180 gram vinyl and is definitely one of the standout releases from the Actuel years.

Budgie - Squawk (1972) LP MCA Records

Squawk is one of my favorite records of all time - almost every track on here is stellar and it includes quite possibly my favorite Budgie track of all time, 'Hot As A Docker's Armpit,' a bluesy, driving riff with many different sections, a perfect combination of prog and hard rock.



From the first notes of 'Whiskey River' to the fast, driving 'Stranded', this album is damn near a rock masterpiece. The raw recorded sound along with the aggressive playing and stellar and gutteral song writing makes this a record I never get tired of listening to. Tony Bourge's guitar sound is at its most expressive and deep - haunting almost on riffs for 'Rocking Man' and 'Drugstore Woman.' It was certified Gold in 1973 and remains in my eyes one of the greatest albums Budgie made.

I snagged this copy at the CHIRP Record Fair back a few months ago and it was the only Budgie album there out of the many, many thousands of records. Trust me - I looked through every bin there and spent something like 4 hours flipping records, looking for rarities. I did also fine Ramatam's In April Came The Dawning Of The Red Suns and a Japanese Cream VHS, an amazing documentry done by Atlantic Japan in the 1980's, both of which will be getting their own write-up here at some point. CHIRP will also be at Pitchfork in July with a record fair there again from what I can tell and I'll be there for sure.

Diamond Head - Borrowed Time (1982) LP MCA

The way Diamond Head has been over looked is pretty much criminal. Granted, their best recording - at least in my mind - was their 1980 demo of sorts, Lightning To The Nations otherwise known as the White Album and is damn near impossible to find. However, this is really the band that inspired so many acts of the 1980's metal explosion following that period known as the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (or NWOBHM) and they deserve a lot of credit for their dedication and progressive writing that pushed forward a genre many people thought was going to die in the face of Punk and New Wave.

This album has a few tracks from Lightning To The Nations and is a good reflection fo their total output from 'Am I Evil?' to 'Shoot Out The Lights' and 'Lightning To The Nations'. It does slow down their formula of fast-paced riffy goodness, with some more lengthy cuts that would have been totally out of place on Lightning To The Nations.



It's a solid record, but one that always leaves me wanting - mostly for the speed and relentlessness of Lightning To The Nations but the more mature sound here definitely has its place in their catalog and history. This particular copy was snagged from a Reckless New Arrivals bin for a sub-$10 price and worth evey penny.

Budgie - If I Were Brittania I'd Break The Rules (1976) LP A&M Records

This is one of the last Budgie albums from their period with Tony Bourge, who really was one of the key elements of their sound and a terrific song writer. The tracks here as a whole are not as solid as some of their earlier releases, but there are some very good tracks nontheless, such as 'If I Were Brittania I'd Waive The Rules,' 'You're Opening Doors' and 'Sky High Percentage.'



Yet another good find from Laurie's Planet of Sound, this was actually bought on my first trip there! After looking through all of my local shops for Budgie LP's years, I had only managed to find a copy of 1975's Bandolier and 1978's Impeckable (Tony Bourge's last record with Budgie). I didn't expect to find anything at Laurie's, but in the NEW ARRIVIALS bin I found copies of If I Were Brittania..., 1981's Nightflight and 1982's Deliver Us From Evil. I bought the first two as their later efforts are mostly miss-able - at least for the time being.

The cover has some water damager at the bottom, but the vinyl is in excellent shape and plays fantastically. I almost didn't buy it because of the water damage, but the price was right and Budgie records come up so rarely, I really couldn't pass it up.

Freedom - Freedom At Last (1970) LP BYG/Actuel

After looking for this LP to even come up for sale anywhere - eBay, my local stores - anywhere! - I started looking elsewhere from my normal haunts. I found a copy in France for 120 Euros, one in the UK for 70 GBP and started to think I was gonna have to save some serious cash to get this record.

On a whim, I checked Amazon.com as strange stuff pops up from time to time. I typed in "Freedom At Last" at pulled up the page for the album. It listed a few copies of the rare and expensive Japanese CD re-release and one copy of the LP used for $39.99. I was so sure that this couldn't possibly be the actual record that I emailed the seller and made sure I could return it if I wasn't happy and a few days later it arrived.

Opening it, I was super stoked and more so when I pulled it out. It's not in amazing shape, being 41 years old, with some yellowing on the mainly white cover, but the vinyl is in great shape and I'm really excited to own a copy of this amazing LP.

Being a big 1960's and 1970's jazz fan, I have been collecting the BYG/Actuel releases over the years and this is one of the few non-jazz records that came out on that label while it was active, from 1969-1972. I picked up a copy of the CD re-release from Dusty Groove here in Chicago (an excellent store specializing in Jazz/Funk/Hip-Hop) to add one of the Actuel releases to my collection and it was on my stereo for a solid month.



This is Freedom's second LP, the first being a recording made for an Italian film called Black and White and the sound here is much different. It's a psych/blues thing with some very good early psych sounds from tracks like 'Enchanted Wood' (the cut 1/side 1 track), 'Deep Down In The Bottom,' Fly' and 'Dusty Track' - a song they reprised for their S/T release later that year. There are a few blues covers as well, like 'Built for Comfort' and 'Hoo Doo Man' done with some solid chops and a good British Blues sound.

Vanilla Fudge - Vanilla Fudge (1967) LP ATCO

Super heavy debut LP by Vanilla Fudge. Their 1st LP is a record entirely of covers with songs you no doubt have heard before, like 'Ticket To Ride,' 'She's Not There,' 'Eleanor Rigby' and what became the single from the record, 'You Keep Me Hanging On' - but done at about half speed with completely cranked Marshall amps and an absolutely booming organ. It made it to #6 on the Billboard chart in '67, which is excellent fuel for those who say modern popular music sucks compared to the 1960's/70's.

This LP is by no means rare or hard to find, but this copy was almost mint - super clean and sounds like it just came out of the wrapper and not a record that was sold 44 years ago.

It got it from one of my new favorite haunts here in Chicago - Laurie's Planet of Sound, where I have found a ton of great LP's and they seem to get in a lot of good stuff and lots of clean copies.

Sleep - Dopesmoker (2003) LP Tee Pee Records

OK, for those who do not know me through one of my other blogs, I am HUGE Sleep fan. So much so that I have a blog totally dedicated to their live/bootleg recordings - check the side bar. Their catalog of material is excellent, from Volume 1 to their last effort and one of my top five favorite records, Dopesmoker.

When I start looking for a record and just cannot find one at a good price or even at all, I have Reckless put me on a call list for it, so that if a copy comes in, they'll hold it for me and call when its in. They get lot for stock in and it gets rotated very frequently, so they are a great source to have here in Chicago. It's also awesome that its only four blocks away from my apartment.



I had been waiting for an LP copy of Dopesmoker to pop up on eBay or a local store for something less than the 100 bones they seem to sell around. I waited a while and no luck at all.

So I asked Reckless to call when they got one in, figured I would never hear from them again and even the guy behond the counter kinda shrugged as if to say 'good luck'.

Two weeks later I get a call - "Hey, this is Reckless and we got in your copy of Sleep's Dopesmoker on LP for you for $14.99...'

I listeded to the message at my desk at work, promptly got up and fist pumped for quite some time and smiled for the rest of the day.

When I went to pick it up, the guy at Reckless smiled, handed over the record and was like, "Damn, so how long have you been waiting for that call?" "Two weeks," I said. I told him I never expected to see it and he told me his boss ran over to him as he was leaving that meggase, telling him that $14.99 was about $40 less than they should be selling it. "So you got a pretty good deal, man...' Yup, I certainly did!

This copy is completely mint - it looks like they took the plastic off behind the counter. I'm extactic that I own a copy of this on LP - even if I have 4 copies on CD - including a sealed copy I bought from Everyday Music in Seattle for $15.

If you haven't listened to the record, all I can say is, go get a copy and tune out for about an hour. It's an amazingly heavy, landmark stoner rock recording that still blows me away everytime I hear it.

Budgie - Budgie (1971) LP MCA/Kapp Records

A good way to start off this blog - one of my favorite records by one of the greatest early hard rock/heavy metal bands of the day, Budgie. They are a great combination of Rush and Black Sabbath, very doom-y on their early releases and an awesome band.



A Welsh power trio, they brought together the early psych and late British Blues to create a pretty unique sound. It also helps that Shelly Burke has a very distinct, rather high-pitched voice ala Geddy Lee and Tony Bourge has a super-bassy guitar sound, thanks to his use of four Marshall 4 1x18" cabs. They make the guitar sound slightly out-of-phase and very deeply resonant.

The song writing on this, their debut record is fairly simple and direct right from the get go with 'Guts' - a bassy blues riff driving the song. Standouts include 'Nude Disintigrating Parachutist Woman,' a great mix of proggy riffs with a pulsing beat, excellent proto-rock. It also started Budgie's penchant of weird song titles like 'Crash Course in Brain Surgery' and 'Hot As A Docker's Armpit'. 'Homicidal Suicidal' is a great closer to the record and rather upbeat feeling, despite the song title.


The copy on the back of the record is pretty unusual and made me laugh pretty good when I read it the first time. Very strange that a record company would down play the talent of the band and choose to mention they are not very gifted musicians!

I had a burned copy of this record for years, but could never come across an original LP until recently when Reckless Records came across one and I stopped by and snagged it up. Thank God for Reckless!

There is a reissue CD with a few extra tracks and its well worth it to buy if you find it used. Most of their catalog has been re-released this way, but these releases are about $25-30 and pretty hard to find and I believe now, back out-of-print.